Verdi was, indeed, political, but there is no evidence that he was anti-Semitic. Nor was he, in any way, a Fascist. His particular cause was the freedom of Italy from the domination of the Austrian Empire—a cause very dear to the hearts of most Italians in the mid-1800s.

I can't remember offhand what city it occurred in, but sometime after the premier of Verdi's opera "Nabucco" (Nebuchadnezzar), a crowd of about a thousand Italians gathered in the city square spontaneously broke into one of the choral numbers in the opera: va pensiero, the "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves," lamenting for their lost country.

It scared the socks off the Austrian occupiers!

Verdi was popular in his own right, but his name was seen everywhere, graffiti scrawled on walls. "Viva Verdi!" This appeared to be a great appreciation for the opera composer, but in addition, what the graffiti conveyed—

Verdi's name served as an acronym for "Victor Emmanuel, re d'Italia!" "Victor Emmanuel, king of Italy!" Italians wanted their own rightful king, not some Austrian overlord.

When the crowd gathered in the city square, the Austrian cavalry was there, sabers drawn, ready to ride out and quell the rioters. But they didn't riot. They sang!

CLICK.

Don Firth

P. S. The audience at this particular production kinda liked it. They insisted that they sing it again.

I kinda choke up whenever I hear this.