Verdi: Complete Works

Verdi The Complete Works – Various Performers ★★★★
Verdi was a most prolific Italian opera composer, writing 30 operas, of which this set has their performances. He also wrote minor works, including a string quartet, some ballet material, and some songs, which are also included in this set. The performances and recordings are superb. Verdi is a somewhat monolithic composer. While his compositions show some advancement over the years, it is far less than one sees in a Mozart, Beethoven, or a Wagner. While he is a master of melody, much of his technique repeats from opera to opera. Thus, when listening straight through, unless one is intimate with all of his operas, it will sound like one very long opera. Fortunately, his last few operas show some stylistic and creative variations to make them interesting. I’m not saying that Verdi is a bad composer, and it is difficult to not enjoy all of his operas. Yet, my desire to fill in my collection with the operas of Verdi that were yet missing had too high of expectations as I wasn’t missing much. This is a marvelous set for the music collector. For the slightly interested opera listener, select among his 5 or so most popular operas and you’ll hear enough Verdi to know what he’s all about.