The Verdi-Boito Correspondence

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) had reason to dislike librettist-composer Arrigo Boito (1842-1918), who had scoffed at him in print. But when Verdi's librettist Francesco Maria Piave died in 1876 and a replacement was needed, Verdi's publisher lobbied hard to bring about a rapprochement between them. And as their correspondence shows, working together on Verdi's last two operas, Otello and Falstaff , as well as revising Simon Boccanegra , forged a bond between them that ended only with Verdi's death. Verdi, who virtually wrote his own librettos, allowed his librettists to function basically as versifiers, yet on reading Boito's final third of Otello , he pronounced it ``divinely good.'' When Boito's own opera Mefistofele was revived successfully, Verdi was delighted; responding to Boito's enthusiasm for the Falstaff project, Verdi sensitively urged him to complete his opera Nerone first (Boito never did). Opera lovers will be pleased that their correspondence, edited by Verdi scholars Conti and Medici and published in Italy in 1978, is now available in Weaver's ( Verdi, A Documentary Study ) smooth translation and with his commentary. This collection of 301 letters is an important supplement to Mary Jane Phillips-Matz's biography Verdi . (May)