VERDI, GIUSEPPINA “PEPPINA.” (1815-1897). Italian soprano and wife of composer Guiseppe Verdi. Archive. (“Pepppina Verdi”). 28pp. of 8vo. and 4to. and 15pp. of 12mo. of visiting and correspondence cards. Genoa, Sant’Agata and elsewhere, July 20, 1868, October 12, 1895, March 1, 1869, March 24, 1889, and undated. Five letters to Giulio and Gudia Ricordi and one letter to Mrs. Tito Ricordi. In Italian. With two brief autograph notes by Verdi including “I have no time today. I’ll reply tomorrow.”

A collection of letters full of invitations and good wishes, showing the ongoing close personal relationship between the Verdi and Ricordi families, mentioning operatic matters, Verdi, and his works.

December 1868: “Verdi will come to Milan to attend the rehearsals of Forza del Destino.’”

March 1869: “I wish Forza del Destino to continue doing well for the advantage of our families and for the glory of my Verdi, which is also un petit peu for the glory of Italy:

Reminiscing on her own opera career, she writes: “I love the art to which I belonged and my country, which this art has always illuminated, even in the moments of its greatest decadence.”

An 1867 letter announces the death of Antonio Barezzi, father of Verdi’s first wife, Margherita: “Verdi, only Verdi, had the power to wake him with his voice and to make him talk until the last moment! … And my Verdi … the chorus from Nabucco! ... was his last moment of joy!”

The phenomenal success of Guiseppe Verdi’s (1813-1901) third opera, Nabucco, in 1842 and I Lombardi the following year aroused the passions of Verdi’s enthusiastic public. Almost immediately, he was heralded as Italy’s greatest opera composer and, because of the content of many of his works, he came to symbolize a politically unified country. His ever-popular compositions include Il Trovatore, La Traviata and Aida. Verdi’s revised version of La Forza del Destino had its premier in Milan on February 27, 1869, a few months after Peppina’s first note on the subject.

It was around 1847 that Verdi, a widower for seven years after the death of his wife Margherita née Barezzi (1814-1840) at the age of 26, became involved with Giuseppina Strepponi, whose appearance in a number of his early operas contributed to their success. The pair lived together, unmarried, in Busseto, where Strepponi was treated with derision. In 1848, Verdi commissioned the construction of a villa in nearby Sant’Agata and, in 1851, the couple moved into Verdi’s estate, marrying in August 1859, and enjoying a happy union until Strepponi’s death.

Our letters are written to members of the Ricordi family, owners of the music publisher Casa Ricordi, including Tito Ricordi (1811-1888) and his son Giulio Ricordi (1840-1912), himself a composer, and his wife Giuditta née Brivio Ricordi (1838-1916). Giulio Ricordi nurtured a closer personal relationship with Verdi and, in addition to publishing Verdi’s works, he encouraged Verdi to collaborate with librettist Arrigo Boito and to come out of retirement to compose Otello and Falstaff.

Some letters are written on her monogrammed stationery with some original envelopes. In overall fine condition.