Is there a composer who is more adored than Giuseppe Verdi? There are composers who command more respect than Verdi, but no one receives more love. To honor the recent anniversary of Verdi’s passing let’s reminisce about some of his most famous moments.

First of all I should clarify that Verdi wasn’t born in Italy. He was born (October 10, 1913) in the French Empire of a Corsican named Napoleon Bonaparte. There was no unified Italy when Verdi started showing musical promise as the organist in his village of La Rencole — about 65 miles from Milan in northern Italy — at the age of eight. The unification of Italy was to become a cause which Verdi championed. The issue was not fully settled before his death on January 27, 1901.