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The Life and Operas of Verdi

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The Life and Operas of Verdi

By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Robert Greenberg
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About this listen

The Italians have a word for the sense of dazzling beauty produced by effortless mastery: sprezzatura. And perhaps no cultural form associated with Italy is as steeped in the love of sprezzatura as opera, a genre the Italians invented. No composer has embodied the ideal of sprezzatura as magnificently as Giuseppe Verdi, the gruff, self-described "farmer" from the Po Valley who gave us 28 operas and remains to this day the most popular composer in the genre's 400-year-old history. His operas are produced more than those of any other composer, and one source claims that his La Traviata (1853) has been staged live somewhere around the world every evening for the past 100 years!

This series of 32 lectures from one of music's most acclaimed teachers combines biography with a variety of musical excerpts to reveal the treasures of creativity that account for this popularity. It explores in depth and detail both the famous and not-so-famous Verdi operas, as well as his one great concert work, the Requiem Mass of 1874; his early songs; and his very last composition, a setting of the Stabat Mater. You trace his development from a more or less conventional composer of operas in the traditional Italian bel canto (beautifully sung) style to a creator of truly innovative musical dramas in which the power of music to intensify and explore human emotion is exploited to the fullest degree.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2003 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2003 The Great Courses

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What did you like best about this story?

Verdi was quite the character and this series of lectures is an excellent introduction to both the significant experiences of his life, his professional relationships, and the development of his music.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Professor Greenberg wants us to get a sense of Verdi's personality and characteristics as a window to his music and his passion and sincerity lend colour and verve to these lectures. Dry this material is not!

Any additional comments?

Professor Greenburg's soapbox moments are a real highlight. Agree or disagree there's something about a passionate opinion, eloquently expressed, which captures the attention and rewards the listener. Bravo!

First class lecture series from Robert Greenberg

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This thorough study of Verdi's life & music I found absolutely fascinating and very rewarding to listen to. The man, his music, his passions, his environs and the age he lived in brought to life. Enjoyed enormously the references & asides to americana & in the american vernacular - many of which I did not know exactly what the allusion was to but you could get the modern day sense of it. Was it forms of torture?- an English sense of humour - laughed out loud.

I've read the critical reviews and the accusations contained in some of them and would say just go with the flow of this wonderful, humanising, affectionate and comprehensive narrative on the life & times of, what I now know after listening to this hugely enjoyable "biography", was a truly great composer and, what's more, a fascinating multi layered human being.

I'm now off to listen to everything Robert Greenberg as to say about music. Thank you Robert for doing what you do.

Absolutely loved this unexpected find/

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Would you listen to The Life and Operas of Verdi again? Why?

Yes, I discover new enjoyable moments every time I listen to

Who was your favorite character and why?

Giuseppina Strapponi, a supporting wife

Have you listened to any of Professor Robert Greenberg’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Yes, for me as an enthusiastic but amateur listener this book helps to understand dimensions I did not access before

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. You have to return to it from time to time. But this is worth to do it.

Any additional comments?

I can only recommend it to everybody.

Comprehensive picture of music and society

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This could have been very good. Clearly Mr Greenberg knows the subject well and is enthusiastic about it. But he also has ambitions as a comedian and unfortunately he isn't a very good one. The silly voices he puts on when explaining the plots of the operas are painful to listen to and the facetious tone continually belittles the great works he is describing (even though he tells us over and over that he considers them to be great works). Also he could have taken a little more trouble to learn the correct pronunciation of the Italian words he pronounces. He continually gets the stress wrong; for example, the names Cesare, Modena and Foscari should all be stressed on the first, not the second syllable.

It's a pity, because without these irritating distractions the narrative is fascinating. The lectures, of course, contain wonderful excerpts of great music.

Disappointing

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This is the third series I have listened too by Robert Greenberg and definitely the worst. There is far too much detail on some of the operas, especially Rigoletto and Falstaff where Greenberg spends literally hours just going through his spin on the story in his excited voice. There is very little music in these lectures, a lot lower percentage than there was in the other series. If there is not to be music I'd rather hear about Verdi's life than listen to a blow by blow account of the librettos.

Not enough music

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