ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 proposes that there is much about Verdi that still remains hidden or unexplored. The most insistent suspicion for me is that reverence for a treasured national figure and composer of much-loved music has muted further in-depth investigation of Verdi’s personal and operatic preoccupations regarding women. The chapter offers an overview of the biographical material available, some not superseded since the 1990s; the archival sources, for which access is no longer as easy as formerly; the excellent critical editions of correspondence from the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Verdiani; and the sociological sources which may throw light on Verdi’s motivations.
