Verdi's land
The Stallone dairy is located in the centre of Verdi’s lands, a stone’s throw from the historic residence of the composer, the villa of S.Agata. A generous land, where the Arda and the Ongina are lost in the waters of the Great River, among silent mists and fiery afternoons.
Verdi moved definitively to the estate of S.Agata in the second half of the nineteenth century, here he administered his lands that over time reached an area of 1000 hectares.
The countryside became his second occupation, so much so that Verdi was considered one of the most influential agricultural entrepreneurs in the province.
he was particularly attached to his land, the lights, colours, voices and silences of this countryside inspired his masterpieces.
The Composer used to love wine, cold cuts, CHEESE GRANA produced on his farms.
Verdi preferred the simple and genuine dishes of the Emilian cuisine to the elaborate flavours of the restaurants he was used to frequent, in numerous letters (written together with his wife Giuseppina) he reported suggestions, recipes and cooking tales.
In his residence in S.Agata Verdi organized convivial lunches, in which the typical fruits of his land were never lacking. The Frenchman Henry Paul Pellaprat (1869-1952) dedicated a risotto with asparagus mushrooms and cooked ham to him.
Among the recipes inspired by Verdi also the spaghetti alla Traviata, a tasty recipe with patriotic colours, based on tomato, fresh basil and a generous sprinkling of GRANA.
10 proofs of Verdi's Piacentine links
1. He was born in Roncole, in the province of Parma, where his grandfather had moved to run a tavern.
2. His father’s family always gravitated, from the seventeenth century onwards, between Villanova and Sant’Agata, near Piacenza.
3. His mother’s family, the Uttini, constantly moved between Saliceto di Cadeo and Chiavenna Landi, in the heart of the province of Piacenza.
4. He settled in the province of Piacenza, in Sant’Agata.
5. In Sant’Agata he composed the largest part of his works and, most certainly, his masterpieces.
6. In Piacenza he had his best friends. Among the most famous were the stationmaster, Mazzacurati, the shoemaker, Zaffignani and the lawyer, Grandi.
7. He was a provincial councillor of Piacenza, and he was also a town councillor of Villanova sull’Arda, in the province of Piacenza.
8. Verdi used Piacenza as his base (he used to stay in the Hotel San Marco) for receiving or sending goods as well as for his travels.
9. Verdi was honorary president of the Circolo Musicale Piacentino (Piacentine Musical Circle)
10.In his will he left legacies for social works of the towns of Villanova sull’Arda, Fiorenzuola d’Arda and Cortemaggiore, all in the province of Piacenza.