Verdi ALS Confessing: “It has been a long time since I set foot” in the theater

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VERDI, GIUSEPPE. (1813-1901). Italian composer of opera and vocal works. ALS. (“G. Verdi”). 1½pp. 8vo. Genoa, January 23, 1860. To his friend ANTONIO CAPECELATRO, DUKE OF CASTELPAGANO (1826-1918), brother of Neapolitan composer Vincenzo Capecelatro. In Italian with translation.

“You must have received in the letter that Giuseppina [Verdi’s wife] wrote you last month our wishes for the New Year which has just started. The affectionate greetings you sent me in your last letter are mostly appreciated because I know they come from the heart.

I am delighted to hear the news of your coming marriage officially confirmed by you. I am particularly delighted to know that you have chosen for a life-long companion the daughter of such a man as Ferrigni. Since I know that wonderful young woman and her whole family, I am convinced that those few days of ‘jail’ were for you really lucky ones as you found a person who will make you happy because of her background and similar education.

For this occasion, my wife joins me in sending you her congratulations and best wishes to be extended to the bride’s entire family.

If you are not interested in the theater, I am even less so than you. It has been a long time since I set foot there. And who is managing the Diorama now?

Please give my best regards to our mutual friends. To you my warmest good wishes…”

Verdi ALS Confessing: “It has been a long time since I set foot” in the theater

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Giuseppe Verdi

After the phenomenal success of his Nabucco in 1842 and I Lombardi the following year, Verdi was heralded as Italy’s greatest opera composer, becoming popular for such works as Il Trovatore, La Traviata and Aida. Verdi first traveled to Genoa in 1840 to stage his opera Oberto at the Teatro Carlo Felice and would subsequently direct many performances of his works at the important opera house. Beginning in 1860, Verdi spent his winters in Genoa and his opera Simon Boccanegra is set in the medieval Republic of Genoa.

Around 1847 Verdi, a widower for seven years, became involved with the famous soprano Giuseppini [Peppina] Strepponi (1815-1897), whose appearance in a number of his early works contributed to his success. The pair lived together, unmarried, in Busseto, where Strepponi was treated with derision by the locals. In 1848, Verdi commissioned the construction of a villa in nearby Sant’Agata and, in 1851, the couple moved to his estate, marrying in August 1859 and enjoying a happy union until Strepponi’s death.

Born into a noble Neapolitan family, Capecelatro founded the humorous magazine Palazzo di Cristallo in 1856 and headed the periodical Diorama. Our letter discusses his upcoming marriage to Calliope Delfina Ferrigni Pisone (1831-?). Their daughter, Enrichetta Capecelatro Carafa, became a poet, novelist and translator of some note.

Written on recto and verso of a single, folded sheet with normal wear and in very good condition. With the original (separated) address leaf with Verdi’s small, red wax seal bearing his initials.

Verdi ALS Confessing: “It has been a long time since I set foot” in the theater