Editing Unification of Italy (section)

===Music===
[[File:Verdi palermo bust 200805.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Verdi]]'s bust outside the [[Teatro Massimo]] in Palermo]]
Risorgimento won the support of many leading Italian opera composers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Körner |first1=Axel |title=Opera and nation in nineteenth-century Italy: conceptual and methodological approaches |journal=Journal of Modern Italian Studies |date=September 2012 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=393–399 |doi=10.1080/1354571X.2012.690577 }}</ref> Their librettos often saw a delicate balance between European romantic narratives and dramatic themes evoking nationalistic sentiments. Ideas expressed in operas stimulated the political mobilisation in Italy and among the cultured classes of Europe who appreciated Italian opera. Furthermore, Mazzini and many other nationalists found inspiration in musical discourses.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sorba |first1=Carlotta |title=Between cosmopolitanism and nationhood: Italian opera in the early nineteenth century |journal=Modern Italy |date=February 2014 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=53–67 |doi=10.1080/13532944.2013.871420 }}</ref>

In his ''[[L'italiana in Algeri]]'' ('The Italian Girl in Algiers'), [[Gioachino Rossini]] expressed his support to the unification of Italy; the patriotic line ''Pensa alla patria, e intrepido il tuo dover adempi: vedi per tutta Italia rinascere gli esempi d’ardir e di valor'' ('Think about the fatherland and intrepid do your duty: see for all Italy the birth of the examples of courage and value') was censored in the [[Kingdom of Two Sicilies]].

[[Vincenzo Bellini]] was a secret member of the Carbonari and in his masterpiece ''[[I puritani]] (The Puritans)'', the last part of Act 2 is an allegory to Italian unification. Another Bellini opera, ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'', was at the center of an unexpected standing ovation during its performance in [[Milan]] in 1859: while the [[choir|chorus]] was performing ''Guerra, guerra! Le galliche selve'' ('War, war! The Gallic forests') in Act 2, the Italians began to greet the chorus with loud applause and to yell the word ''War!'' several times towards the [[Austrian Empire|Austrian officers]] at the [[opera house]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sivainitalia.it/italia/regno.php?page=4|title=Dal Risorgimento all'Italia unita|publisher=Sivainitalia.it|access-date=30 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924102212/http://www.sivainitalia.it/italia/regno.php?page=4|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The relationship between [[Gaetano Donizetti]] and the Risorgimento is still controversial. Although [[Giuseppe Mazzini]] tried to use some of Donizetti's works for promoting the Italian cause, Donizetti had always preferred not to get involved in politics.<ref>Rosa Maria Mazzola, [http://www.piranesi150.altervista.org/pagina-65879.html "Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and the Risorgimento"] Piranesi150.altervista.org, Retrieved 9 September 2014</ref>

[[File:Viva VERDI grafitti.jpeg|thumb|left|Patriots scrawling "Viva VERDI" on walls]]
Historians vigorously debate how political were the operas of [[Giuseppe Verdi]] (1813–1901). In particular, the chorus of the Hebrew slaves (known as "[[Va, pensiero]]") from the third act of the opera ''[[Nabucco]]'' was intended to be an anthem for Italian patriots, who were seeking to unify their country and free it from foreign control in the years up to 1861 (the chorus's theme of exiles singing about their homeland, and its lines such as ''O mia patria, si bella e perduta—'O my country, so lovely and so lost'—were thought to have resonated with many Italians).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/NATMUSIC.html |title=Modern History Sourcebook: Music and Nationalism |publisher=Fordham.edu |access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref> Beginning in Naples in 1859 and spreading throughout Italy, the slogan "Viva VERDI" was used as an acronym for '''''Viva V'''ittorio '''E'''manuele '''R'''e '''''D'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>'''I'''talia ('[[Vive, Viva|Viva]] Victor Emmanuel King of Italy'), referring to [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy|Victor Emmanuel II]].<ref>Parker 1998, p. 942{{full|date=April 2025}}</ref><ref>Budden 1973, Vol. 3, p. 80{{full|date=April 2025}}</ref>

Franco Della Peruta argues in favour of close links between the operas and the Risorgimento, emphasizing Verdi's patriotic intent and links to the values of the Risorgimento. Verdi started as a republican, became a strong supporter of Cavour and entered the Italian parliament on Cavour's suggestion. His politics caused him to be frequently in trouble with the Austrian censors. Verdi's main works of 1842–49 were especially relevant to the struggle for independence, including ''Nabucco'' (1842), ''[[I Lombardi alla prima crociata]]'' (1843), ''[[Ernani]]'' (1844), ''[[Attila (opera)|Attila]]'' (1846), ''[[Macbeth (Verdi)|Macbeth]]'' (1847), and ''[[La battaglia di Legnano]]'' (1848). However, starting in the 1850s, his operas showed few patriotic themes because of the heavy censorship of the absolutist regimes in power.

Verdi later became disillusioned by politics, but he was personally active part in the political world of events of the Risorgimento and was elected to the first Italian parliament in 1861.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Franco |last1=DellaPeruta |title=Verdi e il Risorgimento |journal=Rassegna Storica del Risorgimento |date=2001 |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=3–24 }}</ref> Likewise Marco Pizzo argues that after 1815 music became a political tool, and many songwriters expressed ideals of freedom and equality. Pizzo says Verdi was part of this movement, for his operas were inspired by the love of country, the struggle for Italian independence, and speak to the sacrifice of patriots and exiles.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Marco |last1=Pizzo |title=Verdi, Musica e Risorgimento |journal=Rassegna Storica del Risorgimento |date=2001 |volume=87 |issue=supplement 4 |pages=37–44 }}</ref> On the other side of the debate, [[Mary Ann Smart]] argues that music critics at the time seldom mentioned any political themes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smart |first1=Mary Ann |title=How political were Verdi's operas? Metaphors of progress in the reception of I Lombardi alla prima crociata |journal=Journal of Modern Italian Studies |date=March 2013 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=190–204 |doi=10.1080/1354571X.2012.753009 }}</ref> Likewise [[Roger Parker]] argues that the political dimension of Verdi's operas was exaggerated by nationalistic historians looking for a hero in the late 19th century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parker |first1=Roger |title=Verdi politico : a wounded cliché regroups |journal=Journal of Modern Italian Studies |date=September 2012 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=427–436 |doi=10.1080/1354571X.2012.690581 }}</ref>
[[File:Final scene from the opera Risorgimento!.jpg|thumb|The final scene of the opera ''Risorgimento!'' (2011) by [[Lorenzo Ferrero]]]]
Giuseppe Verdi's ''Nabucco'' and the Risorgimento are the subject of a 2011 opera, ''[[Risorgimento! (opera)|Risorgimento!]]'' by Italian composer [[Lorenzo Ferrero]], written to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Italian unification.