Keith Colantoni, age 16, of Reno, Nev., for his question:
HOW MANY OPERAS DID GIUSEPPE VERDI WRITE?
One of the greatest composers of all time was Giuseppe Verdi The Italian composer wrote 25 operas. His works are performed more often today than those of any other opera composer.
Verdi gained fame for his mastery of theatrical effect and for the stirring melodic quality of his operas. He took several of his plots from the plays of such great dramatists as Victor Hugo, Friedrich Schiller and William Shakespeare.
Verdi, who was born in 1813, became a symbol of Italy's struggle for independence from Austria in the mid 1800s. The fiery Italian patriot had frequent conflicts with Austrian authorities who felt that his operas encouraged Italian nationalism.
Verdi began studying music as a boy but didn't try to enter the Milan Conservatory until he was almost 20 years old. He was refused admission because he was too old and lacked sufficient formal training. So he began taking private music lessons in Milan.
When he was 26, his first opera, "Oberto," was a success at its premiere at La Scala, the leading opera house in Milan. Three years later, with the success of his third opera, "Nabucco," Verdi became the foremost Italian composer of his time.
During a 20 year period between the ages of 38 and 58, Verdi produced a remarkable series of masterpieces including "Rigoletto," "Il Trovatore," "La Traviata," "The Sicilian Vespers," "Simon Boccanegra," "A Masked Ball," "La Forza del Destino," "Don Carlos" and "Aida."
Verdi composed all of his operas to Italian librettos (texts) except the "Sicilian Vespers" and "Don Carlos," which he wrote to French librettos.
Many of the melodies Verdi wrote for soloists, small groups of singers and choruses remain familiar throughout the world today.
At the age of 58, in 1871, Verdi decided to end his career because of age. But at the urging of friends, he continued to compose music. He lived another 30 years and died in 1901 at the age of 88.
One of those who urged Verdi not to retire was his old friend Arrigo Boito, a noted Italian poet and composer. Boito contributed librettos for two of his later operas: "Otello" (1887) and "Falstaff" (1893)_
Many critics have called "Otello" Verdi's greatest tragic opera, and some consider it the greatest of all Italian operas. "Falstaff," written when the composer was 80 years of age, was only Verdi's second comic opera, but it ranks as one of the greatest comic operas ever written.
During his later career Verdi also composed the important "Requiem Mass," written in memory of the Italian author Alpsandro Manzoni.
Verdi's only works after "Falstaff" were four beautiful religious compositions for voices called "Quattro Pezzi Saci" (1898).
A period of national mourning was declared in Italy in 1901 following Verdi's death.