Italian Revolutionaries of the 19th Century and the Risorgimento Movement
Italian revolutionaries of the 19th century were part of the Risorgimento movement, which translates as "rising again." Italian nobility exploited the movement to overthrow foreign rulers and unite the peninsula under a single authority. While other cultures practiced a hyper-individualistic kind of Romanticism, the artists associated with the Risorgimento movement chose a Romanticism that was socially conscious. The Romanticism of the artists intended to use the arts to bolster and encourage political involvement. Almost all of Verdi's compositions were written during the Risorgimento revolutionary era.
Verdi: The Risorgimento Composer
Due to his involvement in politics, which has been seen as a reflection of the fight for national independence, Verdi is frequently referred to as the "Risorgimento composer." In Verdi’s early operas, the style had gained much popularity and adopted the form of simple, exciting numbers for a complete chorus. Apart from forming part of the opera’s plots, they also acted as political allegory, with subjects that related to the pressing issues of the time. The best example of Verdi’s early soap opera influenced by Risorgimento style is in ‘Va, pensiero’ in the opera Nabucco (1842), which is based on the Old Testament, and the chorus to I Lombardi ‘O signore dal tetto natio.’ These became sort of a national anthem during the Risorgimento.
Nabucco and La Battaglia di Legnano: Verdi's Symbolic Operas
Nabucco achieved much success and reflected the early work of Verdi. The opera depicts a powerful nation in negative images, such as cruel and ruthless. Through characters like Nabucco and Abigaille, Verdi makes the opera a narrative that ought to give the Italians hope and support to struggle for unity and freedom. Nabucco inspired the masses, becoming the artistic symbol of Risorgimento. Verdi’s second opera, La Battaglia di Legnano, represented the political background by glorifying the independence struggle through the use of historical analogy. In both operas, Verdi proved that he was the cultural and artistic symbol of Risorgimento.
