Verdi’s Operas, Risorgimento and Ideology of Interpretive Activism

Abstract

The concept of interpretive activism and interpretive activists, is introduced as a media between cultural objects (Verdi’s operas) and political meanings. The multitude of political and ideological interpretations of Verdi’s operas written in the 1840s, that resulted from the differentiation between socio-political interests of interpretive activists, goes definitely beyond the traditional understanding of Verdi’s music as a convenient ideological tool used for creating pre-designed Italian nationalist sentiments of Risorgimento.