INTO
THE SMOKE 0627
On June
27, 1847, Giuseppe Verdi was in London , hoping to further the cause of his operas when he wrote to
Giuseppina Appiani:
Glory to
the sun, which I have always loved so much, but which I now worship, since I’ve
been dwelling in the fog and smoke, which chokes me and blinds my spirit!
Nonetheless, what a magnificent city! It has things that stop you in your
tracks. But the climate ruins all the beauties. Oh, if only there were a
Neapolitan sky here, you’d have no need to wish for Paradise.
I have yet
to begin the rehearsals for my new opera because I haven’t yet had time to do
anything. Not a thing. That’s it in a nutshell! By the way, Jenny Lind still makes the
same impression on me: I am the very embodiment of loyalty! …. If you laugh, by
heaven, I’ll blow my top.
The
theaters are crowded to overflowing. The English enjoy such performances – and they
pay so many lire! Oh, if only I could stay here for a couple years, how I’d
like to carry off a bag of those oh-so-holy lire! But there’s no point in
getting ideas like that into my head, holds no particular charm for me, but
which I will enjoy greatly from the start because there I’ll be able to live as
I please! When I consider that I’ll be several weeks in Paris without getting tangled
up in musical business, without hearing anyone talk about music (I shall throw
all publishers and impresarios out the door), I all but lose my senses, and the
thought is so consoling.
My health
is not half bad in London, but I’m always afraid that some misfortune will
swoop down on me. For the most part, I stay home to write (or at least intend
to write). I go into society very little, very little to the theater, to avoid
annoyance.
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