Giuseppe Verdi is one of Italy’s greatest composers, a symbol of national pride whose music has left an indelible mark on both the operatic tradition and Italian identity.  Born in 1813 in Le Roncole, a small village in Parma, Verdi rose from modest beginnings to become a legendary figure in the world of music.

His works, filled with emotional depth and dramatic intensity, soon became not only a signifier of Romanticism in opera, but also of patriotic flair among Italians. Of all his works, Nabucco, which premiered at La Scala in 1842, is perhaps the one most associated with Risorgimento, Italy’s 19th-century unification movement.