Giuseppe Verdi is one of many statues to the composer in Italy. The Giuseppe Verdi Monument, a 1906 marble memorial, sculpted by Pasquale Civiletti, is located in Verdi Square in Manhattan, New York City. The monument includes a statue of Verdi himself and life-sized statues of four characters from his operas, (Aida, Otello, and Falstaff from the operas of the same names, and Leonora from "Il trovatore"). Verdi has been the subject of a number of film and stage works. These include the 1938 film directed by Carmine Gallone, "Giuseppe Verdi", starring Fosco Giachetti; the 1982 miniseries, "The Life of Verdi", directed
Oberto (opera) the basis for "Oberto" when Verdi was able to return to Milan in February 1839 after fulfilling two and a half years of his contract in Busseto is subject to some disagreement amongst scholars. How much of "Rocester" remained visible in "Oberto" is discussed by Roger Parker, who does suggest that "in this shape-shifting tendency, the opera was, of course, very much of its time." In his recollections in 1881 (quoted in Budden) following his return to Milan from Busseto in 1838, Verdi describes how he was invited to meet the La Scala impresario, Bartolomeo Merelli, who had heard a