Verdi

Starring Metropolitan Opera and La Scala stars Tito Gobbi and Mario Del Monaco, this colorfully filmed drama of the life and loves of the great composer, Giuseppe Verdi, is played against a background of the great operas of the 19th Century. A tender love story of Verdi's successful and turbulent life, we hear more than 20 excerpts from his acclaimed operas: Rigoletto, La Traviata, Otello, Aida, Il Trovatore, Nabucco and many others. The Patriarch of Italian opera began his career with the bel canto composers (Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini) and ended it as a contemporary of Debussy and Richard Strauss. Verdi's operas voiced his liberal views by making biting social and political comment, often bringing him into conflict with the censors. This nostalgic look at Verdi: The King of Melody, paints a romantic picture of the composer's struggle for success, his loves, and his musical triumph over the forces of political domination. Poignant and tender, filled with pathos, it is heart-rending in both its sad moments as well as in its times of joy. A theatrical and critical success when the feature film was released in the US in 1974, Verdi: The King of Melody, will touch your heart.