THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN GIUSEPPE VERDI AND ARRIGO BOITO

The relationship between Giuseppe Verdi and the librettist Arrigo Boito was certainly victorious but absolutely troubled. Extremely different, two opposite personalities, they came from “distant” worlds, they had little in common except music.

And this was precisely the reason of their meeting: it was organized by Giulio Ricordi to convince the opera composer to write again for theatre and, in particular, to stage the Othello.

The atmosphere of the meeting was heavy, of mutual distrust, especially after the offenses of Boito against Verdi and the work that afterwards brought fame to him.

IThe double back of Boito that from being an author of works “downgrades” to “obstetric” was almost a heroic gesture, surely unforgettable because it allowed Verdi to create a work that otherwise would have been untold. And the première of the Othello could only be a success!