Giuseppe Verdi was born on October 10, 1813 in Le Ronocole, duchy of Parma, Italy. He studied with Vincenzo Lavigna, a musician at the La Scala opera house. After his first opera Oberto, Verdi left La Scala due to the untimely death of his wife and children. He was eventually convinced to come back and compose Nabucco, an opera based on Nebuchadrezzar II. He then went on to compose Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Othello and Falstaff. He died on January 27, 1901 at the age of 87.
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