(1823).

6. He went to school in Busseto and lived with a cobbler.

7. After a time he studied in Milan.

8. But not at the famous Milan Conservatory, for he was told there that he had no special talent for music.

9. Verdi wrote thirty operas.

10. The first was performed in 1839, when he was twenty-six years old.

11. One of his operas has its scene laid in Boston, Mass.

12. Another is about Egypt, and the scene is laid in Memphis and Thebes, in the time of the Pharaohs.

13. Verdi founded, for aged musicians, the Casa di Riposo (House of Rest).

14. Besides the thirty operas Verdi wrote a string quartet, The Manzoni Requiem, and a National Hymn.

15. For a period of sixteen years Verdi wrote no operas. Then he produced his two great works, Othello and Falstaff.

16. He died at St. Agatha, January 27, 1901.

SOME QUESTIONS

1. When and where was Verdi born?

2. How old was he when he died?

3. Can you mention three works of Verdi that are not operas?

4. How many operas can you name from memory?

5. What instruments did Verdi play as a boy?

6. What was the title of Verdi's first opera?

7. The title of his last two operas?

8. What did Verdi love to do besides compose music?

9. What is a Spinet?

10. In what famous city did he study as a boy?

11. How many operas, in all, did Verdi compose?

12. Where is the scene of Aida laid?

13. To what did Verdi devote his fortune?

THE STORY OF GIUSEPPE VERDI

Written by .......................................

On date ..........................................