Casa Verdi, the home for retired musicians that the Italian composer had built in Milan
The visit to the houses that the artists and famous people lived in and in which we can now enter thanks to their opening as museums, allow us to discover the spaces of the most daily life of characters such as Frida Kalho, in Mexico City.; Anne Frank and Vincent Van Gogh, in Amsterdam; Monet, in Giverny (France); Salvador Dalí, in Portlligat; or El Greco, in Toledo.
In the city of Milan, yet there is a place, Casa Verdi, which is neither a museum nor was it the home of the artist who gave it its name, but which we can visit and which tells us a lot about a world celebrity, his artistic sensibility and his altruism.
Pianos, harps, violins in sight and hearing in the interior of Casa Verdi
In the 29 Michelangelo Buonarroti Square of the Lombard capital we find the Verdi house. It is the name by which it has been known since the moment of its inauguration, in 1902 , the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti. Giuseppe Verdi Foundation , the asylum for musicians that the Italian composer had built.
He did it thinking of people, men or women, who would have dedicated themselves to lyrical music, but lacking in forecasting savings for the future, or without so much fortune or success, that they could find themselves in old age without a roof under which to shelter.
To all of them he wanted to allocate a building that would gather all the ingredients to offer them the comfort of a worthy retirement, all paid for by him. And where the music continued to accompany them until the last day of their lives.
MORE THAN 1,000 MUSICIANS
Verdi had bought a plot of land in Milan, not far from Porta Garibaldi, initially without a clear objective. But as he got to know the different realities of fellow professionals who, reached the third age, they did not have a minimum economy, he felt his decision was clear. He oversaw every minute detail of the building's construction to ensure it would have what Casa Verdi's guests continue to enjoy today, 120 years later.
Pianist Alice Mazzei has dedicated her life to giving piano lessons to boys and girls
have been through it more than 1,000 musicians, more and less famous. Today, each person who comes to stay in this asylum for musicians contributes to expenses based on his retirement pension. Verdi also left signed in his will the contribution of all his copyrights to the maintenance of this home for musicians.
Entering it is like setting foot in a sanctuary of music. Pianos, harps, violins in sight and hearing. At any time of the day and of one or another stay, melodies accompany life at Casa Verdi.
PASSION FOR MUSIC
“The concerts we do here are what I like the most. We are an expert public. Playing in a place like this is a huge pleasure” , Explain alice mazzei , a pianist from the city of L'Spezia, in Italian Liguria.
After devoting his entire life to piano lessons for boys and girls, “Trying to make them love music” –says she-she, she chose to come and retire at Casa Verdi . "I didn't want to be a burden to my children, that they didn't feel obligated to take care of me, but free and calm because their mother here is well cared for”, expresses the pianist. Her fingers continue to traverse the keyboard, daily.
The passion that opened the professional path of each one of those staying at Casa Verdi still present in one way or another.
The tenor Beniamino Trevisi and his wife, Edda Mosconi
the tenor Beniamino Trevisi that he occupies with his wife, edda mosconi , one of the apartments for couples on one of the upper floors of Casa Verdi, proves it with his voice, as firm and powerful as when he toured theaters around the world.
A Dinah Moreno, singer of light music and responsible for years of a venue in Venice where she always had live music, her enthusiasm continues to make her heart beat in each activity in which she participates with her peers in the home that Giuseppe Verdi made a reality for welfare of all of them in the last stage of their lives. After spending the morning shopping in Milan, this afternoon she touches him dried flower workshop The singer receives a visit from her son, who works in banking in the Lombard capital, every morning. They drink coffee together. At 90 years old, Dina Moreno confesses that she still thinks about the future.
INTERGENERATIONAL EXCHANGE
A future that students like Cosimo Moretti (Fermo, 1996) they are tilling. He does it on the piano, with the violin and in his singing classes at the Milan Conservatory. , and together with his octogenarians and nonagenarians. Because Moretti is one of the 16 students who lives with the 60 pensioners at Casa Verdi.
He is a fish in the water. He feels the privilege of being able to interact with consecrated figures of music that accompany his path of study and improvement. , What Lorenzo Saccomani, baritone of the Scala in Milan , the oldest of the residents. This March he will be 100 years old.
Students coexist with consecrated figures of music
“The coexistence between all those brilliant musicians and young music students from the conservatory or the academy of La Scala in Milan make Casa Verdi a unique place in the world”, expresses Dani Ferdinando. He is a musician and takes care of organizing the activities of the guests: the singing laboratory, the listening music therapy, the film forum, the group games of various themes, such as cards, or the tea sessions and the raffle.
“We celebrate more or less two or three concerts a week”, he says. Some activities, book presentations or concerts, such as the Christmas market, are open to the public. We can consult it on the Casa Verdi website.
GUIDED VISIT
Ferdinando is also responsible for the guided tours. The crypt where the remains of Giuseppe Verdi and those of his second wife, Giuseppina Strepponi, are buried, can be visited freely, and daily, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
To enter the museum rooms and the hall of honor of Casa Verdi, where works from the collection of the romantic composer are kept, you have to make a prior reservation that must be in a group. There is no entrance fee, but welcome any donation to the Giuseppe Verdi Foundation , a way to help perpetuate what Verdi himself recognized as the best work of his life.
Entrance to the crypt where Giuseppe Verdi is buried
That was his response when his friend, sculptor and politician Giulio Monteverde he asked him in a letter which of all his compositions was his favorite. Giuseppe Verdi replied: “The house that I had built in Milan for older musicians who were disadvantaged or who did not have the virtue of saving when they were young. Poor and dear companions of a life.
Giuseppe Verdi died in the city of Milan on January 27, 1901. He had been able to see the Casa de Riposo per musicisti, his most valued work, completed. Also to the first nine guests who were able to enjoy it. But Verdi had asked not to celebrate its inauguration until after his death. He did not want to live a tribute centered on his leading role in the face of the gratitude of the people who, however, always existed and will endure in history through the home that shows a Verdi, whose humanity surpasses his great artistic talent.
Tomb of Giuseppe Verdi and his second wife, Giuseppina Strepponi