Did Verdi believe opera should reflect society?
Of course! How could it not? Opera is not some fanciful dream spun from thin air; it is theatre, and theatre must hold a mirror to life, to the world around us. My works, like *Nabucco* with its call for liberation, were not detached from the 'Risorgimento,' the yearning for a unified Italy. The emotions, the struggles, the very spirit of the people – these must be present. To ignore the pulse of your time, to create art that is divorced from the 'il vero,' is to create something hollow, something that will not endure. The heart of the audience must be engaged.
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