Busseto: Verdi Theatre and Casa Barezzi

In Busseto Giuseppe Verdi is everywhere! Let’s visit Verdi Theatre, a small treasure showing how Busseto has always been a town with a great cultural and musical tradition.

Displayed in the foyer of “Teatro Verdi” are some of Verdi’s original letters. Surprisingly they don’t talk about music, but farming! Could you believe?

The itinerary on his steps continues to Casa Barezzi, where is now a Museum dedicated to the Master.

 

Full video text: Verdi Theatre

Man singing in Emilian dialect
Excuse me, what you are singing?
Man singing in Emilian dialect
So, it’s a historic fact!
Verdi based his triumphal march in Aida on what he’d heard the baked apple sellers singing!
Really?
Verdi’s operatic style!
It’s identical!

Here in Busseto, Verdi is everywhere
We are standing in Piazza Verdi, the square with a statue of Verdi
And this is the Verdi Theatre
Well, partially Verdi …
Let’s go inside this little treasure which shows how Busseto has always been a town with a great cultural and musical tradition
Displayed in the foyer of Teatro Verdi are some of Verdi’s original letters
They must talk about music!
This letter is important, it’s part of Verdi’s will
Milan, 14 May 1900
It bequeaths life incomes to two young people, undoubtedly to study music! –
So that they will study farming theory and methods
Farming?!
Here is a list, probably members of an orchestra!
No, it is a census of the livestock on his lands!
He owned 1,000 biolcas of land, a biolca was about 3,200 sqm, he was very rich
This was a card Verdi sent with a gift to Count Arrivabene
Probably a musical score, but this is what it says, literally:
I will not become the feudal owner of the San Secondo castle,
But I can at least send you one of the little shoulders of that saint
A shoulder of San Secondo is a kind of deluxe ham …
Did Verdi write on cheese wrappings?
No, Verdi was a very sophisticated writer, I’ve copied the text and signature from his letters
To get an even better idea of the soul of this great man
The soul of Verdi!
To get an even better idea, I have to cross the street
Across from the theatre in Piazza Verdi is Casa Barezzi, the home of
Barezzi who was Verdi’s father-in-law, his benefactor and father of his first wife

Today, Casa Barezzi is a museum dedicated to Verdi
Speaking of letters
Here they have the original signed letters
But what do they say?
Verdi normally spent the winters in Genoa
On 1 November 1871 he wrote:
Let’s hope that the person you propose is really a decent cook
But above all, that his head isn’t filled with crackpot ideas
Tell him to come to the address in Genoa that I gave you
In essence, Verdi was looking for a cook from Busseto
to take to Genoa so he could continue to eat the local products and dishes he preferred
He loved the traditional cuisine and its products, spalla cotta and local wines
His ties to his birthplace were never in doubt
He wrote in a letter:
I am, have always been and will always be a farmer from Roncole