The son of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini, Giuseppe
Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born October 10, 1813 in Le
Roncole, Italy. As a young boy, Verdi studied the organ. By age
seven, he had become the organist at San Michele Arcangelo,
where he was also an altar boy. Verdi moved to Busseto, Italy to
attend music school in 1823. After finishing school with Antonio
Provesi in Busseto, he applied to and was rejected from the
Milan Conservatory because he older than their typical entrants.
Verdi then studied composition under Vincenzo Lavignia, a
composer and the maestro at La Scala. He was named Maestro of
the Busseto Philharmonic in March 1836. In May 1836, Verdi
married his childhood sweetheart Margherita Barezzi (who was
also the daughter of his greatest benefactor), and returned to
Milan several years later with a young family. His first opera,
Oberto, opened in November 1839, and was successful enough to
garner Verdi a contract for three additional operas. However, in
the space of one year, his son, d