1930’s Opera Composer and Music Composer
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Learn about the life and work of Giuseppe Verdi, one of the most popular opera composers of the 19th century.
Opera Composer in the 1930’s
Opera composer in the 1930’s, Giuseppe Verdi, was one of the most prominent and popular composers of his time. His operas were known for their dramatic and intense storylines, and his music was incredibly moving. He composed some of the most famous operas of all time, including AIDA, Otello, and Falstaff.
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini was one of the most popular opera composers of the early 20th century. He was born in Italy in 1858 and his best-known works include “La Bohème,” “Tosca” and “Madama Butterfly.” Puccini’s operas are characterized by beautiful melodies, poignant storylines and larger-than-life characters. His music is still popular today, and many of his operas are regularly performed around the world.
Giuseppe Verdi
Considered one of the greatest opera composers of all time, Giuseppe Verdi was an Italian composer who wrote 28 operas. He was born on October 10, 1813 in Le Roncole, Italy and died on January 27, 1901 in Milan, Italy. Verdi’s first opera was Oberto in 1839. His most famous operas include Nabucco, Rigoletto, La traviata, Don Carlos, Aida, and Otello. In 1930, at the age of 87, Verdi composed his final opera, Falstaff.
Music Composer in the 1930’s
The 1930’s was a time of great transition for the music industry. With the advent of talking movies, and the popularity of radio, the need for live performances began to dwindle. This led to a decrease in the demand for new operas, and composers had to look for other ways to make a living. Many of them turned to teaching, or to composing music for other media.
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who wrote some of the most memorable music of the 20th century. His works include the ballets “Romeo and Juliet” and “Cinderella,” the opera “The Love for Three Oranges,” and such classics as the “Peter and the Wolf” symphony for children. Prokofiev was also one of the first major composers to experiment with atonality, or music without a tonal center. He died in 1953.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. He is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century.
Shostakovich’s compositional career was exceptionally prolific, having produced fifteen symphonies, six concerti, seventeen string quartets, two operas, an oratorio, and numerous other works for stage, film, and television. Many of his works were written in defiance of the government’s crackdown on free speech and artistic expression; several of his string quartets were dedicated to victims of the Stalinist purges, including the 8th String Quartet which is known as his “babi yar” quartet.
