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Julian Medforth Budden (9 April 1924 in Hoylake, Wirral Peninsula – 28 February 2007 in Florence, Italy) was a British opera scholar, radio producer and broadcaster. He is particularly known for his three volumes on the of Giuseppe Verdi (published in 1973, 1978, and 1981), a single-volume biography in 1982 and a single-volume work on Giacomo Puccini and his operas in 2002. He is also the author of numerous entries in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
He attended Stowe School and read Classics at Queen's College Oxford.Parker, Roger, "Julian Budden 1924–2007", Opera (London), May 2007, pp. 538–39.Later in life he returned to review opera productions at Stowe. See: Rusalka (review). Opera (London), December 2001, pp. 1525–26. The war interrupted his studies; he worked in the Friends' Ambulance Unit from 1943 to 1946, serving in Austria and Italy. He completed his BA in 1948 and then studied piano (with Thornton Lofthouse) and bassoon (with Archie Camden) at the Royal College of Music.
Concurrently, Budden pursued a career as a writer, starting with the BBC publication The Listener. Then came his major study of Verdi, built on the foundation of "patient archival research, practical musicianship, a sense of history, and wide cultural sympathies", with every opera covered by a detailed discussion of the literary background, compositional process, and the music as part of the drama. The books were "free from obscure technical analysis or deconstructionist jargon". His writing style was "generous to past scholars and generous to his readers. His prose was full of wit and relaxed communication". Budden was considered a key figure in securing the reputation of Verdi during the second half of the twentieth century.Obituary – Julian Budden, The Times, 13 March 2007.
After leaving the BBC, he was based in both London and Florence (where he spoke fluent Italian), where he was a regular correspondent for Opera magazine and was a presence at the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Verdiani in Parma. He was president of the Centro di Studi Giacomo Puccini in Lucca until his death.
He was made a Fellow of the British Academy in 1987 and appointed an OBE for services to opera in 1991.Amis, John, "Julian Budden - Masterful guide to opera's magic". The Guardian (London), 7 March 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2010
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