Italian operatic composer.
Autograph Musical Quotation Signed, “G. Verdi,” 1889, one page, from “Otello.”
On an album page, Giuseppe Verdi has penned five notes from the arresting theme of the “Ave Maria” (“Prega per chi ado[rando]” or “Pray for all sho adore…”) from the fourth act of his tragic opera “Otello.” Interestingly, Verdi substituted the lyrics from the next line, “Prega nel pecca[tor]” (“Pray for the sinner…”).
On the verso, Adelina Patti (Spanish coloratura soprano) has written, “A beautiful voice is the gift of God,” under which she signs her name during her marriage to the tenor Ernesto Nicolini (“Adelina Patti Nicolini”). A notable association as Verdi once referred to Patti’s voice as the finest he had ever heard.
In fact, on January 20 [1893, the same year she signed the sheet] she sang at La Scala in Milan in “La Traviata,” a performance attended by Giuseppe Verdi who, if we are to believe Patti in her letter to Herman Klein, “actually wept tears of joy and delight. It appears that he said to Bevignani that my phrasing was too touching for words and that I sang divinely!” (The Adelina Patti Letters, University of Rochester Library Bulletin, Riker).
Instead of composing on a comic subject as he would have preferred, Verdi followed the request of his publisher, Ricordi, and based his opera on Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Othello.” After years of work, this much anticipated work, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito, premiered at La Scala on February 5, 1887. Some critics proclaim Verdi’s “Otello” as his finest work, if not one of the best operas by any composer. This quotation from Desdemona’s prayer follows the famous “Willow Song,” preceding her death at the hand of her jealous husband.
The album sheet measures 4 3/8 inches wide by 5 1/8 inches high. Quotations from this great work are rarely encountered.
Matted in red and ivory, with a bust-length portrait photograph of Giuseppe Verdi. Framed in antiqued gilt, framed dimensions are 16 inches wide by 12 inches high.
Price: $17,500
This item is associated with the following category in our inventory:
- Musicians / Composers
