It is now 207 years since Giuseppe Verdi’s birth in Emilia- Romagna, and his operatic legacy continues all around the globe. But his life might well have taken a different turn… In his 20s and only just embarking on his musical career, his two young children and then his 26-year-old wife passed away. Devastated by their deaths, he vowed never to compose again. After a brief hiatus, thankfully his muse returned to inspire a prolific tally of 16 operas in seven years, and 27 in total before his death in 1901. Here we see him in well-earned repose outside the Verdi Opera House in the Rocca Pallavicino, Busseto.