Epistolographic problematizations from the letters between Verdi and Boito

Abstract

This article intends to present a reflection on some concepts that emerged from the letters exchanged between Verdi and Boito, as being the context of epistemological production to enrich epistolography. This method is not treated in a static way, but sometimes reflects on the dynamics of the letters, sometimes on itself during the analysis in self-redoing. In this text, this last procedure will be further explored. The main concepts are: the different ways of being in writing; the game of writing oneself; the truth and the game of truth that permeate the ethical relationship in an exchange of letters; the notion of epistolary time and the subject of the letter as aesthetic subjectivity. The dynamic communication between the maestro Giuseppe Verdi and the poet Arrigo Boito began in 1862, but became more intense from 1879 onwards when the regularity lasted until the end of the maestro's life, who died in January 1901. This collection received the name of carteggio and has hundreds of letters that reveal everything from moments of turbulence to a sincere and true friendship that culminated in two important operas in the Verdian repertoire: Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893). However, in this work the carteggio is the background.