Scan 5
Musical Courier 1926-04-22: Vol 92 Iss 16, 1926
21 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 6. See the scan on archive.org.
1MUSICAL COURIER
2VERDI, THE HOME LOVER
3By Adelina O'Connor Thomason
4(Copyright, 1926, by the Musical Courier Company)
5PART II
6On January 27 of this year, Giuseppe Verdi had been dead twenty-five years. Special memorial observances are taking place in Italy in honor of the late composer. In September, Arturo Toscanini and a company of distinguished artists will go to the little North Italian town where he spent most of his life, Busseto, and give a few performances in the Teatro Verdi. This was also done in 1913 in observation of the one-hundredth anniversary of his birth, while the late Cleofonte Campanini conducted a special season of Verdi operas in the neighboring city of Parma.—The Editor.
7THE HOUSE WHERE VERDI WAS BORN,
8October 10, 1813, in the hamlet of Roncole, part of the commune of Busseto. It is now a national monument. A column with a bust of Verdi has been erected in the yard since this photograph was taken.
9eriting its age, the little organ is well preserved. Its keys are time-colored dark ivory, turned almost mahogany with their hundred and twenty-five years; the range two and one-half octaves; the touch light, the tones sweet and high. I turned to go in an ecstasy of emotion which was quickly dispelled by the irate taxi driver who told me that I had stayed too long and must pay extra. I did.
10Parma, where stands a beautiful memorial arch to Verdi, is not far distant, so although it was now raining mistily and a sudden fog had come from somewhere, I drove to the mediaeval city, a flourishing place of 50,000 souls and one of the great music centers of Italy. Cabs waiting at the station were most curious. Unusually, in fact, alarmingly high from the ground they stand, drawn by a single horse. A large umbrella covers the driver and an equally large one of sandy shade protects the passenger. In one of these terrifying one-horse shays I traversed the square before the railroad station and approached the really magnificent sculptured arch, across whose broad top gold letters read: "TO GIUSEPPE VERDI."
11THE VERDI MEMORIAL
12When the centennial anniversary of Verdi's birth was celebrated in 1913, Italy, from Milan to Sicily, united to do honor to his memory. The city of Parma, Cleofonte Campanini (famous conductor, a native son of Parma), Harold McCormick and his wife, Mrs. Edith Rockefeller McCormick, all together gave the money for this memorial arch. A bronze figure of Verdi is seated in the center. Reaching away on either side, twenty-eight statues represent characters in his operas. To my entranced gaze it seemed a memorial of great beauty.
13Next morning the rain had given way to bright sunshine which greatly improved the appearance of Parma's narrow winding streets. Long histories of wars and tragedies dating back through the centuries have left their mark in the little city on many an ivy-covered crumbling wall and ancient ruin. Bright and early after the rainy night I left my hotel of the White Cross en route to a shrine in Milan, the most splendid monument in all Italy to the memory of Verdi, the "Home of Rest for Musicians," which in his lifetime he built and in his will endowed forever.
14Like every city in Italy, Milan has its principal piazza around which centers its past history and present life. Here it is the great Piazza del Duomo, where stands Milan's famous Cathedral. In the square opposite the Cathedral stands an equestrian statue of King Victor Emanuel II, during whose reign in 1860, under the leadership of the patriot Garibaldi, all the separate provinces of the Kingdom of Italy were united. During this exciting period of Italian history Giuseppe Verdi played a most important part; his influence and energy, his force and his music fired the ardor of the people and voices of the faithful who in the face of Revolution dared not shout "Viva Vittorio Emmanuel," but shouted "Viva Verdi!" his name spelling the loyal slogan:
15The influence of Verdi prevades all Italy, but it is most in evidence in Milan. In a one-horse cab I found the way to the imposing old fashioned Hotel Milan, on a noisy street. It was in this hotel on the morning of January 21, 1901, that the great soul of Verdi passed. In the midst of deafening noise, the shouts of drivers, the warning cracking of whips, the shrill cries of vendors, I rattled up to the curb. A smartly uniformed bell-boy quickly saw that, being a foreigner and having no luggage, I had come for but one purpose. He bounded to the porter's desk and called loudly for the key to the Verdi rooms. It hung conveniently at hand, as if often in demand, for many must come to visit
16(Continued on page 41)
17ONE OF THE LAST PHOTOGRAPHS OF VERDI.
18When Verdi signed this photograph in August, 1900, and presented it to his friend, Prof. Ciro Tramontano, the aged master was only two months short of his eighty-seventh birth day. (From Il Teatro, Milan.)
19THE TOMB OF VERDI
20in the chapel of the Home of Rest.
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