The Complete Operas of Verdi

"If you talk about opera as a complete art form in terms of storytelling and emotional expression, Verdi is the greatest in terms of the combination of all aspects of opera. He understood the voice the best, the house and the art form. The opera house in itself is an instrument. You play on the space between the audience and the stage. He was also very good at structuring a drama in terms of wording and pace, silent parts, chorus parts and ballet parts. He has a mastery of all of these different aspects. When you read this book you understand his political ideas, his ideas regarding art and how he lived in his time as a complete member of society. He was engaged in social issues such as gender equality and things like how the church shouldn’t be so powerful. Yes, absolutely. He was so aware of everything that was going on – he used his opera to comment on life. He was very much the Shakespeare of the operatic world, so much so that he even put to music some of his plays."