Born in 1813 in Le Roncole to an innkeeper (his father) and a spinner, Verdi wrote music on a spinet as a boy and received foundational training from a local maestro, Ferdinando Provesi. He moved to Milan, but was too old to study at the Conservatory of Music. Instead, he studied with harpsichordist Vincenzo Lavigna and watched operas in Milan. His connections with the aristocracy in Milan led to composing for the theater.
Verdi's first opera, "Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio," was staged in 1839, which led to a contract with major impresario Bartolomeo Merelli for 2 more operas. The first opera, "Un giorno di regno" in 1840, was a flop. That painful period also involved rent struggles, a bout with angina and the death of his wife Margherita Barezzi. Verdi intended to quit composing, but Merelli pushed him to continue writing, which led to Verdi's first success, "Nabucco," in 1842.
After "Nabucco," Verdi eventually gained international recognition with his hit opera "Ernani," based on Victor Hugo's "Hernani." Numerous hits followed like "Rigoletto," "Il trovatore" and "La Traviata" in the early 1850s, establishing Verdi as one of the great living opera composers.
Verdi continued to write hit operas like "Otello," based on Shakespeare's "Othello" and considered by some to be Verdi's best opera, which first staged in 1887 with a libretto by fellow composer Arrigo Boito. Verdi's last opera "Falstaff" (based on Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor") premiered in 1893, was his first comedy since the failed "Un giorno di regno" more than 50 years prior. However, Verdi did not stop composing music after "Falstaff," having written several sacred texts before his death in 1901.
While Verdi was immensely popular during his time, many patrons and critics of the theater--used to the traditional operatic conventions of depicting historical and mythological figures--criticized Verdi for his use of lower class characters like gypsies in his operas.
For much of his career, Verdi did not put much attention toward librettos, often choosing melodramatic pieces with simplistic characterization and morality. Still, the popularity of his work can be attributed to the quality of the music he wrote for these librettos.
Verdi and Wagner were both criticized in their time for the singing in their operas, facing accusations from critics that their singers were not singing, but bellowing. Regardless, the two composers themselves were not friends and had never met.
As Verdi's plays became more epic, he received an increasing amount of criticism for imitating the style of Wagner despite having a dislike for the symphonic element of Wagner's music. In response, Verdi insisted that no Italian composer should write like a German composer.