Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (October 10, 1813 – January 27, 1901) is to date the most influential composer of the Italian School of Opera. His greatest works (i.e. Rigoletto, La Traviata, Aida), known for their abundance of expressive melody, are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture (La donna è mobile, from Rigoletto). Oftentimes scoffed at by the critics, in his lifetime and today, as catering to the tastes of the common folk, overly simple in chromatic texture and shamelessly melodramatic, Verdi?s masterpieces dominate the standard repertoire a century and a half after their composition.

Eponyms

• The Verdi Inlet on the Beethoven Peninsula of Alexander Island just off of Antarctica
• Verdi Square at Broadway and West 72nd Street in Manhattan
• Asteroid 3975 Verdi