Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Life & Works - Giuseppe Verdi

By: Jeremy Siepmann
Narrated by: Jeremy Siepmann, Freddie Jones, Elaine Claxton, David Timson, Steve Hodson, Charlie Simpson
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.49

Buy for $13.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

With the possible exception of Mozart, Verdi is the most popular opera composer who ever lived. Quite early in his career his tunes were being cranked out by barrel organs throughout Europe and were well known to many who may never even have heard his name. But the complex man behind them remains elusive and puzzling.

In this portrait-in-sound, Jeremy Siepmann and a group of distinguished actors take an in-depth look behind the popular image of a man who was, and perhaps remains, the most enduring national hero in Italian history and a colossus in the history of music itself.

Here, Verdi comes alive through an utterly committed portrayal by Freddie Jones. The composer’s larger-than-life personality, with all its self-indulgent outbursts and irresistible expressions of artistic genius, is here conveyed in a unique and touching way. We can follow his path, as exemplary passages of music are smoothly intermingled with spoken text. Jeremy Siepmann’s narration is enthralling and detailed, and the character behind this most fervently Italian music is fascinating to discover.

©2003 Naxos AudioBooks (P)2003 Naxos AudioBooks
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Editorial reviews

Jeremy Siepmann presents a biography of Verdi with the added dimension of his operatic music, played in small doses to punctuate the narrative. Since the playing of the pieces takes place during the biographical period in which they were written, Siepmann creates a robust composer's portrait. The British author performs the third-person narration, while male and female voices take speaking parts reading letters to and from Verdi. Although the chatty missives lack luster, the actors shout and whisper them as though lines from the great Bard himself. If the listener is not an opera fan, the talented voices and singers in this performance could create one.

What listeners say about Life & Works - Giuseppe Verdi

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.