Giuseppe Verdi (9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born in the province of Parma, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti, whose works significantly influenced him. Early Verdi operas included Nabucco, Ernani, and Macbeth; the Middle Period included Rigoletto, Luisa Miller and La Traviata; the Late Period included Il Trovatore, Simon Boccanegra , Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino (1862), Don Carlos (1867) and Aida (1871). Among his final works were the powerful Requiem, the classic opera Otello and the comic opera Falstaff. In this clip, we feel the power and fury of Verdi's Requiem from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus:
Nine years after Verdi's death, the 1910 edition of Grove's Dictionary pronounced him "one of the greatest and most popular opera composers of the nineteenth century".
