A battle for Verdi

Synopsis

In 1848, when revolutions convulsed Europe, the Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi wrote these lines to a friend:

"Imagine whether I wanted to stay in Paris when I heard that there was a revolution in Milan! I left immediately when I heard the news, but I've been unable to see anything except those marvelous barricades! All honor to our brave champions! . . . You may be sure that the hour of [Italy’s] freedom has struck. The people will have it so, and there is no power on earth than can resist them!"

In that frame of mind, Verdi crafted an opera on a patriotic theme, "La Battaglia di Legnano" or "The Battle of Legnano," which premiered on today's date in 1849 in Rome. It was a great success, but over time, as revolutionary fervor turned into repression, Verdi's opera ran afoul with Italian censors, and the opera's overt political message had to be softened considerably for its occasional revival performances during the rest of the 19th century.

Verdi died in Milan on January 27, 1901, over a half-century after the premiere of "The Battle of Legnano. By that time, Verdi was revered not only as a great composer, but also as an artistic symbol of Italy's eventual unification and statehood.

Music Played in Today's Program

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 –1901) La Battaglia di Legnano ORF Symphony; Lamberto Gardelli, cond. Philips 422 435

On This Day

Births

• 1756 - Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Salzburg;

• 1806 - Spanish composer Juan Crisostomo Arriage, in Rigoitia;

• 1823 - French composer Edouard Lalo, in Lille;

• 1885 - American composer Jerome Kern, in New York City;

Deaths

• 1901 - Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, age 87, in Milan;

Premieres

• 1726 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 72 ("Alles nur nach Gottes Willen") performed on the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);

• 1733 - Handel: opera "Orlando" in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket(Gregorian date: Feb. 7);

• 1844 - Erkel: opera "Hunyady László," considered the first national Hungarian opera, in Budapest;

• 1849 - Verdi: opera "La battaglia di Legnano" (The Battle of Legnano), in Rome at the Teatro Argentina;

• 1874 - Mussorgsky: opera "Boris Godunov", in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Feb. 8);

• 1944 - Paul Creston: Saxophone Concerto, in New York;

• 1947 - Stravinsky: Concerto in D, in Basle (Switzerland), by the Basle Chamber Orchestra conducted by Paul Sacher (who commissioned the work);

• 1955 - Tippett: opera "The Midsummer Marriage," in London at the Royal Opera House, with John Pritchard conducting (and soprano Joan Sutherland in the cast);

• 1967 - Leon Kirchner: Quartet No. 3 for strings and electronic tape, in New York City, by the Beaux Arts Quartet; This work was awarded the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Music;

• 1991 - Off-Broadway premiere of Sondheim: musical "Assassins."