The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-06
VERDI MET MANY
DISCoURAGEMENTS
CKansas city Times-)

Early in the century when the COM
bined armies of Europe were beating
down the throne of Napoleon a party
OF COssacks of the Russian army. de
tailed 10 fight Prince Eugene in Italy,
entered the duchy of Parma. These
rough riders of the car We're as wild
and savage as the country they came
from aud gallOped over the territory
OF Parma in search of blood and booty,
not glory.
F 1he COssacks reached the little viii
lage Of LIE ROncole. They attacked this
hamlet, shooting men and women and
( tossing children on the points of their
B ianCes. They took the Valuables from
I the houses and set fire to the buildings
Ihey made a massacre and ruin that
would have delighted their Tartar an
cestOrs. Some OF the women and chill
7 dren fled to the great church. but the
3 Cossacks respected not the shrine and
slew them at the altar. One peasant
woman, the wife of a poor innkeeper of
lie koncole, held an infant of a few
months at her breast. She darted IN
/ observed to the stairway leading to the
roof. Up the stairs she ran and into
the belfry. There she lay hidden while
the slaug liter went on, and when nisht
came and the COssacks had gone she
crept to the ground with the infant
calmly sleeping on her breast.
The woman of the belfry was Gus
eppe Verdfs mother and the child was
I Giuseppe Verdi himself of whose
operas the whole world talks and whose
death removed the last of the old school
Of Italian opera proper.
. Q, o
When Verdi was II he achieved tri-
umph which probably gave him as
much Joy as any other he ever won in
his life. He was selected as organist of
the church of lie RoncOle, and his paw
was fixed at as much as SO francs a
year, which was raised afterward to 40
francs annually.
Sig. Barezzi. a wealthy wine mer-
chant, assisted Verdi when the latter
went some years later to Milan to study
music He paid his board and tuition
though Verdi subsequently married Sig
Barezzis daughter, Margherita. This
occurred in 1886. when Verdi was >
years old, having been born Oct. g
1914
VerdTs first great success as a mu-
steal composer was made at La Scala
in Milan, the same theatre prepared
nearly ffty-fOur years later for the pro-
/ ductiOn of his "Falstaff." This was in
1899 and the opera was "Oberto. Conte
/ de sun BonifaZeO." It's success was so
great that the young composers name
extended throughout Italy. In the first
[ flush Of fame misfortune overlook Yer
/ di He fell ill and before he recovered
MS wife and two children, attacked also
Dy Illness died. Grief affected his mind
SO much that Verdi's next work. I'm
GiOrno di ReEno." was a failure.
Ashamed of himself and finding no
pleasure in his art, the young composer
refused 70 work and insisted upon
throwing up his contract with Merelle
- @ &.
MeTelle was evidently a discerning
man. and he did not lose sight of Verdi.
one day he hunted up Verdi and asked
him to go with him to the theatre. on
the way the manager complained that
Nicolai had refused to compose an ope a
Tor a hbrettO written by SoIera. who
had written the libretto for VerdTs
first O. era.
Verdi had previously done some work
on musical score, which he had left at
the theatre. When they went there to-
gether Merelle came across 1t. He seized
IT, thrust 1t in Nerdfs hand and told
him to go home and finish il. Verdi
rolled the manuscript up and went
home, but with no intention of doing
the work. He opened the manuscript
ara. looking it over, became deeply in
terested. But still he felt in no mood
for work. He rolled the manuscript
Up and took 10 back TO MeTeHe. MereIle