The Life of Verdi (miniseries)

The Life of Verdi is a 1982 Italian-language biographical television miniseries directed by Renato Castellani dramatizing the life of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. Castellani also co-wrote the original script with Leonardo Benvenuti and Piero De Bernardi. The English version was written by Gene Luotto and narrated by Burt Lancaster. The miniseries first aired in 1982, and was made available on DVD in 2003.

The Life of Verdi
Written byLeonardo Benvenuti
Renato Castellani
Piero De Bernardi
Gene Luotto
Directed byRenato Castellani
StarringRonald Pickup
Carla Fracci
Giampiero Albertini
Narrated byBurt Lancaster (English version only)
Theme music composerRoman Vlad
Country of originItaly, France, West Germany, UK, Sweden
Original languageItalian
Production
CinematographyGiuseppe Ruzzolini
EditorOtello Colangeli
Running time630 minutes
DistributorRAI
Release
Original release13 October 1982 (1982-10-13)

The production stars British actor Ronald Pickup as Giuseppe Verdi, Italian ballet dancer and actress Carla Fracci as Giuseppina Verdi, and Giampiero Albertini as Antonio Barezzi. Funded by a number of European national broadcasting companies, the series is an accurate portrayal of Verdi's life.

According to promotional material for the production, it was "filmed on location in Italy, Leningrad, London, and Paris...(T)his epic mini-series took several years to create, requiring more than 100 actors, 1800 extras, and 4000 costumes."[1]

Episodes

The English version has seven 90-minute episodes totaling 630 minutes; the original Italian version, nine 70-minute episodes.

  1. "Childhood, Barezzi & Milan"
  2. "Margherita, Tragedy & Nabucco"
  3. "Patriotism, I Lombardi & Ernani"
  4. "Giuseppina, Revolution & Rigoletto"
  5. "Independent Italy, La Traviata & Un Ballo"
  6. "Wagner, Teresa & Aida"
  7. "Crisis, Otello & Falstaff"

Cast

References
  1. The Life of Verdi at amazon.com
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