
Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer, 1813-1901
Verdi was the most influential and eminent opera composer of the Romantic era. His operas remain today extremely popular, especially the three peaks of his "middle period": Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata. His operas are frequently staged around the world. The Operabase listings for 2013–2014 show La traviata as the most performed opera during this period (659 performances). Other Verdi operas in the top 20 are Rigoletto (8th place, 445 performances), Aida (12th place, 304 performances), Nabucco (16th place, 304 performances) and Il trovatore (18th place, 232 performances).