Verdi Square Sawyer and built in 1926–28. The 72nd Street New York City Subway station () lies under the square. The Verdi Square entrance to the station in the square is one of only three remaining head houses on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. In the center of Verdi Square stands a monument to the opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, erected in 1906. A statue of him by Pasquale Civiletti (1858–1952) stands at the top of it and statues of four of his most famous characters (Falstaff on the west side of the statue, Leonora of "La forza del destino" on the south
Alzira (opera) his possession four months before the production. Verdi had received a synopsis of the opera from Cammarano, the subject of which was not his. But, as Budden notes, Verdi adopted a somewhat passive attitude, impressed as he was at being able to work with this librettist. In a letter of 23 February 1845, Verdi had expressed his optimism that "Voltaire's tragedy will become an excellent melodrama," with the added hope that if the librettist would "put some passion into your libretto" and that he, Verdi, would write music to match. In their early correspondence, it appears that Cammarano had already