Giuseppe Verdi

Born on 9 or 10 October 1813 in Roncole, near Busseto, died on 27 January 1901 in Milan; Giuseppe Verdi was an Italian composer and one of the leading opera composers of the 19th century. His “Nabucco” was premiered in 1842; the 1850s brought “Rigoletto” (1851), “Il trovatore” (1853) and “La traviata”, premiered on 6 March 1853 at La Fenice in Venice, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave after the play “La Dame aux camélias” by Alexandre Dumas fils. “Aida” was premiered in Cairo in 1871, and in 1874 he wrote his Requiem. On a gala recording by Doc Heilein and Friends, Sarah Bouwers and Ricardo Marinello sing “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici”, the drinking song (brindisi) from the first act of “La traviata”, with Doc Heilein and Friends.