A portrait of composer Giuseppe Verdi taken near time of his death in 1901. The world has remarkably little to offer Giuseppe Verdi in this 100th anniversary of his death. Even in Philadelphia, where the Italian community and all sensible opera lovers guaranteed good box office for Verdi before his operas were fashionable, there are few plans to celebrate his music - nor can there be. Typically, composer anniversaries deliver a tidal wave of new recordings. Previously dismissed pieces are rehabilitated.
Old favorites get fresh interpretations.
His work refuses to suffer the fools of our visual age. Il trovatore left audiences booing as never before because of its overproduced irrelevance. The recently released video of Don Carlos in the celebrated Luc Bondy production at Paris' Chatelet Theater is sumptuous, with singers sipping drinks color-coordinated with the scenery. Isn't that special - and irrelevant. Such peripherals matter little to anyone who really loves the opera.