2013: Parma celebrates the bicentenary of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth

In 1813 Giuseppe Verdi was born at Roncole, a hamlet in the municipality of Busseto, near Parma and January 2013 marks the beginning of the celebrations of Verdi’s birth both in Parma and Busseto.

Detail, Memorial altar to Giuseppe Verdi, Parma

Memorial altar to Giuseppe Verdi, Parma, piazza della Pace

Giuseppe Verdi is one of the most popular and successful Italian composers thanks to his operas and to his reputation as a hero of the Italian nationalist movement which led to the unity of the country during his lifetime (1861). The bronze memorial altar to Giuseppe Verdi with the background of the Pilotta Palace is one of the first monuments you notice when you arrive in Parma in Piazzale della Pace.



Verdi’s parish church
http://portale.parma.it

Verdi’s birthplace in Roncole, Parma

But it is in Busseto and its area that you can follow in Verdi’s footsteps and visit the places that shaped him. At Roncole you can visit the small house where he was born and from a very early age showed a strong musical bent. In the parish church you can see the organ on which he started his musical training.

Busseto, Parma, The house of Mr. Barezzi, young Verdi’s main sponsor
http://portale.parma.it

Busseto, Parma, The opera house named after Verdi
http://portale.parma.it

In Busseto you can visit casa Barezzi, the house of Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy tradesman and a music lover who was the first to believe in young Verdi’s talent and backed him in the early stages of his career. In the main square of the town (piazza Giuseppe Verdi, of course), inside the Rocca or fortress, the small teatro Verdi (only 300 seats) which was built in honour of Verdi during his lifetime is well worth a visit, even if the Maestro never actually set foot in it.

Verdi’s villa in the countryside

But the real shrine for all Verdi lovers is villa Sant’Agata, the place in the province of Piacenza that became his home and safe harbour from 1851 onwards. The Maestro himself drew the plans to change the original farmhouse into a villa with terraces, a greenhouse, a carriage house, a wine cellar and a chapel. He managed personally the running of the relevant estate and the shaping of the vast gardens with exotic trees, two ponds, an ice-house and 18^th century statues. Everything inside and outside the villa has been left unchanged by Giuseppe Verdi’s heirs according to his will. Villa Sant’Agata is a fascinating house and it feels as if the Maestro had just left for one of his long walks in the countryside ...

Here’s a tour in Giuseppe Verdi’s native land.

You need a car for this tour.