This Companion provides an accessible introduction to Verdi's life and music.

List of music examples; List of tables; Notes on contributors; Preface; Chronology; Part I. Personal, Cultural, and Political Context: 1. Verdi's life: a thematic biography Mary Jane Phillips-Matz; 2. The Italian theater of Verdi's day Alessandro Roccatagliati; 3. Verdi, Italian Romanticism and the Risorgimento Mary Ann Smart; Part II. The Style of Verdi's Operas and Non-Operatic Works: 4. The forms of set pieces Scott L. Balthazar; 5. New currents in the libretto Fabrizio della Seta; 6. Words and music Emanuele Senici; 7. French influences Andreas Giger; 8. Structural coherence Steven Huebner; 9. Instrumental music in Verdi's operas David Kimbell; 10. Verdi's non-operatic works Roberta Montemorra Marvin; Part III. Essays on Representative Operas: 11. Ernani: the tenor in transformation Rosa Solinas; 12. 'Ch'hai di nuovo, buffon?' or what's new with Rigoletto Cormac Newark; 13. Verdi's Don Carlos: an overview of the opera Harold Powers; 14. Desdemona's alienation and Otello's fall Scott L. Balthazar; Part IV. Creation and Critical Reception: 15. An introduction to Verdi's working methods Luke Jensen; 16. Verdi criticism Gregory Harwood; List of Verdi's operas; Notes; Verdi's works; Bibliography; Index.