Franz Curti

NOTOC Jean Baptist Joseph Franz Henry Curti (1854–1898) was a Swiss-German opera composer. Curti was born 16 November 1854 at Kassel, son to the lawyer and court opera singer Anton Curti (1820–1887), and his wife Marie Clementine, née Gräbner (1827–1898). From 1864, while his father took up engagements in Europe’s opera houses, Curti grew up with his uncle in Rapperswil, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Zurich. In addition to school lessons, he learned to play the piano, organ and violin. After graduating from high school in 1871 he travelled to Italy to recover from lung disease; while there he was impressed by the country’s opera. In 1880 he completed medical studies and the state examination at Berlin, subsequently opening a dental practice in Dresden. In addition to his medical practice he took composition lessons with Edmund Kretschmer (1830–1908) and Heinrich Schulz-Beuthen (1838–1915). Curti published his first work Die Gletscherjungfrau in 1882, and his first opera, Hertha, was awarded the Gold Medal for Art and Science by Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg in 1887. His international breakthrough came in 1896, two years before his death, with the opera Lili-Tsee, which