Evening star., 1951-01-21

O0 January II, 1SU1, giuseppe
Verdi, Italy's great operate COM
poser and one of the worlds ia
vorites, died. The 50th anniver-
sary of his passing will be COM
memorated in this country and
abroad, beginning officially here
with a performance Saturday by
the NBC Symphony in Carnegie
Hall, New York City. with Arturo
Toscanini conducting. Verdi's
Requiem" and "Te deum" will
be given. In Milan, where Verdi
studied and where he is buried,
the observance will open with a
service in the Cathedral at which
his "Pezzi Sacri'' will be per-
formed and the congregation will
make pilgrimage to his tomb.
The dav of commemoration will
end with a presentation OF the
Requiem" at La Scala.
Two months later this year will
be the centenary of one OF the
composers greatest triumphs, the
premiere of "Rigoletto." Its COM
position represents a not unusual
for Verdi brush with the police,
who long had had their eye on
him for his pronounced opinions
regarding civic and ecclesiastical
regulations and for the inflamma-
tory ideas hidden in many of his
operas. When the libretto by
Piave was submitted to the censor
1t was returned with a note of
profound regret that the poet
Piave and the celebrated Maestro
Verdi should have found no bet
ter field for their talents than
the revolving immortality and OBJ
scene triviality of La Maladl-
zione,'" as the opera was first
called. Nothing daunted, Verdi
removed any questionable refer
ences, called it "Rigoletto," and
found himself again riding the
wave of fame after period OF
creative stagnation.
He was 38 years old when "Rigo-
letto" was produced and had al
ready achieved the type of fame
dear to the American heart-that
of having clothes, food and other
articles named for him. He was
80 when his last great theater
work, "Falstaff," was premiered at
La Scala, where his Requiem
will be sung Saturday. Debussy
once sat in box during a per-
formance of this opera at the Met
ropolitan Opera with the director,
Giulio Gatti-Cassaza. The French
composer asked, But was Verdi
really in his Both year when he
wrote music of this kind? That !
old man must have made some
pact with the devil, like Faust"
Was an Ardent Patriot.
Verdi was an ardent patriot and
had no hesitancy in speaking his
mind on political subjects. His
heart was filled with despair" at
the tragic events of 1870. In a
letter to a friend, he diagnosed
the situation with a clarity that
only today do we fully compre-
hend. Writing of the possible fail
of France he said; Let us not de-
ceive ourselves, all our liberties will
fall and then falls our civilization
too. Let our litteratures and our
politicians praise the knowledge
and science and even God forgive
them the art of these victors. But /
if they would look a little below
the surface they would see that |
the old blood of the Goths still
flows in their veins. that they are
monstrously proud, hard, intol-
Grant, rapacious beyond measure
and scornful of all that is not
German. A people of intellect
without heart-a strong people, but
they have no grace. And that
king who is always talking about /
God and divine providence, with
whose help he is destroying the
best part of Europe. What a fine
messenger of God he is. -.
I'VE shall not escape the
European war and it will engulf
us. 1t will not come tomorrow,
but it is coming. An excuse is
easily found-1 would rather
have signed a peace after being
defeated along with France than
to have been a passive spectator.
That we are doing this will ex-
pose us to contempt some day
All, the north. A country
and a people which terrify me.
Think of German arm. 1t is
so hard"
Toscanini's concert Saturday
will be a benefit for the Casa
Giuseppe Verdi, a home for aged
musicians in Milan founded by
Verdi and endowed in his will.
So we'll had he planned the home.