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Lasagne Verdi
Spoof entry from the spoof article "The New Grove," listing entries that would NOT appear in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, from The Musical Times (Vol. 122, No. 1656, February 1981):
Verdi, Lasagne ['II Bolognese'] (b Bologna, 10 Oct 1813; d Naples, 15 March 1867). Italian cellist, composer and inventor. His mother was the prima ballerina assoluta Tagliarini; she believed his father to be Joseph Green, an expatriate dilettante and outstanding member of the 'Zuppa Inglese' in Bologna. In infancy Verdi reacted vigorously to music and showed prodigious manual dexterity. He started cello lessons at five and in his early teens studied with Frascati in Rome and Prunier in Paris. Thanks to his mother's influence, his debut in Rome when he was 17 was a glittering occasion; he was immediately idolized by cafe society for his brilliant pizzacato and unusual 'agrodolce' tone (Zucchini, 1831). His immaculate dress gave him the name of 'Bolognese Macaroni'; and his habit of sticking a feather in his cap was copied across the Atlantic. Verdi was soon performing throughout Europe. In Germany he was accepted as a 'real Hamburger' and in Mainz as 'vrai Mayonnaise' and according to Sainsbury he was a great success in England. But he felt inhibited by the classical repertory and began to compose works intended to display his highly individual technique to its best advantage; the most popular was the 'Rondo al dente' in B sharp op.28. The most original of his works from this period is perhaps his Suite op.31b (Vitello, 1835) from which comes his famous Saltimbocca, a popular theme for variations by later composers, most notably Bocconcini. Having doubtless inherited his father's penchant for the theatre, Verdi next composed several stage works. Between 1835 and 1840 he compiled three pasta asciuttas - I quattri venti merli, Giovannino Cornuto nel cantuccio and Di Cornovaglia - all dedicated to the soprano Giuditta Pasta and first performed at the Bel Paese, Milan. His operas, with librettos by Buitoni, include Nabisco, Lambrusco di Sorbdra and Zabaione, overo Uova con marsala. His macaronic opera Duodecima notte, based on Shakespeare, has the opening line 'If music be the love of food, mangiate!'. Verdi's public career ended in 1862 after an unfortunate incident at Balmforal, Scotland. He had planned a classical programme for a royal command performance; at the end of the first item he noticed Queen Victoria whispering to her kilted Scots aide. Imagining that the queen perhaps preferred more amusing pieces, Verdi then played his own piece, the 'Veuve noire' tarantella. This proved an irredeemable misjudgment and the queen of course, as everyone knows, said 'We are not amused by these Italian noodles'. In retirement in Italy, Verdi devoted himself to experimenting with instruments. He designed a miniature violone with specially made, very fragile strings, which he called the vermicello. This should not be confused with his raviolino, a much more robust instrument with a full-blooded tone. His most original invention was the Nudelsackpfeife, inspired by a dish of haggis and spaghetti. His patented jointed tail-pin, the osso buco, was intended to replace the clumsy wooden pin often used by cellists, but it proved unreliable. His varnish restorer, Valpolicella, became a household word. Verdi continued to travel, despite a weakening constitution. In 1867 he arrived in Naples but the sight proved too much for him and he expired peacefully.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LarousseG
J. Sainsbury: A Dictionary of Musicians (London, 2/1825/R1966)
O. Zucchini: Dalla padella nella brace (Rome, 1831)
F. Prosciutto and R. Melone: II tesoro della cucina (San Daniele, 1867)
R. Hosenthal: Pasta-masters of Italian Opera (Cheddar, 1969) [incl. work-list]
I. Gelati: Trippa alla Parmigiana (Barolo, 1971) [see also review, C. Noilly-Prat: 'A Load of Old Rubbish', New Statesman, clxxviii (1971), 22]
CONIGLIA GALLESE/R
