Giuseppe Verdi | Four autograph letters signed, including two to Clarina Maffei, 1869-1874

Giuseppe Verdi

Four autograph letters signed ("G Verdi"), including two to Countess Clarina Maffei

i) to an unidentified correspondent (" ...Gianello"), lamenting the state of his domestic service, especially the lack of a cook, stating that he will be in Genoa towards the end of November, when he will be able to give him an opinion on the libretto he sent him, referring also to the heedlessness of [the conductor Angelo] Mariani, noting that for a long time he has called him a false heart ("...Da gran tempi l'ho batezzato per una testa falsa..."), 3 pages, 8vo (16.4 x 10.3cm), modern typed transcription and English translation, Sant'Agata, 19 October 1869, browning along folds

ii) to Countess Clarina Maffei, mentioning that Prince Poniatowski, who is in Milan for the staging of his opera Pierre de Médicis, wishes to make her acquaintance, observing that, although he is a prince, he is also an able composer who does in fact write good and beautiful music ("...Quantuncque Principe, è valente compositore di musica..."), and expressing his opinion that his opera will no doubt have the same success in Milan that it had in Paris, 1 page, 8vo (20.5 x 12.7cm), integral blank, modern typed transcription and English translation, Genoa, 20 December 1869, traces of mount to spine, two horizontal folds

iii) to an unidentified correspondent ("Caro Gianello [?]"), affectionately thanking him for his letter, explaining that he is always on the point of dropping in to Genoa, but that trifling matters have prevented him from doing so until now, and adding that he will not put off his visit much longer, 2 pages, 8vo (21 x 13.6cm), integral blank, modern typed transcription and English translation, Sant'Agata, 29 July 1870, creasing and slight splitting along folds, traces of mount to integral, light browning

iv) to Countess Clarina Maffei, informing her that he has passed two months in a true hell of agitation, explaining that this was due not to concerns regarding success or failure, but to fatigue, troubles and various annoyances, noting that things went well in Paris and that he had no need therefore to mention them (“…Non vi parlo di Parigi, e non vi scrissi più perchè le cose andavano bene ed era inutile parlarne…”), 2 pages, 8vo (20.6 x 13.1cm), integral blank, with autograph envelope, modern typed transcription and English translation, Sant'Agata, 13 July 1874, two horizontal folds

Clara Maffei was a leading personality in Milanese cultural life in the nineteenth century, as well as a symbol of the Italian Risorgimento. In 1846 she was legally separated from her husband, the poet and translator Andrea Maffei, who provided Verdi with the libretto of I masnadieri and alterations to the libretto of Macbeth.

LITERATURE:

Not in the Copialettere.