Stiffelio is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. The origin of this was the novel Le pasteur d’hommes, by Émile Souvestre, which was published in 1838. This was adapted into the French play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer by Souvestre together with Eugène Bourgeois. That play was in turn translated into Italian by Gaetano Vestri as Stifellius; this formed the basis of Piave's libretto.
Lars Cleveman as Stiffelio and Lena Nordin [sv] as Lina, Royal Swedish Opera 2011
Baritone Filippo Colini sang Stankar
Original poster for Stiffelio, 1850
Verdi around 1850
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron, Antonio Barezzi. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, and Gaetano Donizetti, whose works significantly influenced him.
Portrait by Giovanni Boldini, 1886
Verdi's childhood home at Le Roncole
Antonio Barezzi, Verdi's patron and later father-in-law
Margherita Barezzi, Verdi's first wife