is the first full-length study of all of Verdi's operas. This work of the brilliant British music critic Charles Osborne covers Verdi's complete operatic oeuvre—including the missing choral works, songs, a string quartet, and the Messa da Requiem. The operas of Shakespeare's and show how the legendary composer added both depth and dignity to the Italian operatic repertoire. In this volume, every Verdi opera is explored from four points of view: Verdi's life at the time each was written; the story, and the way it links with the music; the libretto and librettist, and Verdi's relations with his publishers; and the music itself, analyzed with examples from the score.