Italy on Music Theory Print

Achille Longo

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Achille Longo (28 March 1900 – 28 May 1954) was an Italian composer and music teacher. Biography Achille (junior), son of Alessandro and Luisa Todisco, was born in Naples on 28 March 1900. He was a pupil first of his father, and then of A. Savasta at the Naples Conservatory, where he graduated in piano in 1918 and in organ and composition in 1920. He taught harmony and counterpoint at the same conservatory from 1926 to 1930; from 1930 to 1934, he taught harmony and counterpoint at the Parma Conservatory, where, among others, F. Margola was his pupil. In 1934, he returned to the conservatory in Naples, first as a teacher of counterpoint and fugue, and then, from 1941 until his death, of composition. The famous pianist Aldo Ciccolini studied composition with him in Naples. Achille Longo, along with Beniamino Cesi, Sigismund Thalberg, Alessandro Longo and Vincenzo Vitale, is considered one of the most important Italian piano teachers of the 20th century, and contributed to creating what is considered today the ‘Neapolitan piano school’. Compositions The following were used in films, orchestras, and also symphonic music. Vocal music * Canzonette de Poliziano (1930) * Chansons Enfantine

Achille Simonetti

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Achille Simonetti (12 June 1857 – 19 November 1928) was a prominent Italian violinist and composer, mainly resident in England and Ireland. He was mainly known as a chamber musician and teacher. Life Born in Turin on 12 June 1857, Simonetti left his family in Bologna (this can be gleaned from his letter to Mr Hill (of Hills and Sons) written in 1922, ) and completed his studies under Francesco Bianchi, Eugenio Cavallini, Giuseppe Gamba, Charles Dancla (regarded as the last exponent of the classical French school of violin playing), and Camillo Sivori, the last pupil of Niccolo Paganini. Simonetti died aged 71 in London on 19 November 1928. Career Simonetti came to England in 1891, embarking on a career as chamber musician. He became part of the first London Trio, an endeavour which occupied him from 1901 to 1912, along with cellist William Whitehouse and pianist Amina Goodwin. From 1912 to 1919, he was a professor of violin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, ;Chamber music * Allegretto Romantico in D minor for viola and piano (published 1897) * Andante mélancolique for violin (or cello) and piano * Ballata in C minor for viola and piano (published 1897) * Berceuse for violin and

Ada Gentile

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Ada Gentile (born 26 July 1947) is an Italian pianist and composer. She has taught at the Rome Conservatory and been artistic director of uovi Spazi Musicali, Rome, Goffredo Petrassi Chamber Orchestra, Rome and the opera house in Ascoli Piceno, and advisor to the Venice Biennale Festival. Her works have been performed internationally, and she was honoured by the Polish Ministry of Culture in 1988 ‘for cultural services’. She was also awarded the Cavaliere al merito of the Italian Republic. Life Ada Gentile was born in Avezzano and attended the Conservatorio di St. Cecilia in Rome, graduating in piano and composition. She then completed a graduate degree in composition at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia with Goffredo Petrassi. She was successful in international competitions, including Gaudeamus in 1982, ISCM, Budapest in 1986 and Essen in 1995. Gentile was honoured by the Polish Ministry of Culture in 1988 ‘for cultural services’. Works Selected works include: *Adagios for string orchestra (1993–94) *Adagio for a Summer for flute and strings (1998) *Concertante for flute, guitar and orchestra (1989) *Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (1995) *Concert (“Veni Lumen Cordis”) for femal

Adelaide Orsola Appignani

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Adelaide Orsola Appignani (also known as Orsola Aspri; 1807 – 30 September 1884) was an Italian singer, conductor, music educator and composer. She was a singer and conductor in Florence and Rome in 1839. She was a member of the Roman Academie Filarmonica at Pallazio Lancelotti and was granted an honorary membership in 1842 of the Academie de St. Cecelia. Appignani also taught singing, and one her students was notable tenor Settimio Malvezzi. Life Adelaide Orsola Appignani (also known as Orsola Aspri) was born in Rome around 1807. After her widowed mother married the well-known violinist Andrea Aspri, Appignani changed her name to Orsola Aspri. After completing her studies, she was active as a singer and a conductor in Florence and Rome in 1839. She was a member of the Roman Academie Filarmonica at Pallazio Lancelotti, and performed Smeton in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena there in 1833. Some of her romances and duets were printed in Rome by Ambrosini. Works Her selected works include: *Le advventure de una giornata (melodrama) 1827 *I riti indiani (opera) 1834 *I pirati (melodrama) 1843 *Clara de Clevers (melodrama) 1876 *Sinfonia for instruments (symphony), 1834 *Le redenzioni de Roma (

Adriana Basile

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Adriana Basile (baptized 21 December 1586 – after c. 1642) was an Italian composer, musician, poet, and singer of the Baroque period. Life She was born and died in Naples. From 1610, she worked for the Gonzagas in Mantua. Members of her family also worked for the court, including her brothers, Giambattista Basile, a poet, Lelio Basile, a composer, and her sisters, Margherita and Vittoria, who were both singers. Her husband, Mutio Baroni, and her three children, her son Camillo, and two daughters, Leonora and Caterina were also at the court. Leonora and Caterina were both successful singers in their own right. Claudio Monteverdi declared that Basile was a more talented singer than Francesca Caccini, who was at that time at the Medici court. Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga awarded Basile a barony in the Monferrato, and she was also well regarded by Vincenzo’s sons Francesco and Ferdinando. While still working for the Mantuan court, she travelled to Florence, Rome, Naples, and Modena. She performed in Alessandro Guarini’s Licori, ovvero L’incanto d’amore. In 1626 she retired from the service of the Gonzagas, and moved to Naples and later Rome. None of Basile’s music survives, but she is known t

Adriano Guarnieri (composer)

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Adriano Guarnieri (born 10 September 1947, in Sustinente, Italy) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Guarnieri studied at the Conservatory in Bologna, where he got his diploma in musical composition with Giacomo Manzoni and another diploma in choral music with Tito Gotti. He started his activity as a conductor as well, founding the Nuovo Ensemble Bruno Maderna in Florence. He taught musical composition at the Milan Conservatory, Florence, Pesaro Conservatory and Bologna Conservatory. In his earliest works, from Musica per un’azione immaginaria to L’art pour l’art?, he tries to incorporate graphical elements into the music, and in so doing, he clearly shows his structuralist approach, which only later becomes more informal. Nafshi, Recit and other compositions show a turning point in his way of composing, since he pays more attention to the form, which is thought of as a synthesis of a fluid episodic multiplicity. Through his Pierrot series, he was able to reveal a “melodic” component of his music, which broadens in the opera Trionfo della notte (1986–87 season at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna), which won the Premio Abbiati as the best composition of t

Agata della Pietà

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Agata della Pietà (24 March 1712 - 17 October 1769) was an Italian composer, singer, and teacher of music at the Venetian charitable institution known as the Ospedale della Pietà. A foundling admitted in infancy to the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, she received thorough musical training starting in her childhood through the instruction of an older woman named Apollonia, who was also top soprano vocalist for the Ospedale. After years of training, Agata became a performing member in the institution’s musical ensembles, called the coro; she later became a soprano soloist, singing teacher, and administrator. She is known to have been the soloist in motets commissioned from Giovanni Porta and Andrea Bernasconi, in whose manuscripts she is mentioned by name; she is also mentioned in an anonymous verse tribute to musicians of the Pietà cori which dates to around 1740. Agata della Pietà is known to have written several musical compositions, including a setting of Psalm 134 Ecce nunc for compline. Harpsichordist, Elizabeth Anderson completed a reconstruction of this work in 2022 and it was first performed by the Australian Chamber Choir in Melbourne in May 2022. Other known compositions a

Agostino Steffani

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Agostino Steffani (25 July 165412 February 1728) was an Italian bishop, polymath, diplomat and composer. Education Steffani was born at Castelfranco Veneto on 25 July 1654. As a boy he was admitted as a chorister at San Marco, Venice. Steffani excelled as a choirboy and was asked to sing at important occasions. Aged 11 and 12 he sang opera in Venice. Aged 13 Steffani received patronage and he moved to Munich. Steffani’s education was completed at the expense of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, who appointed him Churfürstlicher Kammer- und Hofmusikus and granted him a liberal salary. After receiving instruction from Johann Kaspar Kerll, in whose charge he lived, Steffani was sent in 1673 to study in Rome, where Ercole Bernabei was his master, and among other works he composed six motets, the original manuscripts of which are now in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge. On his return to Munich with Bernabei in 1674, Steffani published his first work, Psalmodia vespertina, a part of which was reprinted in Giovanni Battista Martini’s Saggio di contrappunto in 1774. In 1675, Steffani was appointed court organist. Royal appointments The date when he was ordained priest, with the title

Alba Rosa Viëtor

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Alba Rosa Viëtor (July 18, 1889 – April 15, 1979) was an Italian-born violinist and composer who settled in the United States in 1919. One of his notable students was Jan Kubelík, who would become her mentor and to whose memory she dedicated her Elegie. In 1919 she settled permanently in the United States, and married Jan Fresemann Viëtor, a Dutch businessman who was a skilled amateur violinist. in 1916 she played alongside Camille Saint-Saëns on piano during a tour in Argentina, she decided to end this and dedicated herself completely to composing. After her divorce (the marriage was dissolved in 1940; Jan died in 1953 in Panama) she became a member of the National Association for American Composers and Conductors. She composed prolifically for orchestra, voice and various solo instruments. Her compositions were performed in the same program as Charles Ives, Aaron Copland and John Philip Sousa by the National Gallery Orchestra in 1950. The most important element that dominates all of Alba Rosa Vietor’s work is not the form but rather the mood she wishes to convey. Lawrence A. Johnson calls one of her best known works, Primavera Lombarda (Springtime in Lombardy), “an intriguing moo

Albert Mayr

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Albert Mayr (1 August 1943 – 28 January 2024) was an Italian composer of experimental and contemporary music. He studied music and composition in three different cities: at conservatories in both Bolzano and Florence and at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in German. In 1965, Mayr graduated in music and choral singing from the Florence Conservatory. From 1963 to 1969, Mayr worked with Pietro Grossi at “Fonologia Musicale’s study” in Florence and received commissions from the musicological division of CNUCE/CNR. He received commissions from Südtiroler Künstlerbund, from “Brixner Iniziative Musik und Kirche” and from Sound Art at Mobius, Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities. He is a composer of the Florentine artistic movement that has been active since the end of World War II up to the present, including Sylvano Bussotti, Giuseppe Chiari, Giancarlo Cardini, Sergio Maltagliati, Daniele Lombardi, Pietro Grossi, Lelio Camilleri, Francesco Giomi. These musicians have experimented with the interaction among sound, sign and vision, a synaesthetics of art derived from historical avant-gardes, from Wassily Kandinsky to futurism, to Alexander Scriabin and Arnold Schoenberg, all the wa

Alberto Franchetti

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Alberto Franchetti (18 September 1860 – 4 August 1942) was an Italian composer and racing driver, best known for the 1902 opera Germania. Biography Alberto Franchetti was born in Turin, a Jewish nobleman of independent means. He studied first in Venice, then at the Munich Conservatory under Josef Rheinberger, and finally in Dresden under Felix Draeseke. His first major success occurred in 1888 with his opera Asrael. His operatic style combined Wagnerianism and the traits of Meyerbeer with Italian verismo. During his life, critics sometimes referred to him as the “Meyerbeer of modern Italy.” The words of music critic G. B. Nappi sum up Franchetti’s primary talents: “His character is perhaps unsuitable for passionate dramas, but rather for those subjects, where the fantastic, romantic and epic are required in the symphonic texture and large choral pictures. In this regard Alberto Franchetti knows that he has no rival” (from “Orfeo” 6.3, 1915). Grove considers Cristoforo Colombo (1892) Franchetti’s best work. However, his most popular opera was Germania (1902; libretto by Luigi Illica). It clung to the general operatic repertoire until the First World War; it was performed worldwide,

Alberto Giurioli

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Alberto Giurioli (born 24 July 1991) is an Italian pianist and composer, based in London. Born in Badia Polesine, Italy (a municipality in Rovigo), Giurioli is the son of Pietro Giurioli and Alice Fasolin. He began studying piano at the age of 4 and studied at the music school Libera Espressione Musicale. He has also studied at the Cat Sound Studio under Patrizia Arduini and Mario Marcassa, and at the conservatory of music Conservatorio di Musica Francesco Venezze in Rovigo. Giurioli earned a degree in International Economics from the University of Padua. Giurioli also plays keyboards, electric guitar, bass guitar and drums. He has appeared on television on channels such as 7 Gold, and performed in London on public street pianos. He lives in London. Giurioli’s first album, Ali, was released in July 2011 through Cat Sound Records. After moving to London in 2015, Giurioli began collaborating with the orchestrator Geoff Lawson, deepening his understanding of orchestration in the Neo-classical genre. Giurioli has performed as a guest for Sofar Sound in London. His collaboration with Classic FM led to a performance as part of Global’s Make Some Noise in October 2017, performing at Stein

Alberto Mazzucato

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Alberto Mazzucato (28 July 1813 – 31 December 1877) was an Italian composer, music teacher, and writer. Mazzucato was born in Udine. He trained at the Padua Conservatory and composed eight operas between 1834 and 1843, the most successful of which was Esmeralda (1838). He also contributed music to the pastiche La vergine di Kermo (1870) which also contained music by Carlo Pedrotti, Antonio Cagnoni, Federico Ricci, Amilcare Ponchielli, and Giovanni Pacini. composers Arrigo Boito, Their daughter Eliza Mazzucato Young (1846-1937) was a composer, pianist, and music educator in the United States. Their son Giannandrea Mazzucato (1850-1900) was a music writer, librettist, and critic based in London. Operas *La fidanzata di Lammermoor (1834) *Don Chisciotte (1836) *Esmeralda (1838) *Coro dei penitenti (1838) *I corsari (1840) *I due sergenti (1841) *Luigi V, re di Francia (1843) *Hernani (1843) *La vergine di Kermo (1870) References

Aldo Brizzi

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Aldo Brizzi is an Italian composer and conductor. Biography Brizzi was born in Alessandria, Italy, in 1960. He studied piano, viola and composition at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan and later graduated in DAMS from the University of Bologna. As a composer and conductor, he has worked between Europe and Brazil. In 2016, he founded the Núcleo de Ópera da Bahia in Salvador. His stage works include Gabriel et Gabriel, performed at the Opéra de Tours in November 2015. He also composed Jelin, an opera in two acts, which premiered at the Teatro Alessandrino in Alessandria on 17 September 2021. Brizzi collaborated with Gilberto Gil on Amor Azul, an opera co-written by the two musicians and performed at the Auditorium de Radio France in Paris in December 2022. The production was presented in concerts on 2, 3 and 4 December 2022 by the Chœur de Radio France and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, with Brizzi conducting. In 2025, he co-composed the opera I-Juca Pirama with Gilberto Gil, with a libretto by Paulo Coelho. The work received its world premiere at the Theatro da Paz in Belém on 10 November 2025, with further performances on 11 and 12 November, as part of the XXI

Aldo Clementi

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Aldo Clementi (25 May 1925 – 3 March 2011) was an Italian classical composer. Life Aldo Clementi was born in Catania, Italy. He studied the piano, graduating in 1946 at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome. His studies in composition began in 1941, and his teachers included and Goffredo Petrassi. After receiving his diploma in 1954 again at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, he attended the Darmstadt summer courses from 1955 to 1962. Important influences during this period included meeting Bruno Maderna in 1956, and working at the electronic music studio of the Italian radio broadcaster RAI in Milan. Further reading * Clementi, Aldo, Maria Rosa De Luca, Salvatore Enrico Failla, and Graziella Seminara. 2005. Per Aldo Clementi: nell’occasione dei suoi ottant’anni, 25 maggio 2005. Catania: Università degli studi di Catania. * Cresti, Renzo. 1990. Aldo Clementi: studio monografico e intervista. Milan: Edizioni Suvini Zerboni. * Lux, Simonetta, and Daniela Tortora. 2005. Collage 1961: un’azione dell’arte di Achille Perilli e Aldo Clementi. Luxflux prototype arte contemporanea, Documenti 1. Rome: Gangemi. * Mattietti, Gianluigi. 2001. Geometrie di musica: il periodo diatonico di Aldo Cl

Aldo Donati (singer)

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Aldo Donati (2 September 1947 – 24 August 2014) was an Italian singer, composer and television personality. Born in Rome, he started his career at very young age as a member of the blues-rock group “Gli Arciduchi”. In 1974 he was one of the co-founder and a stable member of the vocal group Schola Cantorum, that had a consistent success for the whole decade. As a solo singer, his main hits are the songs “Canterò canterò canterò”, which ranked fourth at the 1980 Sanremo Music Festival, and “Cantando”, which entered the competition at the 1982 Festivalbar. Donati was also very active as a composer, signing among others several songs for Mina. Among his compositions, the most successful was “Canzoni stonate”, a 1981 hit by Gianni Morandi which was later covered by several artists, including Andrea Bocelli and Stevie Wonder in a Spanish adaptation (“Cançion desafinada”) for the album Amore. A supporter of S.S. Lazio, for which he composed the hymn “So’ già du ore”, in the 2000s he was active in television sport programs as an opinionist and occasionally a presenter. In 2009 he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, due to an aneurysm, for which he fell into a coma. Never fully recovered, he di

Aldo Finzi (composer)

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Aldo Finzi (Milan, 4 February 1897 – 7 February 1945) was an Italian classical music composer. Biography Aldo Finzi was born to an ancient Jewish family in Milan on February 4, 1897. After completing his classical studies at the Parini high school in Milan, he graduated in law from the University of Pavia. Simultaneously, he graduated in composition as a private student at the Accademia S. Cecilia in Rome. He soon achieved success and fame among young Italian musicians: operas, chamber music, symphonic music, a comic opera “La serenata al vento”, a dramatic work inspired by anti-Semitic persecution, “Shylock”, which remained unfinished and was performed in this form (Milan and Marseille), are among his compositions. At 24, he had become one of the authors whose works were published by Ricordi, while previously his publishers were Fantuzzi and Sonzogno. In the 1931 Ricordi catalogue, his compositions include “Il chiostro” for female voices and orchestra, the symphonic poems “Cirano di Bergerac”, nominated in a competition whose judging panel included Arturo Toscanini and Ildebrando Pizzetti, and “Inni alla notte”, a “Sonata for violin and piano” (now published by Suvini & Zerboni),

Aldo Piga

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Aldo Piga (1928–1994) was an Italian-American composer who worked mainly in New York. Aldo Piga’s work was mainly produced in the 1950s and 1960s in Italy. He started as a song composer and later approached the movie soundtrack field. His participation in the pop music Italian market counts with two participations in the famous contest of Sanremo, one of which was overshadowed in the year of the famous Modugno’s song “Volare”. He recorded about one hundred film soundtracks. One film soundtrack that he contributed to was Il grido, a 1957 Italian drama directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, which included “Non lo saprai mai” (You will never know it) by Piga and Renato Barneschi. His activity as a composer was strongly influenced by classical music and bebop jazz roots of his early years in the New York music scene. Piga’s work was also known to British television audiences in the last late 1950s. “Come to My Arms”, which Piga wrote with Maurizio de Angelis and Jack Elliott featured on the British television programme Six-Five Special in 1958, where it was performed by Dickie Valentine. After a promising career as a music writer, he decided to start working as a film producer in the late

Aleandro Baldi

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Aleandro Baldi (born 11 April 1959) is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. Life and career Born in Greve in Chianti, Florence as Aleandro Civai, blind, Baldi began playing the guitar as an autodidact while he was at the Reggio Emilia College for the Blind. He debuted in 1986, entering the Sanremo Music Festival with “La nave va”, a song he composed and arranged, ranking second in the “Newcomers” section. He later won the Newcomers section of the Festival in 1992, in a duet with Francesca Alotta, with the song “Non amarmi”, which later became an international hit with the title “No Me Ames”. Outside of his musical career, Baldi is also a massophysiotherapist. Discography Album * 1987 - Aleandro Baldi * 1989 - E sia così * 1992 - Il sole * 1994 - Ti chiedo onestà * 1996 - Tu sei me * 2002 - Il meglio e il nuovo * 2007 - Liberamente tratto * 2010 - Italian Love Songs References External links * * Aleandro Baldi at Discogs *

Alessandro Alessandroni

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Alessandro Alessandroni (18 March 1925 – 26 March 2017) was an Italian musician and composer. He played multiple instruments, including the guitar, mandolin, mandolincello, sitar, accordion and piano, composed more than 40 film scores and countless library music tracks, and was renowned for his whistling technique. Biography Alessandroni collaborated with his childhood friend Ennio Morricone on a number of soundtracks for Spaghetti Westerns. Morricone’s orchestration often calls for an unusual combination of instruments, voices, and whistling. Alessandroni’s twangy guitar riff is central to the main theme for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Alessandroni can be heard as the whistler on the soundtracks for Sergio Leone’s films, including the Dollars Trilogy, Once Upon a Time in the West, and Pervirella. He also collaborated with Morricone in scoring the 1974 film Around the World with Peynet’s Lovers. Alessandroni founded the octet vocal group (English: The Modern Choristers) in 1961. The group, which included his wife, , performed wordless vocals on several Italian movie soundtracks. Most notably, I Cantori Moderni are featured on the song “Mah Nà Mah Nà”, written by Piero Umiliani

Alessandro Besozzi

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Alessandro Besozzi (born 22 July 1702 in Parma – died 26 July 1793 in Turin) was an Italian composer and virtuoso oboist. He was a member of the ducal Guardia Irlandese from 1714, a hautboy band created by Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma in 1702, where he worked with his father Cristoforo Besozzi and his brothers Giuseppe and Paolo Girolamo Besozzi. After leaving the company on 20 April 1731, he worked in Turin with his brother Paolo Girolamo at the court of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia. The uncle of Antonio Besozzi and Gaetano Besozzi, he played concerts in various European cities with his younger brother Paolo. They went to Paris to play in the Concert Spirituel from 30 March to 29 May 1735, taking part for a time in the musical chapel of Versailles. and had many students who became successful musicians themselves like Johann Christian Fischer and Georg Druschetzky. Works Alessandro Besozzi is the author of nearly two hundred chamber works composed for various groups of instruments, although only one of them was published in his lifetime. He wrote over a hundred sonatas, 65 trios, six oboe concertos, two for flute, and twelve trio sonatas. * 6 Trio sonatas for flute, viola wit

Alessandro Cicognini

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Alessandro Cicognini (15 January 1906 – 9 November 1995) was an Italian composer who is chiefly remembered for his film scores. Biography Born in Pescara, Cicognini graduated with a degree in music composition from the Milan Conservatory in 1927 where he was a pupil of Giulio Cesare Paribeni and Renzo Bossi. In 1933 his opera, Donna Lombarda, inspired by a popular folk ballad, premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin. Film scores * The Two Sergeants (1936, uncredited) * The Black Corsair (1937) * I due misantropi (1937, uncredited) * Ettore Fieramosca (1938) * Naples of Olden Times (1938) * Departure (1938) * The Two Mothers (1938) * An Adventure of Salvator Rosa (1939) * Backstage (1939) * The Document (1939) * Cavalleria rusticana (1939) * A Wife in Danger (1939) * Department Store (1939) * Castles in the Air (1939) * Naples Will Never Die (1939) * Senza cielo (1940) * Don Pasquale (1940) * A Romantic Adventure (1940) * The Sinner (1940) * Beyond Love (1940) * Eternal Melodies (1940) * The Birth of Salome (1940) * One Hundred Thousand Dollars (1940) * First Love (1941) * The Iron Crown (1941) * Ridi pagliaccio! (1941) * Giuliano de’ Medici (1941) * Four Steps in the Clouds (1942) *

Alessandro Cipriani

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Alessandro Cipriani (born April 28, 1959) is an Italian composer of electronic music. Biography Cipriani was born in Tivoli, Italy. After ordinary musical studies Alessandro Cipriani completed his studies in composition and electronic music at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He created a number of pieces involving instrumental music with electronic processing, including a string quartet and magnetic tape, entitled “Quadro”, and a 60-minute work for piano, percussions and magnetic tape, “Il Pensiero Magmatico” Cipriani then became interested in establishing concrete connections with the music of cultures that are dissimilar to the classical and contemporary western tradition. A fundamental piece by Cipriani in this context is the trilogy concerning Islamic, Jewish and Gregorian religious chants, composed by the author from 2001 to 2007 in various stereo, quadraphonic and 5.1 versions, both acousmatic and live. In these works Cipriani re-elaborates some traditional chants of these three monotheistic religions, while maintaining a strong connection between the original voice, its comprehensibility and its electronic processing. The three pieces are “Al Nur (The Light)”, ba

Alessandro Felici

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Alessandro Felici (21 November 1742 in Florence, Italy – 21 August 1772 in Florence, Italy ) was an Italian composer and violinist, not to be confused with his contemporary, Roman composer Felice Alessandri. Life Alessandro Felici’s father was Bartolomeo Felici, Kapellmeister of the Florentine church of San Marco. Bartolomeo taught his son how to play the organ and music composition, while contemporarily, Felici studied with violinist Giuseppe Castrucci. When he was 14 years old, he was already well known in Florence for his virtuosity on the harpsichord and organ. He showed interest in composing for the theater, and in 1765 his father sent him to Naples, the Italian city known for its bustling opera scene. which guaranteed his immediate and notable success. not only performed in Florence but also in Rome, Venice, Turin, Milan, and even as far as Madrid and Leipzig. Simultaneously, he devoted himself to teaching organ and composition at his father’s music school. Their most celebrated student was the famous opera composer, Luigi Cherubini. Felici’s career was unexpectedly interrupted by tuberculosis, which was the cause of his death at the young age of twenty-nine. Sources Little i

Alessandro Grandi

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Alessandro Grandi (1590 – after June 1630, but in that year) was a northern Italian composer of the early Baroque era, writing in the new stile concertato (). He was one of the most inventive, influential, and popular composers of the time, probably second only to Monteverdi in northern Italy. Life Grandi was born in Venice and spent the first part of his life there, likely studying with Giovanni Gabrieli. He held several posts in Ferrara as maestro di cappella at different cathedrals and academies. In 1617 he won a post at St. Mark’s in Venice, during the time Monteverdi was choirmaster there. Eventually he became Monteverdi’s assistant, and during this time seems to have chosen to write works in some of the smaller forms which Monteverdi was neglecting. In 1627 he went to Bergamo, probably because he had an opportunity to be maestro di cappella at a place where he could build up the music program from scratch. Most likely he met Heinrich Schütz on that composer’s second visit to Italy. Unfortunately, after only three years at Bergamo, Grandi died in 1630 during an outbreak of the plague. Works Most of Grandi’s music is vocal with instrumental accompaniment. Stylistically, his ear

Alessandro Grego

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Alessandro Grego (born 18 March 1969, Trieste) is an Italian contemporary classical composer, theatre and film score author. Biography He studied composition with Giorgio Gaslini, electronic music with Curtis Roads, musicology at the School of Palaeography, Musical Philology of Cremona and Music for Films at the Experimental Film Centre in Rome. In 2023, in Radom, Poland, he won the first prize at the international composition competition “Arboretum,” conceived by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, with a violin concerto with string orchestra titled “The Eternal Sea,” inspired by a collection of poems by Biagio Marin and dedicated to the memory of Edda Serra, a literary critic and scholar of his work. Additionally, the composer received a special prize created by Elżbieta Penderecka, Penderecki’s wife. In 2025, he is recognized for his musical achievements by the Carl Reinecke International Music Competition. Theatre In 2008, he composed the original music for the show Senza vincitori né vinti (Without winners or losers). The play, starring Francesco Niccolini and Arnoldo Foà, is inspired by the novel Storia di Tönle by the Italian writer andveteran Mario Rigoni Stern. It de

Alessandro La Cava

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Alessandro La Cava (born 21 February 2000) is an Italian songwriter and record producer. Biography He made his debut as a contestant on the third edition of the talent show Io canto hosted by Gerry Scotti in 2011. Passionate about music from a young age, in 2018 he won the second edition of the Tour Music Fest in the “Junior Singer” category. He began writing his first songs at the age of twelve and began studying piano at Mogol’s CET, graduating as a lyricist in 2016 and as a pop music composer in 2019. In 2018, he decided to enter the seventh edition of the “Genova per voi” competition for authors and composers, reaching the finals. In 2019, he participated again in the Tour Music Fest in the “Songwriters” category, reaching the national finals. In 2020 he signed a contract with Universal Music Group and began working professionally as a songwriter for third parties. Also in 2021, he wrote the single “Guardare giù” as sole songwriter for Noemi, also collaborating on the song’s production with Francesco “Katoo” Catitti. In 2022, he competed as a songwriter at the 72nd Sanremo Music Festival with the songs “Farfalle” by Sangiovanni, “Insuperabile” by Rkomi, “Ti amo non lo so dire”

Alessandro Longo

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Alessandro Longo (31 December 1864 – 3 November 1945) was an Italian composer and musicologist. Early life Longo was born in Amantea. After studying at the Naples Conservatory under Beniamino Cesi (and composition under Paolo Serrao), he began teaching piano at his alma mater in 1887, deputizing for Cesi as pianoforte professor, and succeeded him in 1897. One of Longo’s earliest students was Franco Alfano. Career As a pianist, Longo often played in chamber ensemble with the Ferni Quartet, and with the Quartetto Napoletano (with Cantani, Parmiciano, Scarano and Viterbini). He founded various musical institutions in Naples, and gained a high reputation as a concert pianist. In 1914 he began editing the review L’Arte Pianistica. He became Director of the Naples Conservatory in 1944, and died in Naples the following year, aged 80. Legacy Today, Longo is mainly remembered for compiling an almost comprehensive catalogue of the keyboard works of Domenico Scarlatti. For many years, Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas were conventionally identified by their Longo numbers, but these were later superseded by those found in Ralph Kirkpatrick’s catalogue. Longo’s Catalogue originated in his landmark f

Alessandro Marcello

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Alessandro Ignazio Marcello (; 1 February 1673 – 19 June 1747 ) was an Italian nobleman and composer. Biography Born in Venice, Marcello was the son of a senator, and as a member of the noble Marcello family, enjoyed a comfortable life that gave him the freedom to pursue his interest in music. He held concerts in his hometown and composed and published several sets of concertos, including six under the title of La Cetra (The Lyre), as well as cantatas, arias, canzonetti, and violin sonatas. A contemporary of Tomaso Albinoni, and a slightly older contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi, Marcello often composed under the pseudonym Eterio Stinfalico, his name as a member of the celebrated Arcadian Academy (Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi). Marcello died in Venice in 1747 and was buried on his family’s countryside estate in Paviola near Padua. Rosanna Scalfi, a singer and composer, was the widow of Alessandro’s better-known brother Benedetto Marcello. As their 1728 marriage had not been sanctioned by the state due to her being of common birth, she was unable to inherit his estate, and in 1742 filed suit against Alessandro seeking financial support. Works Although most of Marcello’s works are

Alessandro Parisotti

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alessandro Parisotti (24 July 1853 – 4 April 1913) was an Italian composer and music editor. Life and career Though also a composer, Alessandro Parisotti is better known today as the original editor of a collection of songs known as Arie antiche (Arie antiche: ad una voce per canto e pianoforte, Milan, 1885–1888). The original collection comprises three volumes of songs or arias published as a primer to study classical singing, but the three volumes have since been reduced to single-volumed extracts known as the 24 Italian Songs and Arias. The original Arie Antiche are still available through Ricordi, Schirmer, and Kalmus. Parisotti collected these antique arias (arie antiche is the Italian) in what was the 19th century vogue for discovering forgotten old or antique music from the classical and baroque eras. The most famous example of this practice of reclaiming forgotten music is Mendelssohn’s revival of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Berlin (1829). The taste for rediscovered music was de rigueur among musicians and audiences of the nineteenth century, with composers lesser than Mendelssohn and Brahms participating as well. Parisotti found forgotten scores and arranged their arias

Alessandro Piccinini

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Alessandro Piccinini (1566 – 1638) was an Italian lutenist and composer. Piccinini was born in Bologna into a musical family: his father Leonardo Maria Piccinini taught lute playing to Alessandro as well as his brothers Girolamo (died 1615) and Filippo (died 1648). He held appointments at the Este court in Ferrara (from 1582 to 1597) and with Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, papal legate at Bologna and Ferrara. Piccinini died around 1638, probably in Bologna. He is best known for his two volumes of lute music: Intavolatura di Liuto et di Chitarrone, libro primo (Bologna, 1623) and Intavolaturo di Liuto (Bologna, 1639), the latter published posthumously by his son Leonardo Maria Piccinini. The 1623 collection is of particular importance because of Piccinini’s lengthy preface, which includes a detailed manual on performance, as well as claims to have invented the archlute (Piccinini also made important modifications to the chitarrone). Piccinini concentrated on toccatas, courantes and galliards, as well as different kinds of variations. No other works by Piccinini are known; his music for La selva sin amor, the first opera performed in Spain, composed by his brother Filippo Piccinini is

Alessandro Solbiati

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alessandro Solbiati (born 9 September 1956) is an Italian composer of classical music, who has composed instrumental music for chamber ensembles and orchestra, art songs and operas. He received international commissions and awards, and many of his works are recorded. He is also an academic, teaching in Italy and France. Career Born on 9 September 1956 in Busto Arsizio, * Quartetto con lied, Borciani string quartet (Stradivarius,) * Trio, trio Matisse (Ermitage) * Tre pezzi per chitarra, Filomena Moretti (Phoenix) * Alessandro Solbiati ensemble Alternance (Stradivarius) * Solbiati & Botter: Agli inquieti spiriti (Stradivarius) * By my Window (Stradivarius) * Piano Works (Stradivarius) * Crescendo, orchestra (EMA Vinci records) * Il suono giallo, Opera (EMA Vinci records – EMA Vinci contemporanea) * Leggenda, Opera (EMA Vinci records – EMA Vinci contemporanea) * INSIEME, ensemble (EMA Vinci records – EMA Vinci contemporanea) References External links * Profile, Edizioni Suvini Zerboni (in Italian) * * “Intervista con Alessandro Solbiati su Trittico per fisarmonica da concerto”, interview with Alessandro Solbiati on “Trittico for accordion” by Corrado Rojac and Lidia Bramani, 25 May 2

Alessandro Stradella

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Antonio Alessandro Boncompagno Stradella (Bologna, 3 July 1643 – Genoa, 25 February 1682) was an Italian composer of the middle Baroque period. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, and collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres. Life Stradella was born in Bologna on 3 July 1643 to the aristocrats Marc’Antonio Stradella (1579-1649) from Nepi (in the province of Viterbo), and his second wife, Vittoria Bartoli from Orvieto, and baptised Antonio Alessandro Boncompagno Stradella on 1 August 1643 in Bologna. His godfather in proxy was , who had appointed his father vice-marquis of Vignola on 7 June 1642. Although the family resided in Nepi, they were temporarily in Bologna, taking refuge from papal troops attacking Vignola. He was educated at Rome, and was already making a name for himself as a composer at the age of 24. In 1667 he composed a Latin oratorio (lost) for the Confraternity of Crocifisso di San Marcello and in the following year the serenata La Circe for the Princess of Rossano Olimpia Aldobrandini Pamphilj. In 1671–72 he collaborated in staging some operas, two by Francesco Cavalli

Alessandro Striggio

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Alessandro Striggio (c. 1536/1537 – 29 February 1592) was an Italian composer, instrumentalist and diplomat of the Renaissance. He composed numerous madrigals as well as dramatic music, and by combining the two, became the inventor of madrigal comedy. His compositions include the monumental Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno for up to 60 voices, rediscovered in 2005 after being lost for 400 years. His son, also named Alessandro Striggio, wrote the libretto for Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Life Striggio senior was born in Mantua, evidently to an aristocratic family. Records of his early life are sparse, but he must have gone to Florence as a young man. He began working for Cosimo de’ Medici on 1 March 1559 as a musician, eventually to replace Francesco Corteccia as the principal musician to the Medici court. In 1560 he visited Venice, and produced two books of madrigals in response to the musical styles he encountered there. In 1567 the Medici sent him on a diplomatic mission to England. Throughout the 1560s Striggio composed numerous intermedi for the Medici, for weddings, visits, and other state occasions. In the 1570s he continued to work for the Medici, but there is some evidence he began

Alfonso Gibilaro

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alfonso Vinzenzo Giuseppe Gibilaro (28 September 1888, Porto Empedocle, Sicily – 5 January 1957, Wandsworth, London) was a pianist, Two of his compositions—an Ave Maria and a Sicilian dialect song entitled “Carrettieri” —were popularized by the interpretation and sound recordings made by the Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli for His Master’s Voice. Works * * * Fantasia on British Airs for oboe and strings, Oxford University Press * Burlesque Serenade * Menuet de la Poupie * Rondo des Marionettes References Sources *

Alfredo Antonini

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Alfredo Antonini (May 31, 1901 – November 3, 1983) was a leading Italian-American symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the early 1970s. In 1972 he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Religious Programming on television for his conducting of the premiere of Ezra Laderman’s opera And David Wept for CBS television during 1971. In addition, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 1980. Biography Antonini was born in Alessandria and pursued his musical studies at the Royal Conservatory in Milan. He was a student of the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, whom he first met at the age of thirteen while performing on the celesta in the Italian premier of Igor Stravinsky’s Petrouchka. He distinguished himself as both an organist and pianist with La Scala Orchestra in Milan prior to emigrating to the United States in 1929. His musical talents were shared by his father who served as a member of the Buenos Aires Opera company at the Teatro Colón after leaving Italy for Argentina. In addition, his wife Sandra was a both a piano accompanis

Alfredo Casella

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alfredo Casella (25 July 18835 March 1947) was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor. Life and career Casella was born in Turin, the son of Maria (née Bordino) and Carlo Casella. His family included many musicians: his grandfather, a friend of Paganini, was first cello in the São Carlos Theatre in Lisbon and eventually became soloist in the Royal Chapel in Turin. Alfredo’s father, Carlo, was also a professional cellist, as were Carlo’s brothers Cesare and Gioacchino; his mother was a pianist, who gave the boy his first music lessons. Alfredo entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1896 to study piano under Louis Diémer and composition under Gabriel Fauré; in these classes, Lazare Lévy, George Enescu and Maurice Ravel were among his fellow students. During his Parisian period, Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky and Manuel de Falla were acquaintances, and he was also in contact with Ferruccio Busoni, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. Casella developed a deep admiration for Debussy’s output after hearing Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune in 1898, but pursued a more romantic vein (stemming from Strauss and Mahler) in his own writing of this period, rather than turning to impressionism

Alfredo Catalani

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Alfredo Catalani (19 June 1854 – 7 August 1893) was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas Loreley (1890) and La Wally (1892). La Wally was composed to a libretto by Luigi Illica, and features Catalani’s most famous aria “Ebben? Ne andrò lontana.” This aria, sung by American soprano Wilhelmenia Fernandez, was at the heart of Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 1981 film Diva. Catalani’s other operas were much less successful. Life and career Born in Lucca, Catalani came from a musical family. He was trained at the Milan Conservatory, where his teachers included Antonio Bazzini. Despite the growing influence of the verismo style of opera during the 1880s and early 1890s, Catalani chose to compose in a more traditional manner, which had traces of Wagner in it. As a result, his operas (La Wally excepted) have largely lost their place in the modern repertoire, even compared to those of Massenet and Puccini, whose style his own periodically resembles. (Catalani much resented Puccini’s emergence and even accused Puccini, falsely, of plagiarism.) The influence of Amilcare Ponchielli can also be recognized in Catalani’s output. Catalani’s reputation, like Ponchielli’s, now r

Alfredo D'Ambrosio

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Alfredo d’Ambrosio (13 June 1871 – 28 December 1914) was an Italian composer and violinist. He studied under Enrico Bossi at the Conservatory San Pietro a Majella in Naples, and later with Pablo de Sarasate in Madrid and August Wilhelmj in London. He then settled in Nice, rue de Russie 2, and afterwards in Paris, Boulevard de Courcelle 71, and devoted himself to his compositions and his work as a teacher. His cousin Luigi d’Ambrosio was also a violinist and later teacher of Salvatore Accardo. Alfredo D’Ambrosio died in Paris, aged 43. His wife was Blanche Aida Malvano; he had three sons, one of them, Violette d’Ambrosio was a concert violinist and played until mid ‘900, often performing her father’s Violin Concertos. Works Born in Naples, Alfredo d’Ambrosio is the author of the opera Pia de’ Tolomei, based on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, the ballet Hersilia, two violin concertos, a string quartet in c minor, Op. 42 (1908) and a quintet, as well as various concert pieces for violin and piano, which had a certain popularity in the early 20th century. His first violin concerto (in B minor, Op. 29, dedicated to Arrigo Serato) was written from April to October 1903 and premiered in

Alfredo Mazzucchi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Emanuele Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972) was an Italian composer and musician, known for being the co-author of some famous pieces of the (Neapolitan songs) such as “”, “Maria Marì”, and “I’ te vurria vasà”. Alfredo Mazzucchi was a composer and mandolinist who, on behalf of the musical publishers, made some adjustments to the original melodies before the publication of the songs; in this capacity he was therefore the co-author, together with Eduardo di Capua, of some well-known pieces of the Neapolitan songs including “”. According to others, however, Mazzucchi was a talented young composer who worked with the already famous Di Capua: Mazzucchi played his compositions, Di Capua listened to them and made some changes, and then published them only in his name. His contributions were not recognized for many years. Only on November 6, 1973, when the publisher “Casa Editrice Ferdinando Bideri” filed a complaint with the Ufficio della Proprietà Letteraria, Artistica e Scientifica (UPLAS) (in English Office of Literary, Artistic and Scientific Property), it indicated Mazzucchi as co-author of between 18 and 23 pieces signed only by Eduardo Di Capua. The Presidency of the Council of Minister

Alfredo Pignagnoli

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Alfredo “Larry” Pignagnoli (born 31 July 1951) is an Italian record producer, composer and musician. He is behind several international dance hits and he runs the production unit “Off Limits” in Italy. Career Early career Starting from the 1960s, Pignagnoli took part to different bands, both as singer and musician, performing live in the Italian clubs and festivals. He was band member of Le Sfingi (beat music genre), I Marines and Gli Scorpioni. Then he met Ivana Spagna and together they founded the Van Larry band. One year after, Giorgio “Theo” Spagna (brother of Ivana) joined the band and they became the Opera Madre group. Ivana Spagna in her book “Quasi Una Confessione” wrote a section about that period. In the 80’s Pignagnoli and Ivana & Giorgio Spagna opened their own music studio and began to create some jingles for the TV advertisings as well as composing and producing the first success. Career as composer Called “one of the pop maestros of Italy” by Dino Stewart (managing director at BMG Rights Management Italy) on The Music Network, Pignagnoli began his career as composer writing tracks “Colour My Love” and “Happy Station” for the Fun Fun project. Then he composed many dan

Alfredo Sirica

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alfredo Sirica (born 25 April 1999) is an Italian composer, pianist and orchestrator. Best known for his activity as soundtrack composer, he has written and produced music for cinema, video games and TV series. With his work for the Italian animated series Lampadino e Caramella nel MagiRegno degli Zampa, produced by Rai Ragazzi, he became the first composer of a soundtrack suitable also for children with disabilities such as blindness or autism, merging narration with music therapy. With the third season of The Rising of the Shield Hero, he also became the first Italian musician to work with Kadokawa as music composer for an anime. Career He writes his first soundtrack at the age of sixteen for the feature film Porches and Private Eyes, after winning an online competition promoted by Running Wild Films. In 2017, he is chosen by HeR Interactive and Eric Lindstrom, screenwriter for Tomb Raider, to write the soundtrack for the videogame Odyssey – The Story of Science, promoted by the scientific communicator Vsauce and currently in use in several institutes for educational purposes. During the same year, he worked on the short film Pawns by David Barbeschi, which soon becomes viral, re

Alphonsus Liguori

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Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787) was an Italian Catholic bishop and saint, as well as a spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in November 1732. In 1762, he was appointed Bishop of Sant’Agata de’ Goti. A prolific writer, he published nine editions of his Moral Theology in his lifetime, in addition to other devotional and ascetic works and letters. Among his best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions. He is also associated with the manualist tradition of moral theology and seminary education, which was highly influential in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was canonised in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. A frequently cited Catholic author, he is the patron saint of confessors. Early years He was born in Marianella, near Naples, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, on 27 September 1696. He was the eldest of seven children of Giuseppe Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of

Ambrogio Crotti

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Ambrogio Crotti (also known as “Amadeus”) is an Italian musician, arranger, composer and producer. Biography After a long life as a musician touring around the world, he started his studio career in Studio 33 in Hamburg, Germany, where he worked together with Luis Rodriguez and Dieter Bohlen. After 22 years with the Team 33, he currently lives in Mallorca and working as a freelance producer. Discography His long discography includes big names of the music business such as Modern Talking, Fun Factory, David Tavaré, Matthias Reim. Here is a selection of his works: References

Amedeo Minghi

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Amedeo Minghi (born 12 August 1947) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer and producer. Life and career Born in Rome, Minghi started his career in the mid-1960s participating in a large number of musical contests, and then making his professional debut in 1966 with the single “Alla fine”, with lyrics by Mogol. The disappointing commercial results of the song and the military service took him away from the musical industry for several years. His subsequent albums got him an increasing following, until the exploit in 1990 thanks to “Vattene amore”, a duet with Mietta, a singer he produced; the song ranked third at the Sanremo Music Festival and topped the Italian hit parade for several weeks. Discography ;Albums * 1973 – Amedeo Minghi (Apollo DZSLA-55165) * 1980 – Minghi (CBS 84156) * 1983 – 1950 (It ZPLT 34186) * 1984 – Quando l’estate verrà (EP) (RCA Italiana PG 70349) * 1986 – Cuori di pace (RCA Italiana PL 71141) * 1987 – Serenata (Durium ms al 77471) * 1988 – Le nuvole e la rosa (Fonit Cetra LPX 210) * 1991 – Nené (Fonit Cetra TAL 1002) * 1992 – I ricordi del cuore (Fonit Cetra TDL315) * 1994 – Come due soli in cielo (Fonit Cetra TLPX 380) * 1996 – Cantare è d’amore (EMI Ita

Amilcare Ponchielli

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Amilcare Ponchielli (, ; 31 August 1834 – 16 January 1886) was an Italian opera composer, best known for his opera La Gioconda. He was married to the soprano Teresina Brambilla. Life and work Born in Paderno Fasolaro (now Paderno Ponchielli) near Cremona, then Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, Ponchielli won a scholarship at the age of nine to study music at the Milan Conservatory, writing his first symphony by the time he was ten years old. The ballet Le due gemelle (1873) confirmed his success. The following opera, I Lituani (The Lithuanians) of 1874, had a three-night run in 1903 at La Scala, where the casting was particularly poorly reviewed; it was scheduled for performances in 1939 that did not take place because the Second World War broke out, and it was not performed again until 1979, when RAI recovered the score. It has been revived several times since then. His best-known opera is La Gioconda (1876), which his librettist Arrigo Boito adapted from the same play by Victor Hugo that had been previously set by Saverio Mercadante as Il giuramento in 1837 and Carlos Gomes as Fosca in 1873. The opera contains the famous ballet Dance of the Hours as the third act finale. It was first

Amilcare Zanella

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Amilcare Zanella (26 September 1873 – 9 January 1949) was an Italian composer. Born in Monticelli d’Ongina, Zanella studied in Cremona under Andreotti before entering the Parma Conservatory, where he studied under Giovanni Bottesini and graduated in 1891. The following year he went to South America, where he worked as an opera conductor and a pianist; upon his return to his native land in 1901, he organized an orchestra that traveled the country giving symphonic concerts. It was with this group that he introduced some of his own music. In 1903 he became director of his alma mater, remaining in the post for two years; in 1905 he was tapped to succeed Pietro Mascagni as head of the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “Gioachino Rossini” in Pesaro. There he was to remain until 1939, when he was succeeded in the post by Riccardo Zandonai. He died in Pesaro. Zanella’s compositional output consisted mainly of orchestral and chamber works. He also composed three operas; Aura (1910, to a libretto by Ida Finzi), premiered at the Liceo Rossini; La Sulamita (1926, to a libretto by Antonio Lega), premiered at the Teatro Politeama Piacentino in Piacenza; and Il revisore (1940, after The Government

Amintore Galli

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Amyntor “Amintore” Flaminio Claudio Galli (12 October 1845 – 8 December 1919) was an Italian music publisher, journalist, historian, musicologist, and composer. Born in the Marecchia valley, Galli was educated under Alberto Mazzucato at the Milan Conservatory. Galli’s birth deed records that he was baptised in Talamello – Perticara’s church did not have a baptismal font – but his parents are recorded as living in Perticara. After graduating from Rimini’s Lyceum, in 1862, he enrolled in the Milan Conservatory. He was a pupil of Alberto Mazzucato, with whom he studied composition and the history of aesthetics and music. Galli was a contemporary of Arrigo Boito, and was introduced to the Scapigliatura artistic environment. In 1866, Galli enlisted with Boito, Franco Faccio, and Emilio Praga in Giuseppe Garibaldi’s army, Four of his band arrangements of compositions by great masters were performed in Finale Emilia. by publishing, in Galli’s words, “a collection of economically priced masterworks by the great maestri”. Galli wrote many piano reductions himself, Evaluating his directorship, some critics reproach Galli for his inability to identify operatic successes, leading them to rival

Andrea Adolfati

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Andrea Adolfati (1721 or 1722, Venice – 28 October 1760, Padua) was an Italian composer who is particularly remembered for his output in the opera seria genre. His works are generally conventional and stylistically similar to the operas of his teacher Baldassare Galuppi. Although his music largely followed the fashion of his time, he did compose two tunes with unusual time signatures for his day: an air in Quintuple meter meter and another in Septuple meter meter. Adolfati studied music composition in Venice with composer Galuppi. After completing his studies he became the maestro di cappella at the Santa Maria della Salute, a position he held until 1745. He then worked in the same capacity at the court in Modena, where his divertimento da camera La pace fra la virtù e la bellezza premiered in 1746. Around the same time he composed some songs and arias for Johann Adolph Hasse’s Lo starnuto di Ercole, which was given at the Teatro San Girolamo (a small theatre located in the Palazzo Labia) in 1745 and during Carnival 1746. In 1748 Adolfati became maestro di cappella at the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato in Genoa. On 30 May 1760 he became maestro di cappella of the

Andrea Antico

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Andrea Antico (also Andrea Antico da Montona, Anticho, Antiquo) (c. 1480 – after 1538) was a music printer, editor, publisher and composer of the Renaissance born in the Republic of Venice, of Istrian birth, active in Rome and in Venice. He was the first printer of sacred music in Rome, and the earliest competitor of Venetian Ottaviano Petrucci, who is regarded as the first significant music printer. Life Antico was born in Montona, Istria in the Republic of Venice (today Motovun in Croatia). His ethnicity is not known; fifteenth-century Montona had a mixed population of Italians and Croats. Little documentation has yet come to light regarding his early life, but he may have been active in the diocese of Parenzo (now Poreč) in Istria, based on a papal letter of 1516 which called him a “cleric of the diocese of Parenzo, now living in Rome”. His first publication dates from 1510, and was a collection of frottole. Like Petrucci, whose similar Odhecaton had appeared eight years earlier in Venice, he began by publishing popular secular music. In 1513 he secured papal privileges for printing music in the Papal States; this was the first such privilege to be granted, and shortly after the

Andrea Belfi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Andrea Belfi (born 1979) is an Italian electro-acoustic musician and composer. He began playing drums at the age of 14. From 1995 to 1998 he was involved in numerous punk bands. He studied art in Milan, before becoming involved in experimental music in 2000. He’s been member of electronic outfit Medves (with Giuseppe Ielasi, Stefano Pilia, Riccardo Wanke & Renato Rinaldi), the duo Christa Pfangen with Mattia Coletti, the trio Rosolina Mar. From 2002 he’s collaborated with a wide range of artists like: Carla Bozulich, Mike Watt, David Grubbs, Hobocombo, Stefano Pilia, Aidan Baker, Simon James Phillips, BJ Nilsen, Ignaz Schick, Mattia Coletti, Å, Attila Faravelli, Machinefabriek, David Maranha, Giuseppe Ielasi, RCF, Riccardo Wanke, Renato Rinaldi. In 2017 Andrea signed to London based label FLOAT and announced his new album Ore. Selected discography Solo albums *Ned n°2 CD (Chocolateguns 2002) *Between Neck & Stomach CD (Häpna 2006) *Knots CD (Die Schachtel 2008) *Wege CD (Room 40 2012) *Dubbing & Doubling LP ltd. (ROOM40 2012) *Natura Morta CD (Miasmah Recordings 2014) *Ore CD, LP (FLOAT 2017) *Strata LP, EP (FLOAT 2019) Collaborations *Gilda 7" (Halley records 1997) as member of Gi

Andrea Cera

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Andrea Cera (born 1969 in Vicenza) is an Italian electroacoustic composer, sound designer and sound installation artist. Biography Andrea Cera graduated with MA degree (diploma) in piano and music composition at the in Padua (Italy). He studied computer music at the Cursus Program on Composition and Computer Music at IRCAM, in Paris. From 2000 to 2010, Cera has mainly worked with several choreographers including Hervé Robbe at the Centre Chorégraphique National du Havre, Edmond Russo and Shlomi Tuizer, Pascal Montrouge, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo. In the same period he has explored sound art: installation sites have included the Centre Pompidou, in Lille-Tourcoing, institutions and art centres in Italy and France. One example of his work is Reactive Ambient Music (2005). This installation is a sort of a waiting room where external sounds of other installations control a generative background music system. In 2004 he realized NightRun, an interactive installation based on the screaming of the visitors. They are here (2008) is an interactive video and sound installation created for the Centquatre-Paris, in collaboration with IRCAM. After 2010, Andrea Cera focused in research and soun

Andrea Di Paolo

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Andrea Di Paolo (born in Atessa, Italy, on 24 February 1978) is an Italian pianist and composer of modern classical, contemporary, postminimalism and neoclassical music. Biography Andrea Di Paolo began studying music at age 8. He studied piano (Bachelor and Master degree) with Maria Cristina Boccadamo at the “D’Annunzio” Conservatory in Pescara (Abruzzo - Italy) and Composition at the Cité de la Musique et de la Danse, Conservatoire de Strasbourg (Strasbourg, France) with Mark André. In 2010, he got a Diploma of high specialization in Composition at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia (Rome, Italy) with Ivan Fedele; fundamental in his human and artistical development was his meeting with composer Valentyn Sylvestrov in Kyiv (Ukraine). He attended composition classes of Luciano Berio, Arvo Part, Gyorgy Kurtag, Salvatore Sciarrino, Beat Furrer. His works, for solo instrument, ensemble and orchestra, were performed in Europe, Russia and the USA, broadcast by Radio France and Radio RAI. In 2008, he won the International Competition for composers “From Romanticism to Contemporary” in Bucharest (Romania), sponsored by the European Commission with his work “L’azur” from a Mallarmé’s tex

Andrea Farri

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Andrea Farri (born 11 February 1982) is an Italian film composer. Life and career Born in Rome, Farri is the son of actress Lucia Poli and the nephew of actor Paolo Poli. An autodidact, he started composing incidental music at 17 years old. In 2015, Farri won the Globo d’oro for best score for Latin Lover. In 2023, he won the “Soundtrack Stars Award” during the 2023 Venice Film Festival for Matteo Garrone’s Io capitano. In 2024 he scores the music to Those About to Die directed by Roland Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner. In 2026 he has been appointed as music director and composer for 2026 Winter Olympics’ opening ceremony. Partial filmography Films * A Game for Girls, directed by Matteo Rovere (2008) * Drifters, directed by Matteo Rovere (2011) * When the Night, directed by Cristina Comencini (2011) * 10 Rules for Falling in Love, directed by Cristiano Bortone (2012) * Fuga di cervelli, directed by Paolo Ruffini (2013) * I Can Quit Whenever I Want, directed by Sydney Sibilia (2014) * Soap Opera, directed by Alessandro Genovesi (2014) * Belli di papà , directed by Guido Chiesa (2015) * I Killed Napoléon, directed by Giorgia Farina (2015) * Latin Lover, directed by Cristina Comencin

Andrea Ferrante

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Andrea Ferrante (born 16 August 1968, Palermo, Italy) is an Italian composer whose music is performed throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas and published by Videoradio and Rai Trade Labels, Edizioni Carrara and Edizioni Simeoli. He teaches at the Conservatorio di Musica di Stato “Arcangelo Corelli” in Messina. Composing His compositional activity, as shown in the essay Backstage of the creative act, the music psychologist Rosa Alba Gambino, can be divided into two phases: the first (which ends with the composition of the holy La sposa del vento for soloists, chorus and orchestra staged in Palermo in 2000 by Operalaboratorio) in which Andrea Ferrante investigates the Mediterranean sounds of his land through the filter of the contemporary, and the second (after ten years of silence, and in collaboration with his favourite pianist Domenico Piccichè) in which the mature composer’s own language is inspired by multiculturalism and the concept of emotion / enjoyment of music that cast its production outside Europe. (piano), introduction by Giovanni Sollima, Videoradio Labels, 2011. * Free Emotion, Domenico Piccichè * Axios-Ferrante. Axios String Quartet, Videoradio-RAI Trade, Milano 20

Andrea Gabrieli

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Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533 – August 30, 1585) was an Italian In 1566 Gabrieli was chosen for the post of organist at St. Mark’s, one of the most prestigious musical posts in northern Italy; he retained this position for the rest of his life. Around this time he acquired, and maintained, a reputation as one of the finest current composers. Working in the unique acoustical space of St. Mark’s, he was able to develop his unique, grand ceremonial style, which was enormously influential in the development of the polychoral style and the stile concertato, which partially defined the beginning of the Baroque era in music. His duties at St. Mark’s clearly included composition, for he wrote a great deal of music for ceremonial affairs, some of considerable historical interest. He provided the music for the festivities accompanying the celebration of the victory over the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto (1571); he also composed music for the visit of several princes from Japan (1585). Late in his career he also became famous as a teacher. Prominent among his students were his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli; the music theorist Lodovico Zacconi; Hans Leo Hassler, who carried the concertato style to Ge

Andrea Guerra (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Andrea Guerra is an Italian composer. He is known for his film scores of Facing Windows (2003), Hotel Rwanda (2004), and The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). Biography Guerra is the son of poet and screenwriter Tonino Guerra. He was born in October 1961 in the northern Italian town of Santarcangelo di Romagna. After studying composition and arrangement under maestro Ettore Ballotta, he moved to Rome where he began his career composing music for nature documentaries. In succeeding years, he wrote several film scores for directors such as Ferzan Özpetek, Roberto Faenza, Giuseppe Bertolucci, and others. In 2015, he made his debut in Bollywood by composing the film score of the Dum Laga Ke Haisha. In 2016, he composed the background score for the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Fan. Filmography Awards and nominations * Venice Film Festival 2017 - Soundtrack Stars Award * European Film Awards 2005 - Best Composer (Hotel Rwanda) * Golden Satellite Awards 2005 - Best Original Song (“Million Voices”, from the movie Hotel Rwanda, written by Andrea Guerra, Wyclef Jean and Jerry ‘Wonder’ Duplessis ) * Apex Award 2005 - Best Original Song (“Million Voices”) * Ravello CineMusic 2004 - Best Original Song (“C

Andrea Liberovici

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Andrea Liberovici (born 1962) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music and a theatre director. Biography Andrea Liberovici was born in Turin, the son of Sergio Liberovici (musician, Turin, 1930–1991) and Margot Galante Garrone. He studied composition, violin and viola at the conservatories of Venice and Turin. He also studied acting at the Scuola del , and singing with Cathy Berberian at the International Festival in Montalcino in 1980. He recorded his first at the age of fifteen. As a composer and director, he co-founded Teatrodelsuono (theatre of sound) with poet Edoardo Sanguineti (librettist of Luciano Berio) and Ottavia Fusco. Jean-Jacques Nattiez wrote, “Andrea Liberovici is a composer of his time. He define himself a modern. … We can find in his Frankenstein Cabaret a metaphor of the composer today. … he his a musician, a tragic-postmodern composer who tell about man and woman compared with the absurd and unbearable loneliness in which Internet borders more and more humanity.” Over the last decade, in collaboration with artists such as Peter Greenaway, Claudia Cardinale, Aldo Nove, Judith Malina, Vittorio Gassman, Giorgio Albertazzi, Enrico Ghezzi, Ivry Git

Andrea Luchesi

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Andrea Luca Luchesi (also spelled Lucchesi; 23 May 1741 – 21 March 1801) was an Italian composer. He knew Mozart and Beethoven. Biography Andrea Luchesi was born at Motta di Livenza, near Treviso the eleventh child of Pietro Luchese and Caterina Gottardi. The rather wealthy family descended from groups of noble families who had moved from Lucca to Venice in the 14th century (hence the name Luchese; from 1764/65 Andrea began to use the name Luchesi, which we can find written by his contemporaries also as Lucchesi, Lughesi, Luckesi, Lucchezzy, etc.). He grew up in his native town, receiving musical and general education from his elder brother Matteo, a priest, public tutor and organist. By 1757 he moved to Venice. The protection of the nobleman Jseppo Morosini enabled him to study with eminent musicians: Gioacchino Cocchi, Padre Paolucci, Giuseppe Saratelli, Domenico Gallo, Ferdinando Bertoni and (the best-known of them) Baldassare Galuppi. His career in Venice developed quickly: examiner of the organists commission in 1761, then organist at San Salvatore (1764), composer of works for “organ or cembalo”, instrumental, sacred and theatre music. He composed for official celebrations, t

Andrea Mingardi

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Andrea Mingardi (born 1 August 1940) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, musician, author and occasional actor. Life and career Born in Bologna, Mingardi approached the music at young age, founding the group “Golden Rock Boys” in 1959. His debut album Nessuno siam perfetti, ciascuno abbiamo i suoi difetti was released in 1974, while he got his first commercial success in 1976 with the song “Datemi della musica”. In 2006 he composed six songs of the Mina’s album Bau, also duetting with her in the single “Mogol/Battisti”. Mingardi wrote several books about the Bolognese dialect as well as some novels. Discography Album * 1974 - Nessuno siam perfetti, ciascuno abbiamo i suoi difetti (Cipiti Record, LP OK 14) * 1976 - Datemi della musica (Dischi Ricordi SMRL 6196) * 1977 - Lo sfighè, Gisto e Cesira, Delone, un marziano e altre storie (Dischi Ricordi ORL 8099) * 1977 - A iò vest un marzian (Dischi Ricordi ORL 8797) * 1978 - Zabajone (Dischi Ricordi SMRL 6219) * 1981 - Xa vut dalla vetta (F 1 Team DM 919) * 1985 - Eccitanti conflitti confusi (Dischi Ricordi SMRL 6336) * 1988 - Prossimamente (Fonit Cetra CDM 2060) * 1990 - Si sente dire in giro (Fonit Cetra CDL 264) * 1992 - Andrea

Andrea Molino

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Andrea Molino (born 1964 in Turin, Italy) is an Italian composer and conductor. Biography Andrea Molino was born in Turin and studied in Turin, Milan, Venice, Paris and Freiburg. He lives in Zurich and Paris. In 1997, as musical director of the Pocket Opera Company in Nuremberg he conducted the world premiere of Alessandro Melchiorre’s Unreported inbound Palermo and in 2000, the premiere of the stage version of Heiner Goebbels’ Surrogate Cities. His own projects the smiling carcass (1999), based on the subject of advertising, and Those Who Speak In A Faint Voice (2001), on death penalty, both in collaboration with the Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani, are the first examples of his commitment towards innovative, multimedia oriented music theatre. From 2000 to 2006 Andrea Molino was artistic director of Fabrica Musica, the music department of the Italian communication research center, Fabrica. CREDO, a multimedia music theatre on the theme of ethnic and religious conflicts was premiered in April 2004 at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and then performed at the Stazione Termini in Rome with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, on the occasion of the World Summit of

Angelo Branduardi

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Angelo Branduardi (born 12 February 1950) is an Italian folk/folk rock singer-songwriter and composer who scored relative success in Italy and European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Greece. Early and personal life Branduardi was born in Cuggiono, a small town in the province of Milan, but early moved with the family to Genoa. He was educated as a classical violinist at the Genoa Conservatory. At the age of 18, he composed the music for the Confessioni di un malandrino (Hooligan’s Confession) by Sergei Yesenin. He is married to Luisa Zappa, who wrote the lyrics for many of his songs. They have two daughters, Sarah and Maddalena, both musicians. Career Beginnings Branduardi’s first album was never released, and resulted from a co-operation with Maurizio Fabrizio, composer and gifted performer. The first released album, Angelo Branduardi ‘74 was arranged with Paul Buckmaster. The minstrel La Luna (“The Moon”), including “Hooligan’s Confession” (translation of a poem by Esenin) and the fine, delicate song giving the LP its name, was a prelude to the success of the following works. Alla fiera dell’Est (English edition: Highdown Fair, 1976) was Branduardi’s

Angelo Francesco Lavagnino

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Angelo Francesco Lavagnino (22 February 1909 – 21 August 1987) was an Italian composer, born in Genoa. He is best known for scoring many films, including Legend of the Lost, Conspiracy of Hearts, Gorgo, The Legion’s Last Patrol, The Naked Maja, Daisy Miller, and two directed by Orson Welles, Othello and Chimes at Midnight. He also scored several peplums and Spaghetti Westerns. Lavagnino won the Nastro d’Argento award for Best Score twice, for Continente perduto (1955) and Vertigine bianca (1956). Selected filmography *The Devil in the Convent (1950) *Mamma Mia, What an Impression! (1951) *Othello (1951) *The Tired Outlaw (1952) *Woman of the Red Sea (1953) *Marriage (1954) *An American in Rome (1954) *Toto and Carolina (1955) *Tom Toms of Mayumba (1955) *Sins of Casanova (1955) *Continente perduto (1955) *The Wanderers (1956) *Roland the Mighty (1956) *Count Max (1957) *Legend of the Lost (1957) *Engaged to Death (1957) *The Naked Maja (1958) *The Wind Cannot Read (1958) *Passionate Summer (1958) *The Last Days of Pompeii (1959) *Nel Segno di Roma (1959) *Gastone (1960) *The Warrior Empress (1960) *Conspiracy of Hearts (1960) *Messalina (1960) *Siege of Syracuse (1960) *Five Brande

Angelo Gilardino

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Angelo Gilardino (16 November 1941 – 14 January 2022) was an Italian composer, guitarist, and musicologist. Life and career Gilardino was born in Vercelli, Italy, on 16 November 1941. During his concert career, from 1958 to 1981, he premiered hundreds of new works for the guitar. Among his premieres was John Duarte’s Mutations on Dies Irae in 1974. He taught at the Liceo Musicale G. B. Viotti in Vercelli from 1965 to 1981, and held a professorship at the Antonio Vivaldi Conservatory in Alessandria from 1981 to 2004. The Conservatory awarded him the Marengo Music Prize in 1998. Gilardino has composed much music for solo guitar, as well as chamber music and concertos. His solo works include five volumes of Studi di virtuosità e di trascendenza (1981–1988), two numbered sonatas (1985, 1986) as well as several titled sonatas and sonatinas, two sets of variations (1989, 1991), and Ikonostas for a guitar tuned in G (2004). The Studi di virtuosità e di trascendenza represent one of the most significant contributions to the guitar repertoire in the 20th century. The title places the collection in the tradition of the Transcendental Etudes by Franz Liszt. Numbers 1 through 48 have dedicatio

Angelo Mascheroni (composer)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Angelo Mascheroni (1855 in Bergamo, Italy – 1905) was a pianist, composer, conductor, and music teacher, brother of the conductor Edoardo Mascheroni. He is most famous for his “Eternamente” for voice and violin, sung by Enrico Caruso; his two-act opera Il mal d’amore, with a libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, was written in 1898. Among his pupils was Spyridon Samaras. He studied music at the Conservatoire of his native city under the guidance of Alessandro Nini, with such success that at the age of nineteen he became conductor of an operatic company. With them, he made the tour of Italy, France and Spain. Later, Mascheroni spent some years in Greece and Russia and then visited all the cities of importance in North and South America. He spent five years in Paris, perfecting himself in the vocal art at the Paris Conservatoire with Léo Delibes for composition and Camille Saint-Saëns for piano; a few years later, he made a name in England and America. When Mascheroni arrived in London, unknown, he experienced great difficulty in obtaining a few guineas for his song For all eternity; but this copyright, when sold by public auction a few years later, realised as many thousand guineas — the

Annibale Padovano

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Annibale Padovano (1527 – March 15, 1575) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance Venetian School. He was one of the earliest developers of the keyboard toccata. Life Padovano was born in Padua — hence his name — but little is known about his early life. He first appears at St. Mark’s in Venice on November 30, 1552, when he was hired as first organist at an annual salary of 40 ducats. He stayed at this post until 1565. St. Mark’s at this time also began to employ a second organist (it was Claudio Merulo for the last eight years of Padovano’s tenure), which allowed two simultaneous, spatially separated organs to perform in the huge space of the cathedral: this was a key development in music of the Venetian school, which was already using spatially separated choirs of voices. Merulo took over the job of first organist when Padovano left. In 1566, Padovano left Venice to go to the Habsburg court in Graz. Many Venetian musicians left their native area to seek their fortunes in Habsburg domains, which generally remained friendly to Venice. Padovano became the director of music at Graz in 1570, and died there five years later. Music and influence Although Padovano pu

Annibale Zoilo

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Annibale Zoilo (c. 1537–1592) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance Roman School. He was a contemporary of Palestrina, writing music in a closely related style, and was a prominent composer and choir director in Rome in the late 16th century. Life He was born in Rome, but little documentation remains of his early life. In 1558 he is recorded as a singer at the Cappella Giulia (the Julian Chapel), and in 1561 he was already maestro di cappella of San Luigi de’ Francesi; that he rose so quickly to such a prominent position indicates that he was probably a singer prior to the first mention of him at the Cappella Giulia. He retained the position at San Luigi de’ Francesi until 1566, and from 1567 to 1570 he was maestro di cappella at St. John Lateran, one of the most prestigious musical posts in Rome. In 1570 he was succeeded there by Frenchman Bartolomeo Roy, and Zoilo left to sing as an alto in the choir of the Sistine Chapel, remaining there until July 1577, at which time he left due to illness. However, by October he was well enough to be appointed by Pope Gregory XIII, along with Palestrina, to edit and revise the music for the Graduale, as well as other litur

Antonello da Caserta

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Antonello da Caserta, also Anthonello de Casetta, Antonellus Marot, was an Italian composer of the medieval era, active in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Life and career Essentially nothing is known of Antonello’s life. Earlier in the 20th century, Nino Pirrotta thought Caserta was a Neapolitan composer, but because most of his surviving works are in northern Italian manuscripts, this is now doubted . Allusions in his texts suggest that he worked for the Visconti family in Milan around the turn of the 15th century , and a “frater Antoniello de Caserta” mentioned in an archival document may indicate that he was at the Visconti court in Pavia in 1402 . Antonello was a monk, though the order to which he belonged is not known. Music Antonello da Caserta is one of the more renowned composers of the generation after Guillaume de Machaut. Antonello set texts in both French and Italian, including Beauté parfaite of Machaut; this is the only surviving musical setting of a poem by Machaut which is not by Machaut himself. He was highly influenced by French musical models, one of the first Italians to be so. One of his ballades quotes Jehan Vaillant, a composer active in Paris. He als

Antonia Bembo

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Antonia Padoani Bembo (c. 1640 – c. 1720) was a Venetian composer and singer. Life Antonia Padoani Bembo was born in Venice around 1640 as the only daughter of Giacomo Padoani (1603–1666), a doctor, and Diana Paresco (1609–1676). In 1659, she married the Venetian noble Lorenzo Bembo (1637–1703) with whom she had three children. Her husband left her and her children for five years on military duty without providing them any means to survive. She brought him to court over this and relocated to Paris in 1677, with the help of Francesco Corbetta. There she sang for Louis XIV. Louis granted her a pension and housing at the Petite Union Chrétienne des Dames de Saint Chaumont, a religious community. She died in Paris around 1720 She was a contemporary of Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre and Barbara Strozzi. Works Bembo was taught by Francesco Cavalli (who also taught Barbara Strozzi), and wrote in all the major genres of the time, including opera, secular and sacred cantatas, and petit and grand motets. Her work displays a combination of French and Italian styles, using Italian virtuoso elements alongside French dance forms. Much of her work is for soprano voice with continuo accompaniment.

Antonino Gandolfo Brancaleone

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Antonino Gandolfo Brancaleone (24 April 1820, in Catania – 6 June 1888, in Catania) was an Italian composer. His masterpiece was Il Sultano (1851). Biography He began his studies in Palermo with Pietro Raimondi. Afterward Antonino moved to Naples to study with Saverio Mercadante. Back in Catania, after this training period, he composed sacred and chamber music. He composed the oratory La disfatta degli Assiri (The Assyrian Defeat)(1850) and Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered) (1852), both performed in Catania during the August Saint Agatha festivities. In 1851, at the Teatro Comunale di Catania was performed for the first time Il Sultano or Maometto II (The Sultan or Muhammad II). The same opera was performed in Naples at the Teatro di San Carlo in 1854 with enthusiastic success, thanks also to the outstanding cast of singers, which included among others the tenor Emilio Pancani and soprano Carlotta Carrozzi Zucchi. In 1859 the opera Caterina di Guisa (Catherine of Guise) was performed for the first time at Teatro Comunale di Catania. In 1859, he was appointed director of the Teatro Comunale di Catania. Antonino had to leave soon Sicily, taking refuge in Malta, to escape the

Antonino Palminteri

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Antonino Palminteri (3 October 1846 – 31 July 1915) was an Italian conductor and classical composer. Life and career Born in Menfi, the son of a doctor, in 1970 Palminteri graduated in piano, counterpoint and harmony from the Palermo Conservatory, and a few years later he became “Maestrino” and “Concertatore” (Master Teacher and Concertmaster) in his alma mater. He then moved to Milan, where he succeeded Amilcare Ponchielli in the chair of counterpoint and harmony at the Milan Conservatory. Among his pupils were Giacomo Puccini, with whom in the following years he had an intense epistolary relationship. He also conducted opera performances in Moscow, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Valencia and Zadar. Further reading * References External links * Antonino Palminteri at Archivio Ricordi

Antonino Riccardo Luciani

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Antonino Riccardo Luciani (10 August 1931 – 29 January 2020) was an Italian classical composer, conductor and academic. Life and career Born in Palermo, Luciani moved with his family in Florence when he was two years old. Following his early studies by , at 17 he moved to Canavese to become the last pupil of Rosario Scalero. His early compositions include the chamber opera Lo starnuto and the sonatina Sonatina Chigiana. Partial discography * 1970: Panoramiche * 1970: Musiche Per Un Telefilm (with Paolo Renosto) * 1970: Contraspunti * 1971: Musica Poliformale * 1971: Civiltà Sepolte * 1971: Panorami Attuali * 1972: Agonia della Civiltà * 1973: Allarme Ecologico * 1975: Situazioni * 1975: Europa 1930-1940 * 1975: Documenti di Storia * 1975: Musica Arcaica * 1975: Dal Medioevo al Rinascimento * 1976: Ambiente e Musica * 1976: Jazz in Libertà * 1976: Mediterranee * 1976: Paesi del Sud * 1976: Barocchiade * 1977: Gli Occhi sulla Città * 1978: Eventi * 1979: Cronache * 1979: Psyco Mood * 1979: Tecnica di un colpo di stato * 1980: Atmosfere (with Marco Melchiori) * 1980: Aspetti della Natura (with Marco Melchiori) *1983: “Picnic” * 1984: Contemporary Classics References External links * *

Antonio Bazzini

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Antonio Bazzini (11 March 181810 February 1897) was an Italian violinist, composer and teacher. As a composer, his most enduring work is his chamber music, which earned him a central place in the Italian instrumental renaissance of the 19th century. However, his success as a composer was overshadowed by his reputation as one of the finest concert violinists of the nineteenth century. He also contributed to a portion of Messa per Rossini, specifically the first section of II. Sequentia, Dies Irae. Biography Bazzini was born at Brescia. As a young boy, he was a pupil of a local violinist . At 17, he was appointed organist of a church in his native town. The following year, he met Paganini and became completely influenced by that master’s art and style. Paganini encouraged Bazzini to begin his concert career that year, and he quickly became one of the most highly regarded artists of his time. From 1841 to 1845, he lived in Germany, where he was much admired by Schumann both as a violinist and a composer, as well as by Mendelssohn (Bazzini gave the first private performance of his Violin Concerto). After a short stay in Denmark in 1845, Bazzini returned to Brescia to teach and compose.

Antonio Breschi

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Antonio Breschi, also known as Antóni O’Breskey (born in Florence, Italy, with Argentine roots) is a composer, pianist and trumpet player, singer, writer, poet and music educator. Oliver Sweeney, in the Irish music magazine Hot Press, wrote of him: “He is a genius whose music is without frontiers, and whose originality makes him one of the most innovative artists in the varied musical genres of today.” As composer and pianist he is very original and eclectic, and he composed enormous varieties of music, creating a very personal style: “one of the most exciting sounds we have heard in years" (The 20th Queen Festival at Queen, Belfast 1981). His compositions for cello and piano and for oboe and piano as well as his world music became soundtracks for films, television programs, theatre and ballets. His album “Ode to Ireland” won the award for the best album of the year. His roots are classical music and jazz, but he began to explore many other ethnic traditions. He was also an anticipator of minimalism and many other styles: “The categories of “World” and “New Age” music did not exist when Breschi began his trailblazing journey”. He is also a jazz innovator introducing piano in a crea

Antonio Buonomo

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Antonio Buonomo (13 December 1932 – 23 November 2025) was an Italian composer, solo percussionist and music educator. A professor of percussion at the conservatories of “S.Pietro a Majella in Naples” of Naples and “S.Cecilia” of Rome, Buonomo’s professional experience included performing as timpani soloist in various orchestras (such as the “San Carlo” of Naples and “La Fenice” of Venice), and director of one of Europe’s first all-percussion instrument groups. His many compositions and transcriptions for percussion instruments have been published by the main houses of this sector and include teaching materials as well as music for plays and television documentaries. They have been performed for the occasion of prestigious avant-garde musical events, television and radio programs as well as in public concerts. Life and career Buonomo was born in Naples in December 1932. In the preface to his biography, he said that “Being born into a family of musicians doesn’t give you much choice”. The fifth of ten children, he began studying music before he even knew how to read or write. He was already performing at the age of 12 (as a conservatory student), playing the trumpet and drums with hi

Antonio Buzzolla

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Antonio Buzzolla (2 March 1815 – 20 March 1871) was an Italian composer and conductor. Life Antonio Buzzolla was born on 2 March 1815. A native of Adria, he studied in Venice from 1832, and he joined the orchestra of La Fenice. His first opera, Il Ferramondo, was performed at Teatro San Benedetto. He later completed his studies under Gaetano Donizetti and Saverio Mercadante at the Naples Conservatory from 1837 to 1839. He returned to Venice in 1839 and had two more operas performed there. He left for Berlin in 1843 and was a conductor at the Italian Opera. After touring Poland and Russia, he went to Paris in 1847 and was a conductor at Théâtre Italien. He returned to Venice the following year and performed two more operas, Amleto and Elisabetta di Valois. Buzzolla was better known in his lifetime for ariettas and canzonettas in the Venetian dialect. Beginning in 1855, he served as the of the Cappella Marciana at St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Buzzolla was one of the composers invited by Giuseppe Verdi to contribute to the Messa per Rossini; he composed the opening movement, the Requiem e Kyrie. He died in Venice on 20 March 1871, and was interred at the San Michele cemetery on the I

Antonio Cagnoni

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Antonio Cagnoni (8 February 1828 – 30 April 1896) was an Italian composer. Primarily known for his twenty operas, his work is characterized by his use of leitmotifs and moderately dissonant harmonies. In addition to writing music for the stage, he composed a modest amount of sacred music, most notably a Requiem in 1888. He also contributed the third movement, Quid sum miser, to the Messa per Rossini, a collaborative work created by thirteen composers to honor Gioacchino Rossini. Life and career Born in Godiasco, Cagnoni first studied music composition privately in Voghera. He then studied at the Milan Conservatory where his first three operas, Rosalia di San Miniato (1845), I due savoiardi (1846), and Don Bucefalo, were premiered while he was a student. The latter work was particularly well received and enjoyed successful stagings at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (1850), Teatro di San Carlo (1853), the Teatro della Canobbiana (1854), and the Teatro Regio di Parma (1860) among others. He went on to compose 16 more operas and a pastiche, of which his most successful were Michele Perrin (1864), Claudia (1866), Un capriccio di donna (1870), Papà Martin (1871), and Francesca da Rimi

Antonio Caldara

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Antonio Caldara ( – 28 December 1736) was an Italian Baroque composer. Life Caldara was born in Venice (exact date unknown), the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark’s in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probably under the instruction of Giovanni Legrenzi. In 1699 he relocated to Mantua, where he became maestro di cappella to the inept Charles IV, Duke of Mantua, a pensionary of France with a French wife, who took the French side in the War of the Spanish Succession. Caldara removed from Mantua in 1707, after the French were expelled from Italy, then moved on to Barcelona as chamber composer to Charles III, the pretender to the Spanish throne (following the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 without any direct heir) and who kept a royal court at Barcelona. There, he wrote some operas that are the first Italian operas performed in Spain. He moved on to Rome, becoming maestro di cappella to Francesco Maria Marescotti Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Cerveteri. While there he wrote in 1710 La costanza in amor vince l’inganno (Faithfulness in Love Defeats Treachery) for the public theatre at Macerata. With the unexpected death of Emperor Joseph I from smallpox at t

Antonio Capuzzi

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Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi (also Capucci; 1 August 1755 – 28 March 1818) was an Italian violinist and composer. He studied in Venice, Italy under the direction of A. Nazari (violin) and F. G. Bertoni (composition). Beginning in 1780, he was concertmaster with the orchestra at the Teatro di S. Samuele and eventually became the orchestral director at the Teatro di S. Benedetto. After his tenure at the Teatro di S. Samuele in 1805, he became orchestral director and a professor at the Bergamo Conservatory then located at the S. Maria Maggiore. Although popular in his day, most of his music is now forgotten. The most commonly performed piece today is his concerto for double bass. The concerto was found in the British Museum, and was dedicated to Kavalier Marcantonio Montenigo, who is assumed to have performed on that instrument. An arrangement of the second (andante) and third (rondo) movements of the concerto is also performed on tuba, euphonium, and trombone. In addition Philip Catelinet arranged all three movements of the concerto for concert band and symphony orchestra. He performed it several times during his tenure at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. His students al

Antonio Florio

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Antonio Florio (born 1956) is an Italian conductor, musicologist and composer. In 1987, Florio founded the Cappella della Pietà de’ Turchini music ensemble, renamed Cappella Neapolitana in 2016. Biography Antonio Florio was born in Bari in 1956. He studied at the Conservatory of Bari under Nino Rota, graduating in piano, cello, and composing. After graduation, he moved to Naples and started to teach at the Conservatory. He remained active in studies of ancient instruments and led intensive musicological research, exploring the repertoire of Neapolitan music from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and uncovering many neglected works. Among many works, rediscovered by Florio, there are La colomba ferita (1670), Il schiavo di sua moglie (1671) and La Stellidaura vendicante (1674) by Francesco Provenzale, Il disperato innocente by Francesco Boerio (1673), La finta cameriera by Gaetano Latilla (1673), Li Zite’n Galera by Leonardo Vinci (1722), Il Pulcinella vendicato by Giovanni Paisiello (1767), Statira by Francesco Cavalli, Montezuma by Francesco De Majo (1765), and many more. Important collaborations in Florio’s early career include Roberto De Simone (especially La Gatta Cenere

Antonio Gardano

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Antonio Gardano (also Antoine Gardane) (1509 – 28 October 1569) was a French-born Italian composer and important music publisher and printer based in Venice. Life and career Gardano arrived in the city as a “musico francese” whose musical compositions had been published in Lyons by Jacques Moderne from 1532. Gardano set up a publishing house and between 1538 and 1569 published 450 editions of prominent composers, half of them Italian madrigals. The composers best-represented in Gardano’s output included Jacques Arcadelt, Cipriano de Rore, Orlande de Lassus, and Adrian Willaert, accounting for about 25 percent of his total publications. Gardano and Girolamo Scotto, owner of the other large Venetian publishing house in the middle of the 16th century, held an effective monopoly on publishing in Italy for several decades. While the house of Scotto published volumes on law, medicine, philosophy, and theology in addition to music, Gardano published only music. After his death, his sons Alessandro and Angelo carried on with the activity of the Gardano publishing house, producing more than 1000 more editions of music. Works Intabolatura Nova di Balli, a representative collection of 25 piec

Antonio Gianettini

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Antonio Gianettini (also Giannettini, Zanettini, Zannettini; 1648 – 12 July 1721) was an Italian organist, concertmaster and composer. Biography Born in Fano, almost nothing is known about Gianettini’s musical training; in 1662, sources place him in Venice, where he probably studied under the guidance of Sebastiano Enno. On 14 January 1674 he was admitted as a bass singer in the choir of the chapel of the Basilica of San Marco. Subsequently, on 5 December 1676 he was appointed as an organist at the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo with a salary of 40 ducats a year (a position he held until 1679). In this period he studied music with Carlo Grossi and perhaps also with Giovanni Legrenzi. On 25 January 1677 he was also an organist at San Marco (while being a choir singer). From 1676 he started to be active as a composer: in this period he wrote about ten works in Venice and Milan and various sacred music (including some motets for Ippolito Bentivoglio). During years 1685-1686 he was also active as a composer and a capella teacher for the Duke of Hannover Ernest Augustus of Brunswick-Lüneburg. While there, he stayed in a building overlooking the Grand Canal. On May 1, 1686, Gianettin

Antonio Lotti

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Antonio Lotti (5 January 1667 – 5 January 1740) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. Biography Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was Kapellmeister at Hanover at the time. Oral tradition says that in 1682, Lotti began studying with Lodovico Fuga and Giovanni Legrenzi, both of whom were employed at St Mark’s Basilica, Venice’s principal church, although there is no documentary evidence. Venice Lotti made his career at St Mark’s, first as an alto singer (from 1689), then as assistant to the second organist, then as second organist (from 1692), then (from 1704) as first organist, and finally (from 1736) as maestro di cappella, a position he held until his death. Because of the paucity of solid scholarship until recent decades, older reference books cite a good deal of misinformation regarding Lotti’s biography. Cicogna’s 1834 Delle inscrizioni Veneziane and Francesco Caffi’s 1854 Storia della Musica relied on oral tradition more than a century old to name works that Lotti supposedly composed for the Ospedale degl’ Incurabili. Later studies built upon that assertion to name Lotti as one of the supposed maestri of the Incurabili. The 2001 New Grove Dictionary of

Antonio Pasculli

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Antonio Pasculli (13 October 1842 – 23 February 1924) was an Italian oboist and composer, known as “the Paganini of the oboe”. Biography Pasculli was born in Palermo, Sicily on 13 October 1842. He lived there his whole life but travelled widely in Italy, Germany and Austria, giving oboe concerts. He directed symphonic and wind orchestra concerts, which were popular in Italy at the time. He also transcribed a large number of opera pieces for oboe and piano/harp, including works by Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, and Rossini. One of his well-known works is Etude Caractéristique for oboe and piano “Le Api” (The Bees) written in 1874 which resembles and precedes Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee”. He died in Palermo on 23 February 1924. Pasculli’s works require extraordinary virtuosity on the instrument. His pieces make constant use of arpeggiations, trills, and scales, and require the oboist to use circular breathing. His output was essentially forgotten early in the twentieth century, and he remained in oblivion until oboists Heinz Holliger and Omar Zoboli began reviving his music. As a result, some of his works are now available in recordings. Compositions Chamber works * Le Api

Antonio Pedrotti

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Antonio Pedrotti (August 14, 1901 – May 15, 1975 in Trento) was an Italian conductor and composer. He was born in Trento, at the time part of the County of Tyrol, part of the Austrian empire. He studied literature at the university and music at the conservatory in Rome. In 1924 he completed his composition studies under Ottorino Respighi and continued studying conducting with Bernardino Molinari. From 1938 to 1944 he was Molinari’s assistant and co-director of Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He collaborated also with La Scala and l’Orchestra dell’Angelicum in Milan as well as with the Vienna State Opera and with soloists like Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli or David Oistrakh. According to the family tradition, he supported the musical life in his home town and became conductor of the philharmonic orchestra and director of the conservatory (“Liceo Musicale”) in Trento. As a composer he collaborated also with the SAT man’s chorus Trento. Since 1989, an international conducting competition takes place every year in that city in his honor (“Concorso internazionale per Direttori d’Orchestra Antonio Pedrotti”). Pedrotti had also a long association with orchestras in th

Antonio Russolo

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Antonio Russolo (1877–1943 Antonio learned music early through his father, who successfully prepared him and another brother, Giovanni, to pass the entrance exam at the Milan Conservatory. This Futurist musical concept, which was introduced by F.T. Marinetti, sought to avoid imitating the sound of everyday life by stylizing sonic materials so that it loses its original sense; acquiring a new aural sphere in the process. A record made by Russolo in 1921 is the only surviving sound recording that features the original intonarumori. It includes the pieces, Corale and Serenata, which combined conventional orchestral music set against the famous noise machines. This music was released in 1924 on a 78 rpm record. In these pieces, Russolo used the intonarumori as underlay. The sounds made are described as tunes disrupted by growls and low-pitched electrical interference. In the same year, Russolo’s compositions were conducted during a concert organized by F.T. Marinetti at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. The program included four of Russolo’s work along with two compositions of Nuccio Fiorda. The use of the noise intoners were acclaimed by critics such as Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Diaghile

Antonio Salieri

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Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy. Salieri was a pivotal figure in the development of late 18th-century opera. As a student of Florian Leopold Gassmann, and a protégé of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Salieri was a cosmopolitan composer who wrote operas in three languages. Salieri helped to develop and shape many of the features of operatic compositional vocabulary, and his music was a powerful influence on contemporary composers. Appointed the director of the Italian opera by the Habsburg court, a post he held from 1774 until 1792, Salieri dominated Italian-language opera in Vienna. During his career, he also spent time writing works for opera houses in Paris, Rome, and Venice, and his dramatic works were widely performed throughout Europe during his lifetime. As the Austrian imperial Kapellmeister from 1788 to 1824, he was responsible for music at the court chapel and attached school. Even as his works dropped from performance, and he wrote no new operas after 1804, he still

Antonio Sartorio

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Antonio Sartorio (1630 – 30 December 1680) was a composer active mainly in the Republic of Venice and in the Principality of Calenberg. He was a leading composer of operas in his native Venice in the 1660s and 1670s and was also known for composing in other genres of vocal music. Between 1665 and 1675 he spent most of his time in Hanover, where he held the post of Kapellmeister to Duke Johann Friedrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg – returning frequently to Venice to compose operas for the Carnival. In 1676 he became vice maestro di capella at San Marco in Venice. Early work in Italy and work as Kapellmeister Sartorio was the brother of composer and organist Gasparo Sartorio and architect Girolamo Sartorio who also had connections with the theatre. Beyond birth records, the first known information about Sartorio relates to the mounting of his first opera, Gl’amori infruttuosi di Pirro, at the Teatro di San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice on 4 January 1661. His second opera, Seleuco, did not come until five years later when it was produced at the Teatro San Luca on 16 January 1666. The year before, he had been appointed to the position of Kapellmeister to Duke Johann Friedrich of Brunswick-Lü

Antonio Smareglia

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Antonio Smareglia (5 May 1854 – 15 April 1929) was an Italian opera composer. Life Antonio Smareglia was born in Pola, in the Istrian peninsula, then part of the Austrian Empire. In the house where he was born in Via Nettuno, there is now a small museum of his life and work. His father Francesco Smareglia from Pola was Italian, his mother Giulia Stiglich from Lovran was Croatian. The composer chose to set his most famous opera, Nozze istriane, in his grandfather’s village, Dignano d’Istria. Smareglia married Maria Jetti Polla, and they had five children. He became blind at the age of 46. Since then he composed his music dictating to his sons, Ariberto and Mario, and to his students and friends including Primo dalla Zonca, Gastone Zuccoli, and Vito Levi. Smareglia died in Grado in 1929. Works * Caccia lontana (a one-act dramatic sketch, a student work, 1879) * Preziosa (opera, 1879) * Bianca da Cervia (opera, 1882) * Re Nala (opera, 1887) * Il vassallo di Szigeth (opera, 1889) * Cornill Schutt (revised as Pittori Fiamminghi, opera, 1893) * Nozze istriane (opera, 1895) * La falena (opera, 1897) * Oceàna (opera, 1903) * Abisso (opera, 1914) Notes References *. *. External links *Anton

Antonio Vivaldi

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Birth and background#

Antonio Vivaldi was born on 4 March 1678 in Venice, then the capital of the Republic of Venice. He was the son of Giovanni Battista Vivaldi and Camilla Calicchio, as recorded in the register of San Giovanni in Bragora. He was baptized immediately after his birth at his home by the midwife, which has provoked speculation about the reason. Most likely, it was done because of poor health. There is a false rumor that an earthquake struck the city that day. This rumor may have originated from an earthquake that struck Venice on 17 April 1688. The baptismal ceremonies that had been omitted were supplied two months later. Vivaldi had five known siblings: Bonaventura Tomaso, Margarita Gabriela, Cecilia Maria, Francesco Gaetano, and Zanetta Anna. Vivaldi’s health was problematic. One of his symptoms, (“tightness of the chest”), has been interpreted as a form of asthma. This did not prevent him from learning to play the violin, composing, or taking part in musical activities, although it prevented him from playing wind instruments.

Arcangelo Corelli

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Arcangelo Corelli (, also , ; ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) Early life and education Childhood Baptismal records indicate that Corelli was born on 17 February 1653 in the small Romagna town of Fusignano, then in the diocese of Ferrara, in the Papal States. His ancestors had been in Fusignano and land-owners there since 1506, when a Corelli moved to the area from Rome. Although apparently prosperous, they were almost certainly not of the nobility, as several fanciful accounts of the composer’s genealogy subsequently claimed. Corelli’s father, from whom he took the name Arcangelo, died five weeks before the composer’s birth. Consequently, he was raised by his mother, Santa (née Ruffini, or Raffini), alongside four elder siblings, including Ippolito Corelli (1643–1727), Domenico Corelli (1647–1719) and Giacinto Corelli (1649–1719). The wealth of anecdotes and legends attached to Corelli contrast sharply with the paucity of reliable contemporary evidence documenting events in his life. This gap is especially pronounced for his formative years, including his musical education; traditional accounts of a highly idealized childhood have long been debunked. Musical education Corelli

Armando Pierucci

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Fra Armando Pierucci (born 3 September 1935 in Moie, Italy) is an Italian Franciscan musician who lives in Jerusalem. He graduated from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, from the Music Conservatories of Naples, and from the Rossini Music Conservatory in Pesaro. Some of his composition professors include Maestro Vincenzo Donato (who studied with Ottorino Respighi) and Maestro Argenzio Jorio. Career Pierucci was an Organ professor at the Rossini Music Conservatory of Pesaro. Today many of his past students teach music at various Italian Music Conservatories. He has conducted choirs and given organ recitals in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and the Holy Land. Since 1988, he has been the organist at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. from 1989 to 1999, he was Chief Editor of the Italian magazine La Terra Santa (“Holy Land”), quarterly published by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. Presently, he is a professor of sacred music at the Studium Theologicum Hierosolymitanum and President of the Magnificat Musical Institute. Fra Armando Pierucci has composed music for organ, choir, recorder, accordion, brass, and piano, including: *4 Cori su testo di Salvatore Quasi

Arrigo Boito

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Arrigo Boito (; born Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) was an Italian librettist, composer, poet and critic whose only completed opera was Mefistofele. Among the operas for which he wrote the libretti are Giuseppe Verdi’s monumental last two operas Otello and Falstaff as well as Amilcare Ponchielli’s La Gioconda. Along with Emilio Praga and his brother Camillo Boito, he is regarded as one of the prominent representatives of the Scapigliatura (Italian bohemian) artistic movement. He wrote essays under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio. Biography Boito was born in Padua. He was the son of Silvestro Boito, a painter of miniatures, who was not of noble birth but passed himself off as a nobleman, and his wife, a Polish countess, Józefina Radolińska. His older brother, Camillo Boito, was an Italian architect and engineer as well as a noted art critic, art historian and novelist. Boito studied music at the Milan Conservatory with Alberto Mazzucato until 1861, where he was a contemporary of Albert Visetti and Amintore Galli. In 1866, with Galli, Franco Faccio, and Emilio Praga, Boito fought under Giuseppe Garibaldi in the Seven Weeks’ War in which the

Arturo Buzzi-Peccia

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Arturo Buzzi-Peccia (13 October 1854 – 29 August 1943) was an Italian singing instructor and song composer. Biography Buzzi-Peccia was born on 13 October 1854 in Milan, Austrian Empire, to Antonio and Clotilde Peccia. External links * Arturo Buzzi-Peccia in Discography of American Historical Recordings at UC Santa Barbara

Attilio Brugnoli

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Attilio Brugnoli (7 October 1880 – 10 July 1937) was an Italian composer, pianist and musicologist. Life and career Born in Rome, Brugnoli graduated in piano and composition at the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory. He soon began a concert career, both as a member of the Waldemar Mayer quartet and as a soloist. In 1907 he was simultaneously offered the positions of academic chair of the piano faculties at the Naples Conservatory and the Parma Conservatory, ultimately deciding to accept the position in Parma, and later became professor at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence and at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in his hometown. He was author of several publications about piano teaching and piano techniques. Married with pianist Elvira Silla, he suddenly died in Bolzano, where he had gone as to serve as commissioner for the final exams at the city conservatory. References Further reading * External links * * Attilio Brugnoli at Musicalics.com

Attilio Parelli

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Attilio Enrico Paparella, known professionally as Attilio Parelli (31 May 1874 – 26 December 1944) was an Italian conductor and composer. Born in the village of Monteleone d’Orvieto, about 35 km southwest of Perugia, he studied with Cesare de Sanctis at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome between 1891 and 1899. He started work as a conductor in Italy and Paris, before moving to the United States. From 1906 he collaborated with Cleofonte Campanini at the Manhattan Opera House and the Chicago Grand Opera Company. His most important opera, I dispettosi amanti (The Lovers’ Quarrel), received its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, in March 1912. In 1925 Parelli returned to Italy and became artistic director of the newly formed Unione Radiofonica Italiana (Italian Radio Union; now RAI) in Milan. In 1926, I dispettosi amanti became the first opera to be broadcast in its entirety on Italian radio. Parelli married his student Isolina Rapalli. They had no children. He died in Monteleone d’Orvieto on 26 December 1944 and lies buried in the cemetery of his native village. References Further reading *Brumana, Biancamaria (2002). Il fondo musicale Attilio Parell

Augusto Martelli

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Augusto Martelli (15 March 1940 – 3 November 2014) was an Italian composer, conductor, arranger and television personality. Life and career Born in Genoa, the son of conductor and composer Giordano Bruno Martelli, Martelli is probably best known for the song Djamballà, the theme song of the 1970 film Il dio serpente, which reached the first position in the Italian charts. He is also well known for his romantic and professional relationship with pop singer Mina, with whom he collaborated as a composer and an arranger and with whom he co-founded the music label PDU. He also composed songs and scores for a large number of Fininvest TV programmes, including the jazz-fusion instrumental piece “Round D Minor” for the motor racing show “Grand Prix” hosted by Andrea de Adamich in the 1980s. Martelli always claimed his innocence. Selected filmography * Pensando a te (1969) * More Dollars for the MacGregors (1970) * Il dio serpente (1970) * Sartana in the Valley of Death (1970) * The Wind’s Fierce (1970) * We Are All in Temporary Liberty (1971) References External links * * * *

Avgust Ipavec

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Avgust Ipavec (2 June 1940 – 3 October 2023) was a Slovenian Roman Catholic priest and composer. Biography Ipavec was born at the onset of World War II in Gorizia. In the 1960s, he studied theology at the in Ljubljana and was ordained a priest in 1966 in . He graduated from composition at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in 1974. After graduation, he moved to Vienna to further his musical knowledge, and he then worked there as a hospital priest for almost 50 years. In his free time, he composed works mostly for large ensembles, such as oratorios, symphonies, and cantatas. His major compositions were the Christmas Pastorale; the oratory titled (“The Mass in the Field”) he wrote for the 900th anniversary of Cistercians in Stična; the only existent mass in four languages titled (“The Mass of the Nations”); and the symphony Colours of the Green Emerald, which premiered in September 2016, dedicated to the memory of the 100th anniversary of World War I. He occasionally visited his house in Bovec. In December 2006, the Chancellor of Austria awarded Ipavec the Decoration of Merit in Gold of the Republic of Austria for his music, which “connects peoples as music is the only language that c

Azio Corghi

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Azio Corghi (9 March 1937 – 17 November 2022) was an Italian composer, academic teacher and musicologist. He composed mostly operas and chamber music. Corghi was interested in both painting and music. His first instrument was an accordion. From 1956, he studied the piano at the Turin Conservatory with Mario Zanfi. After graduation in 1962, he moved to the Milan Conservatory, where he studied composition with Bruno Bettinelli, choral music with Amerigo Bortone, conducting with Antonino Votto, and polyphonic vocal composition with . Corghi’s orchestral composition Intavolature, performed at La Fenice in Venice, won the Ricordi composition competition of 1967. Vito Palumbo, Marco Stroppa. He was awarded the Massimo Mila Award in 1991 for his dedication to teaching. He composed his second opera, Blimunda to a libretto by José Saramago who became his longtime friend and collaborator. In 1999, Corghi was commissioned to compose an opera for La Scala, Tat’jana, based on Chekhov’s play Tatyana Repina. Awards and legacy In 1994, Corghi became a Fellow of the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome. La Scala reacted to his death stating that it joined “in the condolences of the Italian and in

Baldassare Donato

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Baldassare Donato (also Donati) (1525-1530 – June 1603) was an Italian composer and singer of the Venetian school of the late Renaissance. He was maestro di cappella of the prestigious St. Mark’s Basilica at the end of the 16th century, and was an important figure in the development of Italian light secular music, especially the villanella. Life Details of his early life are unavailable; it is not even known where he was born. The first record of Donato is as a singer at St. Mark’s in Venice in 1550, and he was given charge of the musical training of the boys there in 1562. When Gioseffo Zarlino took over the post of maestro di cappella from Cipriano de Rore in 1565, Donato was demoted back to being a singer; conflict between the two men seems to have been a feature of life at St. Mark’s, culminating in a climactic fight in 1569, publicly and scandalously, during the Feast of St. Mark. In 1577 Donato took a position at the Scuola Grande di S Rocco, another Venetian church with an impressive musical tradition and substantial performing ensemble; however he failed to get along with his employers there as well, resigning by 1580. In 1588 he became assistant maestro di cappella at St.

Baldassare Galuppi

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Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was a Venetian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C. P. E. Bach, whose works are emblematic of the prevailing galant music that developed in Europe throughout the 18th century. He achieved international success, spending periods of his career in Vienna, London and Saint Petersburg, but his main base remained Venice, where he held a succession of leading appointments. In his early career Galuppi made a modest success in opera seria, but from the 1740s, together with the playwright and librettist Carlo Goldoni, he became famous throughout Europe for his comic operas in the new dramma giocoso style. To the succeeding generation of composers, he was known as “the father of comic opera”. Some of his mature opere serie, for which his librettists included the poet and dramatist Metastasio, were also widely popular. Throughout his career Galuppi held official positions with charitable and religious institutions in Venice, the most prestigious of which was maestro di cappella at the Doge’s chapel, St Mark'

Barbara Giuranna

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Elena Barbara Giuranna (18 November 1899 – 30 July 1998) was an Italian pianist and composer. She taught at the Rome Conservatory from 1937 until 1970, and also edited 18th-century music. She composed works for stage, orchestra, chamber ensemble and piano, and arranged the works of Paisiello, Vivaldi, and Cimarosa. She was an elected member of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Life Elena Francesca Paola Maria Giuseppa Barbera was born in Palermo, Italy and studied piano at the Palermo Conservatory with Guido Alberto Fano. She also studied composition at the Naples Conservatory with Camillo De Nardis and Antonio Savasta. She continued her education in composition at the Milan Conservatory with Giorgio Federico Ghedini. She made her piano debut in 1923, playing with the Naples Symphony Orchestra. In 1924 she married conductor Mario Giuranna. After completing her studies, Giuranna taught at the Rome Conservatory from 1937 to 1970 and worked as an editor of 18th-century music. She was a music consultant to RAI in Rome from 1948 to 1956, and she was elected a member of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in 1982. She won the international prize of the City of Trieste for a

Barbara Strozzi

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Barbara Strozzi (also called Barbara Valle; baptised 6 August 1619 – 11 November 1677) was a Venetian composer and singer of the middle Baroque Period. During her lifetime, Strozzi published eight volumes of her own music, and had more secular music in print than any other composer of the era. She was baptized in the church of Santa Sofia in the Cannaregio district of Venice. Although her birth certificate does not state her father’s identity, it is assumed that her biological father was Giulio Strozzi, a poet and librettist, and a very influential figure in seventeenth-century Venice. He was a member of the Accademia degli Incogniti, one of the largest and most prestigious intellectual academies in Europe and a major political and social force in the Republic of Venice and beyond. He wrote in many literary media, for example, poetry, operas, prose, plays and lyrics for songs. Little is known about Barbara’s mother, but historians suspect that Isabella was a servant of Giulio, as both Barbara and her mother lived in Giulio’s household and were listed in his will. Barbara grew up in a household frequented by the greatest literary and musical minds of the age. More detailed accounts

Bartolomeo Tromboncino

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Bartolomeo Tromboncino (c. 1470 – 1535 or later) was an Italian composer of the middle Renaissance. He is mainly famous as a composer of frottole; he is principally infamous for murdering his wife. He was born in Verona and died in or near Venice. Life There is little information on his early life, as is common for most composers of the time. He mentions in a letter that he was originally from Verona, and it is most likely that he grew up in Mantua. Until around 1500 he lived and worked in Mantua, though he made occasional trips to adjacent cities such as Ferrara, Este, Vicenza, Milan, and Pavia, especially when he was in trouble. He fled Mantua in 1495 for unknown reasons, returning later that same year. In 1499 he murdered his wife when he discovered her in flagrante delicto but, unlike Gesualdo a hundred years later, he may have spared the man (the sources are contradictory on this detail). Curiously, he seems to have been pardoned again and again for his misdeeds, but he left Mantua again “without permission, and for despicable reasons”, as recorded in a letter from one of the Gonzaga family, his employers. His skill as a composer probably endeared him to Isabella d’Este, one o

Benedetto Ghiglia

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Benedetto Ghiglia (27 December 1921 – 4 July 2012) was an Italian composer, conductor and pianist. Life and career Born in Fiesole, Ghiglia graduated in composition and piano from the Florence Conservatory. He then started an activity as a chamber musician, both as solo and in couple with cellist Pietro Grossi. In 1976 he formed the stage company “Teatro-Canzone” with his wife Adriana Martino. He also composed incidental music for all the stage plays by Mario Missiroli. Between 1980 and 1985 he was vice-president of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Selected filmography * Adiós gringo (1965) * Six Days a Week (1965) * Espionage in Tangier (1965) * I Knew Her Well (1965) * Balearic Caper (1966) *El Rojo (1966) * Secret Agent Super Dragon (1966) * 4 Dollars of Revenge (1966) * Johnny Colt (1966) * A Stranger in Town (1967) * The Strange Night (1967) * Pigsty (1969) * Psychout for Murder (1969) * Corbari (1970) * Tulips of Haarlem (1970) * Lover of the Great Bear (1971) * St. Michael Had a Rooster (1972) * Trevico-Turin: Voyage in Fiatnam (1973) * To Forget Venice (1979) References External links * *

Benedetto Marcello

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Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (; 31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739) was an Italian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher. Life Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of the noble Marcello family and in his compositions, he is frequently referred to anonymously as Patrizio Veneto (Venetian patrician, i.e. aristocrat). Although he was a music student of Antonio Lotti and Francesco Gasparini, his father wanted Benedetto to devote himself to law. Benedetto managed to combine a life in law and public service with one in music. In 1711 he was appointed a member of the Council of Forty (in Venice’s central government), and in 1730 he went to Pola as Provveditore (district governor). Due to his health having been “impaired by the climate” of Istria, Marcello retired after eight years in the capacity of Camerlengo (chamberlain) to Brescia where he died of tuberculosis in 1739. Benedetto Marcello was the brother of Alessandro Marcello, also a notable composer. On 20 May 1728 Benedetto Marcello married his singing student Rosanna Scalfi in a secret ceremony. However, as a nobleman, his marriage to a commoner was unlawful; after his death, the marriage was declared nu

Bernardo De Pace

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Bernardo De Pace (March 31, 1881 – June 15, 1966) was an actor, musician and comedic vaudeville entertainer of the 1910s and 1920s, billed as “the Wizard of the Mandolin”. He learned to play mandolin in the Italian tradition under Francesco Della Rosa. De Pace’s repertoire and technique was described in the Brooklyn Life as involving “the most difficult violin and piano compositions, executed at inconceivably rapid tempi demanding an uncanny technique seldom heard on fretted instruments”. In 1927 the Minneapolis Star said that he had been recognized as one of the best mandolinists in the United States. He worked in England for nearly 10 years, starting in 1900, playing with the Blackpool Winter Gardens’ Orchestra for 3 seasons and touring the country for nearly 7 seasons with his brother Nicolas, until 1909 when they emigrated to the United States from Italy. By 1921 he had toured extensively both as a musician and a vaudeville performer. European tours Bernardo moved to Naples with his family when he was two. He began to play the mandolin at five years of age and it became his passion “to the exclusion of all else”. He impressed Luigi with his musical aptitude and received lessons

Berto Pisano

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Berto Pisano (born Umberto Pisano, Cagliari, 13 October 1928 – Rome, 29 January 2002) was an Italian composer, conductor, arranger and jazz musician. Born in Cagliari, Sardinia, Pisano started his career as a double bassist in the jazz groups Quartetto Astor and Asternovas. He later learned to play the trumpet. He is best known as a song writer for Italian pop star Mina and his work as film composer. Selected filmography References External links * * * Berto Pisano at Discogs

Biagio Marini

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Biagio Marini (5 February 1594 – 20 March 1663) was an Italian virtuoso violinist and composer in the first half of the seventeenth century. Marini was born in Brescia. He may have studied with his uncle Giacinto Bondioli. His works were printed and influential throughout the European musical world. He travelled throughout his life, and occupied posts in Brussels, over thirty years in Neuburg an der Donau and Düsseldorf, and Venice in 1615, joining Monteverdi’s group at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Padua, Parma, Ferrara, Milan, Bergamo, and Brescia in Italy. There is evidence that he married three times and fathered five children. He died in Venice. Although he wrote both instrumental and vocal music, he is better known for his innovative instrumental compositions. He contributed to the early development of the string idiom by expanding the performance range of the solo and accompanied violin and incorporating slur, double and even triple stopping, and the first explicitly notated tremolo (in the sonata La Foscarina, op. 1 No. 14; 1617) effects into his music. He was also among the first composers, after Marco Uccellini, to call for scordatura tunings. He made contributions to most of the

Biancamaria Furgeri

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Biancamaria Furgeri (born 6 October 1935) is an Italian organist, music educator and composer. Life Biancamaria Fugeri was born in Rovigo, Italy, and studied at the Conservatorio di Padova and in Milan and Venice with Wolfgango Dalla Vecchia, Bruno Coltro, Bruno Bettinelli, Giuseppe Piccioli and Giorgio Federico Ghedini. After completing her studies, Furgeri taught music in Ferrara and Padua, and in 1969 took a teaching position at the Conservatorio G.B. Martini in Bologna. Her works have been performed internationally. She has placed first in a number of international competitions, including the 1973 National Sacred Music competition in Verese, the 1985 GEDOK competition in Mannheim, and the 1987 International Competition for Women Composers in Zürich. She was director (1977-1979) of the Conservatory of Music in Rovigo. Works Fugeri composes mostly orchestral, choral, chamber and vocal works. Selected compositions include: *1958 Sonata, Opus 1 *1960 Piano Suite, Op 2 *1963 Sonata, Opus 3 for organ *1965 Suite by Gioconda, Opus 4 *1968 Toccata and Ricercare, Opus 5 for organ *1970-71 Piccoli Musici (Volume 1), Op 6 *1970-71 Piccoli Musici (Volume 2), Opus 7 *1972 Il libro dei Ritmi

Bonaventura Furlanetto

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Bonaventura Furlanetto (27 May 1738 - 6 April 1817) was an Italian composer and music teacher, also known in his lifetime by the nickname Musin. His pupils included Anselmo Marsand and Giovanni Pacini. Life Born in Venice, he spent his childhood in the parish of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, where he learned music almost completely self-taught except for some lessons from his amateur organist uncle Nicolò Formenti and the priest Giacopo Bolla. At the same time he was also taught philosophy and literature by Jesuits. He then embarked on an ecclesiastical career, but declined to be ordained. *Dies extrema mundi (1780) *David Goliath triumphator (1780) *Jonathas (1781) *Salomon rex Israel electus (1782) *Aurea statua a rege Nabucodonosor erecta vel pueri Hebraei in fornace ardentis ignis (1783) *Prudens Abiga (1784) *Moyses ad Rubum (1785) *Absalonis rebellio (1785) *Sisara (1786) *Abraham et Isach (1786) *De solemni Baltassar convivio (1787) *Judith triumphans (1787) *De solemni nuptiae in domum Lebani (1788) *Triumphus Jephte (1789) *Bethulia liberata (based on Betulia liberata by Pietro Metastasio, 1790) *Gedeon (1792) *De filio prodigo (1800) *Primum fatale homicidium (1800) *Il trion

Bonaventura Somma

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Bonaventura Somma ( Chianciano Terme 30 July 1893Rome 23 October 1960) was an Italian Romantic composer, conductor and organist. Life Bonaventura Somma was born in Chianciano Terme - small town located in the province of Siena, on July 30, 1893. As a young man he attended the conservatory in Rome, where he was trained in music, having been a student of various modern composers including Ottorino Respighi. After finishing his studies, he became a professor for many years at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome and directed the Choirs of the “Augusteo” for several years. Always in Rome, he founded the Polyphonic Choir of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, in which he was permanent director until end of his life. He also worked with the most important conductors and composers of his time (Karajan, Toscanini, Perosi, etc.). For many years he was director of the Musical Chapel of San Luigi dei Francesi. Choirs * Requiem Mass * Pentecost * Hail Mary * Symphony and Variations Revisions and transcripts Somma carried out an intense activity of transcription and revision of XVI to XVII century scores for choir, including several Palestrina’s Masses and Madrigal works by Banchieri stand out

Boris Porena

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Boris Porena (Rome, 27 September 1927 - Cantalupo in Sabina, 3 May 2022) was an Italian thinker, music composer and didactical expert. He was married to Paola Bučan, a famous Croatian cellist and teacher who, until her retirement in 2014 was a tenured professor at the Conservatorio di Musica in Perugia (Italy). He was a disciple of Goffredo Petrassi – alongside other distinguished musicians such as Ennio Morricone, Aldo Clementi, and Sergio Cafaro. Although he was initially influenced by neoclassical poetics, he later evolved towards the use of the harmonic language of the late Renaissance period, which he has used with originality in order to build his own musical research which directly influenced his later compositional processes. He started composing when only 12 years old. His career is effectively in two distinct and different periods – the first being up until 1967 during which time he gained a wide national and international success. From 1968, as consequence of the evolution of both his thought and his social involvement, he abstained from composing, a period which lasted for the next twenty years. During that time he devoted himself to a grassroots cultural practice and s

Bruno Barilli

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Bruno Barilli (14 December 188015 April 1952) was an Italian actor and music composer, and best remembered for his writings on music and music composition. Biography He was born in Fano in the region of Marche, Italy, as the son of a Parmesan painter Cecrope Barilli and his wife, Anna Adanti. As a member of a noted family that, for centuries gave a lot of artists, he studied musical composition at the Arrigo Boito Conservatory at Parma. From there, he gained the position of conducting the orchestra at the Dirigentschule in Munich. There he married Danica Pavlović, descendant of the Karađorđević dynasty and second cousin of the King Petar I of Serbia. Together they had one daughter, Milena Pavlović-Barili, who became a prominent Serbian painter. Returning to Italy in 1910, Barilli composed the opera Medusa with libretto by Ottone Schanzer. In 1914, the opera was awarded at the MacCormick competition. Barilli wrote the music and libretto for the opera Emiral (1915), awarded a prize in a Roman competition judged by Giacomo Puccini. As an actor, he is known for his performance in La Rosa (1921). But Barilli is known mainly for his prolific writing and editing as a music critic for nume

Bruno Bartolozzi

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Bruno Bartolozzi (8 June 1911 – 12 December 1980) Further reading *

Bruno Bettinelli

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Bruno Bettinelli (4 June 1913 – 8 November 2004) was an Italian composer and teacher. Biography Bruno Bettinelli was born in Milan, where he studied at the Conservatorio “G. Verdi” in Milan, under the tutelage of Giulio Cesare Paribeni and Renzo Bossi. He held the title of professor of composition at that same institute and he trained many notable contemporary Italian musicians, including Claudio Abbado, Emiliano Bucci, Elisabetta Brusa, Gilberto Serembe, Danilo Lorenzini, Roberto Cacciapaglia, Bruno Canino, Aldo Ceccato, Riccardo Chailly, Azio Corghi, Armando Gentilucci, Riccardo Muti, Maurizio Pollini, Uto Ughi, Angelo Paccagnini, Bruno Zanolini, Silvia Bianchera, Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Francesco Degrada, Massimo Di Gesu, Carlo Alessandro Landini, Massimo Anfossi, Caterina Calderoni, Barbara Rettagliati, Massimo Berzolla and many others. He also taught the Italian singer-songwriter Gianna Nannini. He received many international awards for composition, including a prize from Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome in the 1940s. He has also worked in musicology and music criticism. His compositions are currently performed all over the world. Bettinelli’s music is publ

Bruno Canfora

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Bruno Canfora (; 6 November 1924 – 4 August 2017) was an Italian composer, conductor, and music arranger. Life and career Born in Milan, Canfora studied piano at an early age, then studied oboe at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. During the Second World War, he played several concerts with his group in Trieste. Canfora was the conductor for the Sanremo Music Festival in 1961, 1988 and 1993. Selected filmography * The Man Who Wagged His Tail (1957) * It Happened in Broad Daylight (1958) * Wolves of the Deep (1959) * The Huns (1960) * Fall of the Mohicans (1965) * Rita the Mosquito (1966) * Il vostro super agente Flit (1966) * James Tont operazione D.U.E. (1966) * Don’t Sting the Mosquito (1967) * The Funny Face of the Godfather (1973) * Free Hand for a Tough Cop (1976) * Destruction Force (1977) References External links * * *

Bruno Canino

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Bruno Canino (born 30 December 1935) is an Italian classical pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Early life Bruno Canino was born in Naples, Italy in 1935, where he studied piano with Vincenzo Vitale. He continued his musical education in Milan, studying both piano and composition. His teachers included Enzo Calace and Bruno Bettinelli. In 1956 and again in 1958, he won prizes at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition and in 1960 at the Darmstadt competition. Career Canino has an international reputation as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist. Among those with whom he has appeared are the violinists Itzhak Perlman, Salvatore Accardo, Franco Mezzena, Viktoria Mullova, Pierre Amoyal, Oleksandr Semchuk, Uto Ughi, Ksenia Milas, Alessio Bidoli the flutists Severino Gazzelloni, Luisa Sello, Roberto Pasquini, the cellist Lynn Harrell and vocalist Cathy Berberian. He is also the pianist of the celebrated Trio di Milano, together with the violinist Mariana Sîrbu and cellist Rocco Filippini. He is an enthusiastic advocate of contemporary music. Among the composers who have dedicated works to him are Luciano Berio, Mauricio Kagel, Wolfgang Rihm and Iannis Xenakis. He

Bruno Maderna

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Bruno Maderna (born Bruno Grossato, 21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian composer, conductor and academic teacher. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna. At the age of four, he began studying the violin with his grandfather. “My grandfather thought that if you could play the violin you could then do anything, even become the biggest gangster. If you play the violin you are always sure of a place in heaven.” As a child, he played several instruments (violin, drums and accordion) in his father’s small variety band. A child prodigy, in the early thirties, he was not only performing violin concertos, he was already conducting orchestral concerts: first with the orchestra of La Scala in Milan, then in Trieste, Venice, Padua and Verona. He was originally Jewish. Orphaned at the age of four, Maderna was adopted by a wealthy woman from Verona, Irma Manfredi, who saw to it that he received a solid musical education. He took private lessons in harmony and musical composition from Arrigo Pedrollo from 1935 until 1937 and studied composition with Alessandro Bustini at the Rome Conservatory from 193

Bruno Martino

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Bruno Martino (11 November 1925 – 12 June 2000) was an Italian composer, singer, and pianist. He is best remembered for his songs Dracula Cha Cha Cha (1959) and Estate (1960). Career Martino learned to play the piano at the age of fourteen. A jazz fan, he spent the early years of his career performing with European radio and nightclub orchestras. In the mid-1950s, he was a member of the RAI orchestra. He later started composing music for popular Italian singers, eventually touring the world with his own orchestra. This resulted in a late-blossoming career as a singer. Internationally he is best known for his 1960 song Estate, a standard that has been performed by many jazz musicians and singers since the early 1960s, including João Gilberto, Joe Diorio, Chet Baker, Toots Thielemans, Shirley Horn, Eliane Elias, Michel Petrucciani, Monty Alexander, Mike Stern, John Pizzarelli and Robert Jospé. Another one of Martino’s hit-songs, the humorous novelty song Dracula Cha Cha (later also called Dracula Cha Cha Cha) was originally composed for Steno’s horror-comedy film Tempi duri per i vampiri (1959) and released as a single the same year. It was later included in the album Italian Graffit

Bruno Moretti

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Bruno Moretti (born 1957) is an Italian composer, pianist, and conductor. He has composed ballet music (as well as theatre, cinema and television music) working in collaboration with the choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti. He is also an accompanist for singers. Biography Moretti was born in Rome, and initially studied with Armando Renzi. Then he became Nino Rota’s assistant for creating the opera Napoli milionaria at the Spoleto festival in 1977. Later, he studied conducting at Siena’s Accademia Musicale Chigiana. He made his conducting debut in 1979 at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma with Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. He has conducted throughout Italy and in England, Israel, the Far East and North America. Works Opera * Lady E (1999), opera in two acts to a libretto by Pasquale Plastino and Silvia Ranfagni Ballet * Caravaggio (2008), a two-act ballet by Mauro Bigonzetti. Moretti wrote the score based on several works by Claudio Monteverdi. Moretti’s interpretation was reviewed as “light … then darker and always varied in texture … romanticised Monteverdi, but it fits the stage action perfectly.” * Don Giovanni, emozioni di un mito (1996), for Il Balletto di Toscana * Comoedia

Bruno Nicolai

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Bruno Nicolai (20 May 1926 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film music composer, orchestra director, conductor, pianist and musical editor, most active in the 1960s through the 1980s. While studying piano and composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, he befriended Ennio Morricone and formed a long working relationship, with Nicolai eventually conducting for and co-scoring films with Morricone. Morricone noted in an interview discussing the Dollars Trilogy, “I chose a great musician and friend to be my conductor: Bruno Nicolai, who conducted almost every score of mine from that point on until 1974.” Nicolai also scored a number of giallo exploitation films and wrote many scores for director Jesús Franco. Collaboration with Ennio Morricone Nicolai frequently collaborated with Morricone, conducting many of his scores, including those for Sergio Leone’s “For a Few Dollars More” (1965) and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966). Morricone praised Nicolai as a great musician and friend who conducted nearly all his scores until 1974. Their partnership eventually ended due to disagreements over credit attribution. His work was featured in the Quentin Tarantino films Kill Bill

C. A. Bracco

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C. A. Bracco (Calogero Adolfo Bracco, 45 years old, Biella (Piedmont); born ?, Genova; died 1905.01.22) was an Italian mandolinist, violinist and conductor, deserving notice by his compositions for mandolin band. While not a prolific composer, he was the author of several operettas and ballets which were produced in his native land. His published works were principally for mandolin and guitar or violin and piano, and were issued solely in Italy. Bracco was a cultivated musician and musical conductor in Genoa and Orvieto, Italy. In Orvieto, he conducted the municipal orchestra for several years, and in Genoa conducted the mandolin and guitar band, “Club Musicale Genovese”; he dedicated his symphonic overture I mandolini a congresso to the members of this band. Bracco was also conductor of the Philharmonic Society of Certosa, and the Banda Operaia Genovese. His work Serenata was performed by Enrico Caruso on a Victor record, Matrix C-23151. Serenata / Enrico Caruso and Matrix B-23151. Serenata / Enrico Caruso. References

Camillo Sivori

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Ernesto Camillo Sivori (June 6, 1817 – February 18, 1894) was an Italian virtuoso violinist and composer. Life Early life Born in Genoa, he was the only known pupil of Niccolò Paganini. He also studied with composer Antonio Restano (1790–1885), Paganini’s teacher (1760s or 70s-~1836?) and Agostino Dellepiane. In 1827, Sivori began the career of a travelling virtuoso which lasted almost without interruption until 1864. On November 18, 1846, he performed at the Howard Athenaeum in Boston, where he played La Campanella and The Carnival of Venice. He performed Mendelssohn’s violin concerto for the first time in England in 1846, and was in England again in the seasons of 1851 and 1864. In 1864, he formed a permanent trio with cellist Alfredo Piatti and pianist Charlotte Tardieu. Camillo Sivori also collaborated with Giuseppe Verdi. In 1893 Verdi heard Sivori’s performance at his private music soirée and noted Sivori’s impeccable technique, agility and musicianship. Sivori’s performances ideas were directly influenced by opera characters. His violin techniques, in many instances were executed to impersonate human sounds. Sivori understood that he was the only violinist alive (in the late 18

Camillo Togni

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Camillo Togni (18 October 1922 – 28 November 1993) was an Italian composer, teacher, and pianist. Coming from a family of independent means, he was able to pursue his art as he saw fit, regardless of changing fashions or economic pressure. Life Togni was born in Gussago, near Brescia. He began studying piano at the age of 7, with Franco Margola in Brescia, then from 1939 to 1943 with Alfredo Casella in Rome and Siena, and Giovanni Anfossi in Milan. Later he studied with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, receiving his diploma from the Conservatory of Parma in 1946 . He studied Classics in Brescia, musical aesthetics at the University of Milan, and in 1948 graduated in philosophy from the University of Pavia with a dissertation titled “The Aesthetics of B. Croce and the Problem of Musical Interpretation”. Contemporaneously, he began to study composition in Brescia with Margola, subsequently in Rome and in Siena with Casella. He was active as a concert artist until 1953; subsequently, he performed only his own music in public. Michelangeli introduced him in 1938 to the music of Arnold Schoenberg, which affected him profoundly and caused him to develop a tremendous interest in the Second

Carlo Agostino Badia

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Carlo Agostino Badia (1672 – 23 September 1738) was an Italian court composer best known for his operas and oratorios. Badia was born in Verona and around 1697 moved to Vienna, where many of his operas were premiered until his death. He was employed as chapel-master to emperor Leopold I for some time. Operas *La ninfa Apollo (1692, Rome and Milan) *Amor che vince lo sdegno, ovvero Olimpia placata (1692) *La Rosaura, ovvero Amore figlio della gratitudine (1692, Innsbruck) *L’amazone corsara, ovvero L’Alvilda, regina de’ Goti (1692) *Bacco, vincitore dell’India (1697, Vienna) *La pace tra i numi discordi nella rovina di Troia (1697, Vienna) *L’idea del felice governo (1698, Vienna) *Lo squittinio dell’eroe (1698, Neue Favorita) *Imeneo trionfante (1699, Vienna) *Il Narciso (1699, Laxenburg) *Il commun giubilo del mondo (1699, Neue Favorita) *Cupido fuggitivo da Venere e ritrovato a’ piedi della Sacra Reale Maestà d’Amalia (1700, Vienna) *Le gare dei beni (1700, Vienna) *Diana rappacificata con Venere e con Amore (1700, Vienna) *La costanza d’Ulisse (1700, Neue Favorita) *L’amore vuol somiglianza (1702, Vienna) *L’Arianna (1702, Vienna) *Il Telemaco, ovvero Il valore coronato (1702, V

Carlo Albanesi

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Carlo Albanesi (22 October 1858 – 26 September 1926) was an Italian-born composer, pianist, teacher and examiner who spent most of his working life in England. His Exercises for Fingering, first published in the early 1900s, are still in use today. Life and career Born in Naples, Albanesi received piano lessons from his father, the piano virtuoso Luigi Albanesi (1821–1898), and composition lessons from Sabino Falconi. From 1882 he settled in London, where he composed and performed widely for the next ten years. In 1893 he was appointed professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music, succeeding the deceased Thomas Wingham. He remained there until his death. Albanesi was appointed Chevalier of the Crown of Italy, and was a long-term member of the London Philharmonic Society. He was also an examiner at the Dublin Royal Academy of Music. Composer As a composer Albanesi wrote orchestral and chamber music, including a string quartet and trio for piano and strings. But he is best remembered for his piano music and particularly the six piano sonatas, the last of which was composed in 1907. Of those, Number 4 in B♭ minor (1905), with a graceful Barcarolle as its middle movement, achieved

Carlo Alessandro Landini

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Carlo Alessandro Landini (born April 20, 1954) is an Italian composer, scholar, and essayist. Educated in Italy, France, and the United States, he has been active in contemporary classical music since the late 1970s. His work encompasses large-scale instrumental and chamber compositions and reflects sustained engagement with post-war European compositional traditions. Landini has taught at Italian and international conservatories and universities, including the Conservatory of Piacenza and Columbia University, and has held visiting professorships in Europe and the United States. His music has been performed at major contemporary music festivals and venues, including the Darmstadt Summer Courses, the Venice Biennale, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Landini has received several international composition awards, including the Valentino Bucchi Prize, the Ernest Bloch Competition, and the Witold Lutosławski International Composers Competition. Early life and education Carlo Alessandro Landini began his musical studies in the piano and composition classes of the Milan Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi”, under the guidance of Piero Rattalino and Bruno Bettinelli respectively

Carlo Ambrogio Lonati

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Carlo Ambrogio Lonati, baptized Giovanni Ambrogio Leinati, also Lunati; (c.1645 – c.1712) was an Italian composer, violinist and singer. Francesco Maria Veracini described him in 1760 as one of the most virtuosic violinists of his century. Life Nothing is known so far about the family and the musical education of Lonati, but he is thought to have been born in Milan. Between 1665 and 1667 he figured as a violinist in the viceroy’s (Pedro Antonio de Aragón) chapel in Naples. Since 1673 he was in the service of Queen Christina of Sweden, and led her string orchestra, and from that time was also known as the “Queen’s Hunchback” (‘Il Gobbo della Regina’). He made friends with Alessandro Stradella, his companion in notoriety. Together with Carlo Mannelli and Lelio Colista he counted among the “più valorosi professori musici di Roma”. The majority of his compositions for several instruments probably dates from this period. The Teatro Tordinona, the first public theater for opera performances in Rome, opened in 1671 with music by Bernardo Pasquini. In 1673 he sang in Pasquini’s L’Amor per vendetta. Lonati played the comic character Vafrindo, singing and playing the violin on stage. The dua

Carlo Besozzi

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Carlo Besozzi (1738 – 22 March 1791) was an Italian oboist composer and member of an extensive family of oboists from the eighteenth-century Naples. Nephew of Gaetano Besozzi, he was employed in the orchestra of the Elector of Dresden and travelled extensively throughout Europe with his father, playing in London, Paris, Stuttgart and Salzburg, where he received good notices from Leopold Mozart. Biography Besozzi was born in Naples, or in Dresden as reported by another source, as the son of oboist and composer Antonio Besozzi, who was undoubtedly his teacher. From 1754 Carlo Besozzi joined his father as oboist in the Dresden Kapelle, in the service of the Electress of Saxony Maria Antonia Walpurgis. However, the Dresden opera house was destroyed by the Prussians in the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), breaking up the remarkable group of musicians assembled by Elector Frederick Augustus II. He performed in Paris in December of that year and escaped to London in early 1757. He then traveled extensively through Germany, France and Italy, acquiring by that time not only almost unparalleled skill on the oboe, but also even greater reputation than his father, and spent 1758–9 playing under Nic

Carlo Coccia

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Carlo Coccia (14 April 1782 – 13 April 1873) was an Italian opera composer. He was known for the genre of opera semiseria. Life and career Coccia was born in Naples, and studied in his native city with Pietro Casella, Fedele Fenaroli, and Giovanni Paisiello, who introduced him to King Joseph Bonaparte for whom he became the private musician. He wrote his first opera, Il matrimonio per lettera di cambio, in 1807, but it was a failure; however, the following year, with the help of Paisiello, his second opera, Il poeta fortunato, was well received. He then moved to Venice, where he concentrated on opera semiseria, of which Clotilde from 1815, is perhaps the best example. Accused of imitating other composers, and of producing too many uneven operas in great haste, he was eventually eclipsed by the emerging Rossini, and left for Lisbon, where he remained from 1820 to 1823. He then settled in London in 1824, where he was conductor at His Majesty’s Theatre. In 1827, he wrote Maria Stuarda for Giuditta Pasta, which, despite her and the celebrated bass Luigi Lablache being in the cast, was not successful, achieving only four performances. Back in Italy, he concentrated on opera seria, and o

Carlo Curti

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Carlo Curti (6 May 1859 – 8 May 1922), also known as Carlos Curti, was an Italian musician, composer and bandleader. He moved to the United States whose most lasting contribution to American society was popularizing the mandolin in American music by starting a national “grass-roots mandolin orchestra craze” (that lasted from 1880 until the 1920s). He also contributed to Mexican society in 1884 by creating one of Mexico’s oldest orchestras, the Mexican Typical Orchestra. The orchestra under his leadership represented Mexico at the New Orleans Cotton Exhibition. As with his Spanish Students, Curti dressed his Mexican band in costumes, choosing the charro cowboy outfit. The patriotic value of having Mexico represented on the international stage gave a boost to mariachi bands (which had normally been repressed by social elites); the mariachis began using charro outfits as Curti’s orchestra had done, expressing pride in being Mexican. Curti’s Orquestra Típica Mexicana has been called the “predecessor of the Mariachi bands.” He was an orchestra leader, composer, educator at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música (Mexican National Conservatory of Music), xylophonist, violinist, mandolinist

Carlo Domeniconi

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Carlo Domeniconi (born 20 February 1947) is an Italian guitarist and composer. Although his compositions include a wide variety of genres and instrumentation choices, he is best known for his works for solo guitar, and particularly the Koyunbaba suite. Domeniconi’s style is characterized by his adoption of multicultural influences. His works explore and borrow from a wide variety of national traditions, including Turkish, Indian, Brazilian, and many more. Biography Domeniconi was born in Cesena, Italy. He received his first formal guitar lessons in 1960 from Carmen Lenzi Mozzani, granddaughter of the famous guitarist and luthier Luigi Mozzani. Making rapid progress, he won first prizes at the Ancona International Festival of Guitar in 1960 and 1962. Upon graduation in 1969, Domeniconi took up a teaching position in Berlin, which he held until 1992. establishing and heading the first classical guitar course at the Istanbul University State Conservatory, and on many shorter trips he took to Istanbul. A milestone in his oeuvre is the “Concerto di Berlinbul” for bağlama, guitar and chamber orchestra, composed in 1987. The world premiere took place in the Berliner Philharmonie together

Carlo Donida

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Carlo Donida Labati (30 October 1920 in Milan – 22 April 1998 in Porto Valtravaglia) was an Italian composer and pianist. Carlo Donida Labati was born in Milan on 30 October 1920. He graduated in piano and composition from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. Carlo Donida began his musical career as a pianist of the musical group “The Dandies”. He was then hired as an arranger by Casa Ricordi, which at that time had just created a pop music section. Entered into the “songbooks”, he decided to put on paper his first songs, with the assistance of Gian Carlo Testoni wherein the songs “Dimmi t’amo” (“Tell Me I Love You”) and “Sotto il mandorlo” (“Under the Almond Tree”) debuted on the radio and received a warm reception from the public. Then came the binomial Donida–Pinchi that gave rise to such hits as “Vecchio scarpone” (“Old Boot”) and “Canzone da due soldi” (“Twopenny Song”), which had international success. The long association with Giulio Rapetti Mogol, which eventually created 126 songs, began in 1960 with the song “Briciole di baci” (“Crumbs of Kisses”) starring Mina and “Diavolo” (“Devil”) sung by Jimmy Fontana. “Uno dei tanti” (“One of the Many”), sung by Tony Dallara an

Carlo Forlivesi

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Carlo Forlivesi (born 23 October 1971) is an Italian composer, performer and researcher. Forlivesi was born in Faenza, Emilia-Romagna. He studied at Bologna Conservatory, Milan Conservatory and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia of Rome. He then joined IRCAM (Institute de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique) and subsequently DIEM (Danish Institute of Electroacoustic Music), Tokyo College of Music, and Northwestern University, with fellowships from the governments of Italy, Denmark, Japan, and the United States (Fulbright Commission). His activity has mainly focused on new music in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Forlivesi has conducted extensive research in the field of traditional Japanese music and dance including the ethnic music of the Ainu. Beside contemporary music, he cultivates a particular interest in early music, which he studied and performed for several years. Forlivesi has collaborated with first-class performers and received numerous awards. His music is regularly programmed by festivals and theatres worldwide. Several times nominated artist-in-residence, lecturer, workshop coach, and music–contest judge, Forlivesi’s international stance is reflec

Carlo Francesco Pollarolo

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Carlo Francesco Pollarolo (ca. 1653 – 7 February 1723) was an Italian composer, organist, and music director. Known chiefly for his operas, he wrote a total of 85 of them as well as 13 oratorios. His compositional style was initially indebted to the opera tradition of Giovanni Legrenzi and Carlo Pallavicino, but he moved beyond this style with innovations to the compositional structure of the aria characterized by expanded forms and orchestral elaborations. His early work used three part strings in the Legrenzi and Pallacino tradition of orchestration, but his mid and later works had developed into a richer orchestration of five strings parts and expanded instrumentation of brass and woodwinds. He was the first Venetian opera composer and one of the earliest Italian composers to use the oboe in his opera orchestrations. Life and career Born into the Pollarolo family of musicians in Brescia, Carlo Francesco Pollarolo was the son of musician Orazio Pollarolo. His father was the organist at the Santi Nazaro e Celso, Brescia from 1665–1669, and then at the Brescia Cathedral from 1669 through 1675. His younger brother Paolo Pollarolo (b. 1672) was also a professional musician in Brescia

Carlo Gesualdo

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Early life#

Gesualdo’s family had acquired the principality of Venosa, in what is now the Province of Potenza, Southern Italy, in 1560. He was probably born on 30 March 1566, three years after his older brother, Luigi, though some sources have stated that he was born on 8 March. Older sources give the year of birth as 1560 or 1561, but this is no longer accepted. A letter from Gesualdo’s mother, Geronima Borromeo, indicates that the year is most likely 1566. Gesualdo’s uncle was Carlo Borromeo, later Saint Charles Borromeo. His mother was the niece of Pope Pius IV. Carlo was most likely born at Venosa, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, but little else is known about his early life. “His mother died when he was only seven, and at the request of his uncle Carlo Borromeo, for whom he was named, he was sent to Rome to be set on the path of an ecclesiastical career. There he was placed under the protection of his uncle Alfonso (d. 1603), then dean of the College of Cardinals, later unsuccessful pretender to the papacy, and ultimately Archbishop of Naples.” His brother Luigi was to become the next Prince of Venosa, but after his untimely death in 1584, Carlo became the designated successor. Abandoning the prospect of an ecclesiastical career,, he married, in 1586, his first cousin, Donna Maria d’Avalos, the daughter of Carlo d’Avalos, prince of Montesarchio and Sveva Gesualdo. They had one child, a son, Don Emmanuele. Gesualdo had a musical relationship with Pomponio Nenna, though whether it was student-to-teacher, or colleague-to-colleague, is uncertain. Regardless of this, however, he had a single-minded devotion to music from an early age, and is said to have shown little interest in anything else. In addition to the lute, he played the harpsichord, and guitar. In addition to Nenna, Gesualdo’s accademia included the composers Giovanni de Macque, Scipione Dentice, Scipione Stella, Scipione Lacorcia, Ascanio Mayone, and the nobleman lutenist Ettorre de la Marra.

Carlo Innocenzi

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Carlo Innocenzi (29 April 1899 – 24 March 1962) was an Italian composer. Life and career Born in Monteleone di Spoleto, Innocenzi is best known as a composer of musical scores for films; he composed over 150 film scores since 1933. From 1958 until his death, he focused on peplum film scores. Innocenzi also composed several pop songs, and some of them were not only commercial hits but also became instant classics, notably “Mille lire al mese” and “Valeria ragazza poco seria”. He was married to Sonia Pearlwing, who, under the name of Marcella Rivi, was the author of the lyrics for several songs composed by him. Selected filmography * A Thousand Lire a Month (1939) * The First Woman Who Passes (1940) * Light in the Darkness (1941) * Disturbance (1942) * Invisible Chains (1942) * Two Hearts (1943) * Un uomo ritorna (1946) * Anthony of Padua (1949) * Welcome, Reverend! (1950) * Song of Spring (1951) * Auguri e figli maschi! (1951) * The Passaguai Family (1951) * Una bruna indiavolata! (1951) * Three Girls from Rome (1952) * A Mother Returns (1952) * The Passaguai Family Gets Rich (1952) * Article 519, Penal Code (1952) * One Hundred Little Mothers (1952) * Prisoners of Darkness (1952) *

Carlo Jachino

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Carlo Jachino (1887–1971) was an Italian composer of the 20th century. Born in Sanremo on February 3, 1887, he studied in Leipzig under Hugo Riemann. Jachino’s 3-act opera, Giocondo and his King won a national competition in (1922) and was premiered at the Dal Verme theater in Milan in 1924. In 1928 his Second Quartet in E minor shared the second prize with Harry Waldo Warner while Béla Bartók and Alfredo Casella shared the first prize at an international chamber music competition in Philadelphia. He was a proponent of dodecaphonic or 12-tone music. He wrote extensively about music, including Instruments of the Orchestra. He taught composition at the Parma Conservatory, Naples Conservatory and Rome Conservatory between 1927 and 1950. He was the director of the Naples Conservatory from 1950 to 1953, and later director of the National Conservatory of Colombia in Bogotà. Jachino was also inspector of music curriculum for the Italian Ministry of Education. Although a proponent of twelve-tone technique Jachino wasn’t always a strict serialist. According to Reginald Smith Brindle, his Piano Concerto (1952), performed in Florence in 1955,“was a miracle in avoiding all that dodecaphony imp

Carlo Pedini

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Carlo Pedini (born 19 June 1956) is an Italian classical composer. Life Born in Perugia, Pedini taught himself music from the age of 13, before studying with Fernando Sulpizi at the Perugia Conservatory, Franco Donatoni in Siena and Salvatore Sciarrino in Città di Castello. He now teaches at the Perugia Conservatory, having previously taught in Avellino, Adria and Pesaro. Since 1980 Pedini has won prizes in numerous competitions. In 1995 his orchestral piece Il Cantico dei Cantici (“The Song of Solomon”) won a prize at the “2 August” competition in Bologna. In September 1990 the RAI National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vittorio Parisi took part in the 42nd Prix Italia in Palermo, playing Pedini’s Predica agli Uccelli (“Sermon to the Birds”) for soprano, piano, synthesised voice, tape and orchestra on a text by Lucio Lironi and Claudio Novelli. In 1993 the RAI commissioned his dramatic oratorio Il Mistero Jacopone (the story of Jacopone da Todi, the greatest Italian poet before Dante) for four voices, baritone, medieval instruments, chorus and orchestra, performed by the RAI National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Karl Martin, with the voice of Jacopone Mario Scaccia. In 2004 t

Carlo Pedrotti

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Carlo Pedrotti (12 November 1817 – 16 October 1893) was an Italian conductor, administrator and composer, principally of opera. An associate of Giuseppe Verdi, he also taught two internationally renowned Italian operatic tenors, Francesco Tamagno and Alessandro Bonci. Pedrotti served as the first director of the Liceo Musicale in Pesaro from 1882 until 1893. He retired in 1893 due to poor health, and committed suicide by drowning in the Adige shortly after his retirement. . He composed two operas which were never performed, but his opera semiseria Lina was successfully given at Foroni’s Teatro Filarmonico in 1840, and his next opera, Clara di Mailand, was performed there later that year. This was followed by four seasons as conductor of the Italian Opera in Amsterdam, where a further two operas were composed and premiered. Operatic success He returned to Verona in 1845. During the next 23 years, he taught, conducted at the Teatro Nuovo as well as the Teatro Filarmonico and composed a further 10 operas. Fiorina (1851), another opera semiseria, was a success in Italy and beyond, and the commedia lirica Tutti in maschera (1856), his best-known work, was later taken up in Vienna and Pa

Carlo Rustichelli

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Carlo Rustichelli (24 December 1916 – 13 November 2004) was an Italian film composer whose career spanned the 1940s to about 1990. His prolific output included about 250 film compositions, as well as arrangements for other films, and music for television. Life Born in Carpi, Emilia-Romagna to a family of music lovers, he gained a diploma in piano at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna, going on to Rome where he studied composition at the Santa Cecilia Academy. He had a wife (Evi), a son (Paolo, also a composer), and a daughter (Alida). Career He met Federico Fellini in post-war Rome, and probably through him met Pietro Germi, for whom he composed his first major film score for Gioventù perduta (Lost Youth), and with whom he was most associated. He composed music for many Germi films in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. In 1972 he was commissioned by Billy Wilder to compose the music for Avanti!. Selected filmography * The Lion of Amalfi (Il Leone di Amalfi) (1950) * The Crossroads (1951) * Lorenzaccio (1951) * The Counterfeiters (1951) * The Enemy (1952) * The Blind Woman of Sorrento (La cieca di Sorrento) (1952) * The Bandit of Tacca Del Lupo (Il brigante di Tacca del Lup

Carlo Yvon

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Carlo Yvon (29 April 1798 in Milan – 23 December 1854 in Milan) was an Italian composer, virtuoso oboist and English horn player, and music educator. He studied at the Milan Conservatory in his native city and later was a teacher at that school. For many years he served as principal oboist at La Scala. Several of his symphonic and chamber works feature the oboe, many of which are still performed today. Selected works * Allegro e variazioni for oboe and orchestra * Canto notturno for soprano and piano * Capriccio per tre oboi (Capriccio for 3 Oboes) (composed between 1835 and 1850) * 2 Duetti for 2 oboes :# G major :# E major * Sonata in F minor for English horn (or viola, or clarinet) and piano (published 1831) * 6 Studi (6 Etudes) for oboe and piano * 12 Studi (12 Etudes) for oboe Discography * Carlo Yvon: Opera integrale per Oboe (Carlo Yvon: Complete Works for Oboe); ; Alessandro Cappella (piano); Tactus Records TC.792401 (2004) * Music for Oboe, Oboe d’amore, Cor anglais & Piano – Sonata for English horn and piano; Albrecht Mayer (English horn), Markus Becker (piano); Angel Records (1999) * Thomas Stacy: Principal English Horn – Sonata for English horn and piano; Thomas Stacy (

Carlo Zangarini

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Carlo Zangarini i (9 December 1873 – 19 July 1943) was an Italian librettist, poet, and academic. He lived his entire life in the city of Bologna, and is best remembered today for penning the libretti for the operas La fanciulla del West (1910) by composer Giacomo Puccini, I gioielli della Madonna (1911) by composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, and Conchita (1911) by Riccardo Zandonai. Life and career Born in Bologna, Zangarini’s father was Italian and his mother was an American. His mixed heritage made him an ideal choice to serve as Giacomo Puccini’s librettist for his 1910 opera La fanciulla del West; a work which he co-authored with the poet Guelfo Civinini. Set in the Western United States and adapted from David Belasco’s 1905 play The Girl of the Golden West, the opera tells the story of a Californian mining camp during the 1849 Gold Rush. In addition to La fanciulla del West, Zangarini also wrote the libretti for the operas I gioielli della Madonna (1911) by composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari and Conchita (1911) by Riccardo Zandonai. Zangarini lived his entire life in the city of Bologna, and served as the chair of poetic and dramatic literature at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Ma

Carlotta Ferrari

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Carlotta Ferrari (27 January 183122 November 1907) was an Italian composer, poet, pianist and singer, noted for opera. She wrote her first opera Ugo at the age of twenty. Faced with a lack of interest, she raised funds for its first public production in Lecco and conducted the performances herself. In April 1875, Ferrari was made an honorary professor of composition at the Philharmonic Academy of Bologna, upon the recommendation of Ambroise Thomas. Besides songs and opera, she published an autobiography and poetry and prose works in four volumes titled Versi e prose in Bologna from 1878 to 1882. Life Carlotta Ferrari was born in Lodi, Austrian Empire, and studied singing and piano at the Milan Conservatory with Giuseppina Strepponi and composing with Alberto Mazzucato. Ferrari wrote her first opera Ugo at the age of twenty. Faced with a lack of interest, due to the fact she was a woman, she raised funds for its first public production in Lecco and conducted the performances herself. Besides songs and opera, she published an autobiography and poetry and prose works in four volumes titled Versi e prose in Bologna from 1878 to 1882. Works Ferrari was a successful composer within her l

Carmine de Laurentiis

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Carmine de Laurentiis was a 19th-century Italian mandolinist, musical educator, author and composer who taught mandolin and guitar in Naples. His only well-known student was Carlo Munier. The article mentioning Laurentiis’ method talked about the decline of the mandolin, calling the mandolin “entirely out of fashion.” Decline of the mandolin The mandolin was used internationally on the European continent in the mid 18th century up through the early 19th-Century, by Italian virtuoso-players touring Europe and giving concerts. Among them was Bartolomeo Bortolazzi Alexandro Marie Antoin Fridzeri, Pietro Vimercati, Luigi Castellaci, and Giovanni Vailati. The untrained musicians concentrated on the romantic elements in the music, attempting to imitate a guitar’s strum with arpeggios, or a violin by use of tremolo. Having become a folk instrument, the techniques demonstrated by the virtuosic mandolin masters disappeared. The mandolin’s dark age and sudden rise In the period from the end of the Napoleonic Wars until 1880 the mandolin was a forgotten fad, although mandolin music was made and consumed in Italy. It was seen on the streets in the hands of street musicians, and emigrants took

Carpentras (composer)

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Carpentras (also Elzéar Genet, Eliziari Geneti) (ca. 1470 – June 14, 1548) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous during his lifetime, and was especially notable for his settings of the Lamentations which remained in the repertory of the Papal Choir throughout the 16th century. In addition, he was probably the most prominent Avignon musician since the time of the ars subtilior at the end of the 14th century. Life He was born in the town of Carpentras, but nothing else is known about his early life. Sometime before 1505, he took ecclesiastical orders, since when he was hired in the Avignon chapel in that year he was called “clericus.” He spent most of his life alternately in Avignon and Rome. Evidently he was acquainted with Avignon bishop Giuliano della Rovere, for when the bishop became Pope Julius II Carpentras went with him to Rome, where he sang in the papal chapel; he was listed in a roll of the singers there in 1508. However, after a few years he left the chapel to work at the court of Louis XII of France, though little is known about him at this time; clearly he was composing large quantities of secular music, some of it quite irreverent, for when he returne

Caterina Barbieri

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Caterina Barbieri (born September 14, 1990) is an Italian composer and musician. Education Barbieri studied electroacoustic composition and classical guitar at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna, in which she earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree, respectively. She also has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Bologna with a thesis in ethnomusicology about Hindustani classical music and minimalism. Music career 2010s Barbieri’s work explores consciousness and the psychoacoustic effects of repetition. Most of her compositions make use of modular synthesis, and she was first inspired by the Buchla 200, though she has stated she is less interested in the hardware and prefers to focus on the music itself. She is often cited as a minimalist composer and takes a no-frills approach towards composition. From 2013, she attended the Elektronmusikstudion electronic music studios in Stockholm and, after releasing a split album under the name Morbida with Medicine Bow (2014), composed and produced her solo debut album Vertical, released in 2014 by Cassauna, a sub-label of the U.S.-based Important Records. Since 2016, Barbieri has collaborated closely with Berlin’s hi

Cayetano Puglisi

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Cayetano Puglisi (2 January 1902 – 2 November 1968) was an Argentine violinist, composer, and orchestra conductor of Italian origin. Life He was born in Messina, Sicily, Italy, into a family of musicians. At the age of 7, he moved with his family to Buenos Aires, where he began his violin studies with Maestro Pessina. His inclination toward classical music led him to perform a concert at the Teatro Nuevo, which earned him a scholarship from the newspaper La Prensa to further his studies in Europe. However, due to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he was unable to make the trip. In addition to his collaboration with Firpo, he was a member of the orchestras of Francisco Canaro, Enrique Delfino, and Pedro Maffia. In 1928, he formed his own sextet, with which he recorded for the Victor label. References External links • Cayetano Puglisi at Discography of American Historical Recordings.

Cecilia Chailly

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Cecilia Chailly (born February 2, 1960) is an Italian harpist, composer, singer and writer. Biography Chailly was born in Milan, Italy into a family of Romagnol and French descent. She is the daughter of the composer Luciano Chailly, and sister of the conductor Riccardo. She studied musical composition with Azio Corghi at the musical conservatory in Milan. At the age of 19, she became first harp at La Scala. Afterwards, she collaborated with Giorgio Strehler’s Piccolo Teatro and played in many concerts, culminating with her debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Along her career, she collaborated, among others, with John Cage, David Parsons, Mina, Andrea Bocelli, Fabrizio De André, Teresa De Sio, Giorgio Conte, Lucio Dalla, Ron, Morgan, Planet Funk, Gianni Morandi, Le Vibrazioni, Alex Britti, Hector Zazou. She pioneered the use of the electric harp in Italy, performing the album Stanze (BMG Ricordi, 1992), composed by Ludovico Einaudi. Some of the tracks in the album were later used for the soundtrack of the film Fuori dal mondo (1999) by Giuseppe Piccioni. In 1997, Chailly was awarded the Premio De Sica (De Sica Prize) for her album Anima (Warner, 1996), recorded in California in coll

Cesare Ciardi

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Cesare Ciardi (28 June 1818 – 13 June 1877) was an Italian flautist and composer. Life Born at Prato to a Tuscan family, Ciardi eventually settled in 1853 in Russia, where he was appointed in 1862 as professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and became Tchaikovsky’s flute teacher. Ciardi himself played as first flute in the orchestras of the Imperial Theatres in Saint Petersburg, including the orchestra of the Imperial Italian Opera and of that of the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre. He died at Strel’na and was succeeded in his orchestral role by Ernesto Köhler. Ciardi possessed many talents and was also a sculptor and caricaturist. Work Flute/s alone Scherzo per due flauti op. 2 Trio scolastico op. 24 Ricordi d’Album op. 43 6 Capricci “I Piaceri della Solitudine” 22 Petite trio concertant s.o. Entr’acte for the ballet The Pharaoh’s Daughter, 1862 Flute & piano Capriccio su melodie belliniane op. 12 Fantasia sui motivi della “Beatrice da Tenda” op. 21 Scherzo “Il Carnevale di Venezia” op. 22 Fantasia sui motivi di “Luisa Miller” op. 23 Simpatie pel Rigoletto op. 27 Duo concertante sui motivi de “I due Foscari” op. 29 Fantasia “L’eco dell’Arno” op. 34 Fantasia sui motivi del “

Cesare Pugni

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Cesare Pugni (; ; 31 May 1802, in Genoa – 26 January 1870) was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. He studied composition with Bonifazio Asioli and violin with Alessandro Rolla. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed for Her Majesty’s Theatre in London (1843–1850), and for the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg, Russia (1850–1870). The majority of his ballet music was composed for the works of the ballet master Jules Perrot, who mounted nearly every one of his ballets to scores by Pugni. In 1850 Perrot departed London for Russia, having accepted the position of Premier maître de ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres at the behest of Carlotta Grisi, who was engaged as Prima ballerina. Cesare Pugni followed Perrot and Grisi to Russia, and remained in the imperial capital even after Grisi’s departure in 1853 and Perrot’s departure in 1858. Pugni went on to compose for Perrot’s successors Arthur Saint-Léon and Marius Petipa, serving as the Imperial Theatre’s official composer of ballet music until his death in 1870. Cesare Pugni was renowned fo

Charles-Antoine Campion

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Charles-Antoine Campion, italianized as Carlo Antonio Campioni (16 November 172012 April 1788 ) was a French-Italian composer who was born in the Duchy of Lorraine. He was a prolific composer and represented a link between Baroque compositional methods and those of the Classical style. Life Early years and employment in Livorno Campion was born in Lunéville (Meurthe-et-Moselle) in Lorraine to Jacques and Charlotte Bruget. Not much is known about his early musical education in Lorraine, but he may have been a student of Henri Desmarets. Given that his father was serving in the Lorraine court, his family was transferred to Florence, Italy at the same time as the rise to the throne of the Tuscan Granduca (Grand Duke) Francis of Lorraine in 1737. During this period of time, he presumably came into contact with Giuseppe Tartini, who was Campion’s teacher. From 1752 to 1762, Campion was Chapel Master of the Cathedral in Livorno. He was fortunate to be friends with some aristocrats, and succeeded in having his opera (Venere placata, libretto by Marco Coltellini) performed for the celebration in Livorno (at the Avvalorati Academy) of the royal wedding of Joseph II and Princess Isabella of

Cipriano de Rore

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Cipriano de Rore (occasionally Cypriano) (1515 or 1516 – between 11 and 20 September 1565) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy. Not only a central representative of the generation of Franco-Flemish composers after Josquin des Prez who went to live and work in Italy, Rore was one of the most prominent composers of madrigals in the middle of the 16th century. His experimental, chromatic, and highly expressive style had a decisive influence on the subsequent development of that secular music form. Life Early years Little is known of Rore’s early life. His probable birth years (1515/1516) are known from his age at death (49, recorded on his tombstone in the cathedral in Parma), and his probable birthplace was a small town in Flanders, Ronse (Renaix), on the boundary between the French- and Dutch-speaking areas. Research has established that his parents were Celestinus Rore (died before 1564) and Barbara Van Coppenolle, and he had at least two siblings, Franciscus and Celestinus. The family was active in Ronse at least since 1400, and its coat of arms appeared both on his personal seal and his tombstone in Parma Cathedral. Where Rore got his musical trainin

Ciro Pinsuti

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Ciro Pinsuti (9 May 1829 – 10 March 1888) was an Anglo-Italian composer. Educated in music for a career as a pianist, he studied composition under Rossini. From 1848 he made his home in England, where he became a teacher of singing, and in 1856 he was made a professor at the Academy of Music in London. Pinsuti composed numerous songs and part-songs which achieved popularity in the Victorian era. He also composed three operas, which were produced in Italy, but which are rarely performed today. After the season, his father took him to Rome, where he played for several important Roman families, and gaining access to the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. British MP Henry Drummond saw Ciro performing and proposed to his father that he would pay for Ciro’s tuition at the conservatory of Naples, provided that Ciro came to London to perform. Pinsuti remained in London for five years, after which he chose to study with Gioachino Rossini at the Bologna Conservatory. Rossini, who befriended Pinsuti, advised him to return to London after finishing his studies, as Britain represented the best prospects for his future career. Having returned to London, Pinsuti gave music lessons during the day, while

Claudio Capponi

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Claudio Capponi (born 20 May 1959, Rome) is an Italian film composer, music arranger, orchestrator, music producer and violist. Biography Capponi began his musical career at a young age and graduated from the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy, with high honours in piano, viola and composition. He then became First Solo Violist in the most important Italian orchestras, including the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Carlo Maria Giulini, and Giuseppe Sinopoli. An accomplished classical musician, Capponi has also performed with chamber music ensembles such as I Musici, I Virtuosi di Roma, Complesso da camera di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra da camera di Santa Cecilia, and Quartetto Filarmonico di Roma, and has toured such music theatres as the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, with soloists such as Mstislav Rostropovich and Uto Ughi. In Italy he has also taught at the Conservatorio di Roma, Pescara and Terni. In the pop and rock world he has performed live with Angelo

Claudio Merulo

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Claudio Merulo (; 8 April 1533 – 4 May 1604) was an Italian composer, publisher and organist of the late Renaissance period, most famous for his innovative keyboard music and his ensemble music composed in the Venetian polychoral style. He was born in Correggio and died in Parma. Born Claudio Merlotti, he Latinised his surname (meaning little blackbird) when he became famous in Venetian cultural clubs. Life Little is known about his early life except that he studied in Correggio with Tuttovale Menon, a famous madrigalist who also worked in the Ferrara court; he also studied with Girolamo Diruta, an organist. It is likely that he studied with Zarlino at St. Mark’s in Venice. While in Venice he became close friends with Costanzo Porta, a friendship which was to endure for his entire life. On 21 October 1556, he was appointed organist at Old Cathedral of Brescia (Duomo Vecchio), and his skill as an organist must have been impressive, because he became organist at St. Mark’s, one of the most prestigious positions for an organist in Italy, in 1557; he was selected over a list of candidates that included Andrea Gabrieli. This was the first important event of his career, and he was consid

Claudio Monteverdi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cremona: 1567–1591#

Monteverdi was baptised in the church of SS Nazaro e Celso, Cremona, on 15 May 1567. The register records his name as “Claudio Zuan Antonio” the son of “Messer Baldasar Mondeverdo”. He was the first child of the apothecary Baldassare Monteverdi and his first wife Maddalena (née Zignani); they had married early the previous year. Claudio’s brother Giulio Cesare Monteverdi was also to become a musician; there were two other brothers and two sisters from Baldassare’s marriage to Maddalena and his subsequent marriage in 1576 or 1577. Cremona was close to the border of the Republic of Venice, and not far from the lands controlled by the Duchy of Mantua, in both of which states Monteverdi was later to establish his career. Monteverdi’s first publications also give evidence of his connections beyond Cremona, even in his early years. His second published work, Madrigali spirituali (Spiritual Madrigals, 1583), was printed at Brescia. His next works (his first published secular compositions) were sets of five-part madrigals, according to his biographer Paolo Fabbri: “the inevitable proving ground for any composer of the second half of the sixteenth century … the secular genre par excellence”. The first book of madrigals (1587) was dedicated to Count Marco Verità of Verona; the second book of madrigals (1590) was dedicated to the President of the Senate of Milan, Giacomo Ricardi, for whom he had played the viola da braccio in 1587.

Corrado Castellari

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Corrado Castellari (23 September 1945 – 23 November 2013) was an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. Life and career Born in Bologna, in the 1960s Castellari moved to Milan to pursue his musical career. Castellari is mainly known for his professional association with Iva Zanicchi, for whom he composed some major hits including “Coraggio e paura”. Beyond the songs composed for other artists, Castellari also released several works as singer-songwriter, and took part as a singer in the Un disco per l’estate festival. References External links * * *

Cosimo Damiano Lanza

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Cosimo Damiano Lanza (born 12 April 1962) is an Italian pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Biography Born in Leporano, Southern Italy, his artistic training was developed under the leadership of distinguished teachers, for the piano Michele Marvulli and Jorg Demus, for the harpsichord Christopher Steinbridge and Pierre Hantai. He has been invited to give concerts and master classes in the world’s major institutions. Some of his performances were recorded by RAI Italian Television. In addition to the interest in early music, he has followed with great perseverance the modern and contemporary repertoire (Luigi Dallapiccola, Luciano Berio, Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage). He also works with young musicians. He served as chairman or member of the jury at international piano competitions Dinu Lipatti, Luciano Gante, Arcangelo Speranza, Premio Italia, the International Piano Competition of Barletta. Since 1996 he is the director of the Accademia Musicale Mediterranea di Taranto and art-director of the International Music Competition for Youth Dinu Lipatti at the Romanian Academy in Rome and Premio Italia Olimpo Pianistico in Taranto. Lanza has also recorded works by Frédéric Chopin,

Costanzo Festa

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Costanzo Festa (c. 1485/1490 – 10 April 1545) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. While he is best known for his madrigals, he also wrote sacred vocal music. He was the first native Italian polyphonist of international renown, and with Philippe Verdelot, one of the first to write madrigals, in the infancy of that most popular of all sixteenth-century Italian musical forms. Life Not much is known about his early life. He was probably born in the Piedmont near Turin, but the evidence is not certain, being based mainly on later documents referring to him as a clericis secularibus, i.e. not a monk, from that region. His birth date has been given as early as 1480 and as late as 1495, but recent scholarship has tended to narrow the range to the late 1480s. In addition he may have been related to his slightly younger contemporary Sebastiano Festa, another early madrigal composer, also from the same region. Sebastiano’s father, Jacobinus, was a resident in Turin around 1520. In early 1514, Festa wrote a motet, Quis dabit oculis, on the occasion of the death of the Queen of France (Anne of Brittany) (9 January 1514). Anne’s funeral was an extensive affair, lasting 40 days; Johannes

Cristian Carrara

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cristian Carrara (born January 28, 1977) is an Italian composer who is active in the Italian social and institutional scene. Early life Born in Pordenone, Carrara graduated in composition from the Conservatory “Jacopo Todini” in Udine under Renato Miani. He is the author of mainly symphonic and chamber music, but also pieces for the musical theatre and television. His compositions are regularly performed in prestigious concert halls, such as the National Academy of St Cecilia. in Rome, the Berliner Hall, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Binyanei Hauma Auditorium in Jerusalem. Carrara collaborates with several famous international artists, among them orchestra conductors such as Matthieu Mantanus, John Neschling, Flavio Emilio Scogna, Meir Wellber, Paolo Olmi, Michalis Economou, Jan Latham-Koenig, Lior Shambadal and soloists Alda Caiello, Roberto Abbondanza, Roberto Prosseda, Floraleda Sacchi, Francesco D’Orazio, Francesco Dego, and Stefano Montanari. the Philharmonic Orchestra of Fenice in Venice, the Filarmonica Toscanini in Parma, the Regional Tuscan Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Lyric Theatre in Cagliari, the Qatar Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Symphoniker, the Ra’anana

Dado Moroni

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Edgardo “Dado” Moroni (born 20 October 1962) is an Italian jazz pianist and composer. Biography Dado was born in Genoa, Italy and started playing piano at age four. A self-taught musician, by his mid-teens he was playing professionally around Italy and by age 17 had recorded his first album. Throughout the 1980s Dado worked mostly in Europe playing at festivals and in clubs, including a long stint as part of former Duke Ellington bassist Jimmy Woode’s trio at Widder Bar in Zurich. Dado moved to the U.S. in 1991, becoming part of the New York jazz scene, and appearing regularly both as a leader and sideman, in some of the city’s most prestigious clubs, including Blue Note, Birdland, Village Vanguard as well as recording several CDs. During his 35-year career Dado has played with legends including Freddie Hubbard, Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Hank Jones, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Alvin Queen. A highly respected musician, at age 25 he was granted the honor of serving as a juror at the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition in 1987. Based in Italy, Dado continues to perform worldwide. In

Daniele Gottardo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Daniele Gottardo is an Italian guitarist and composer. He received recognition in 2009 as a winner of Guitar Idol, an international guitar competition. Gottardo was mentioned by Steve Vai as one of the brightest talents in modern electric guitar. As a solo artist, he has released three albums, Frenzy of Ecstasy (2010, Digital Nations), Non Temperato (2014), and INkBlot (2022). He is also a music educator for Jamtrackcentral. In 2018 he was mentioned in the article “10 Contemporary Guitar Virtuosos You Need To Hear” by the British magazine Guitarist. He has performed in major international guitar festivals including Malibu Guitar Festival (USA, 2017), Guitare En Scene (France, 2016), Ziua Chitarelor (Romania, 2016), Jason Becker Not Dead Yet Festival (Holland, 2013), Eddie Lang Jazz Festival (Italy, 2010, 2013, 2015). Personal life Gottardo is married to guitar player and composer Gretchen Menn. Discography As a solo artist: * Frenzy Of Ecstasy (2010) * Non Temperato (2014) * INkBlot (2022) The Nuts: * Giant Nuts (2016) Other appearances: * Triumphant Hearts - Jason Becker (2019) * Abandon All Hope - Gretchen Menn (2016) Instructional DVDs and online courses: * Il Tapping (Playgame

Daniele Lombardi

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Daniele Lombardi (Florence, August 12, 1946 - Florence, March 11, 2018) was a composer, pianist and visual artist. Biography He is an exponent and main promoter of the group of Florentine artists, operating from the end of the Second World War to today including Sylvano Bussotti, Giuseppe Chiari, Giancarlo Cardini, Albert Mayr, Pietro Grossi, Marcello Aitiani e Sergio Maltagliati. These musicians have experimented the interaction among sound, sign and vision, a synaesthetics of art derived from historical avant-gardes, from Kandinskij to futurism, to Scrjabin and Schoenberg, all the way to Bauhaus. He worked extensively on the music of the twentieth-century avant-garde movements, including first modern performances of a large number of compositions of Futurism music. In his work he has incorporate sign, gesture, and sound into a unitary concept of multiple perception, through analogies, contrasts, stratifications, and associations. He has produced from 1969 on, since 1990, drawings, paintings, computer graphics and videos. In 1998 the performance of the Two Symphonies for 21 pianos at the Uffizi Courtyard. Exhibitions Among his exhibitions, in Italy and abroad, we recall here: * Co

Daniele Zanettovich

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Daniele Zanettovich (born 1950 in Trieste) is an Italian composer and conductor. Biography Zanettovich started out his career as a pianist, winning the Fourth National Festival of Student Pianists in La Spezia. Since the late 1960s, however, he has focused more on composing. His career as a composer began when he was admitted to the final reading at the GB Viotti International Composition Competition for three straight years (1967, 1968, and 1969). Zanettovich wrote a two-volume textbook called Appunti per il corso di armonia principale which is widely used by composition schools in Italy. As a conductor, he has appeared with the Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the orchestra of the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, the orchestra of AIDEM in Florence, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, the orchestra of Ente Lirico dell’Arena di Verona as well as various chamber ensembles. Successful as an academic as well as a professional composer, Zanettovich was a professor of composition at the conservatory Jacopo Tomadini in Udine until retiring in 2009. Compositions *1971 Celine, work that is performed at the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo in October of the same year *1972 E & FFlauto-Conce

Dario Baldan Bembo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dario Baldan Bembo (born 15 May 1948) is an Italian composer, singer-songwriter, music arranger and musician, best known for the songs “Aria” and “Amico è”. Background Born in Milan, Baldan Bembo started his music career as a keyboardist for, among others, Lucio Battisti and Adriano Celentano. and became an international success. the song was later covered by Guys ’n’ Dolls as “Broken Dreams” and by Sarah Brightman under the title “Just Show Me How to Love You”. He came back in Sanremo in 1985, with the song “Da quando non ci sei”. ending theme song of the Mike Bongiorno’s quiz show SuperFlash, which later became a widely spread football chant. Discography Singles * 1975 - Aria * 1975 - Crescendo * 1977 - Non mi lasciare * 1978 - Piccolina * 1979 - Giuro * 1981 - Tu cosa fai stasera? * 1983 - Amico è (with Caterina Caselli) * 1983 - Voci di città * 1984 - Flashback (as “Space Philharmonic”) * 1985 - Da quando non ci sei (una volta ancora) Studio albums * 1975 - Aria * 1975 - Crescendo * 1977 - Migrazione * 1979 - Dario Baldan Bembo * 1981 - Voglia d’azzurro * 1982 - Etereo (as “Bembo’s Orchestra”) * 1982 - Spirito della Terra * 1985 - Spazi uniti * 1991 - Un po’ per vivere, un po'

Dario Buccino

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dario Buccino (20 November 1968) is an Italian composer, singer-songwriter, music theorist, and artist. He created the HN System and founded the ensemble Laboratorio Aperto Fatti Sonori. Biography In 1991, Buccino elaborated an original music system called “HN System”. The system integrates composition, notation and performance techniques based on the parameterization of physical actions. In 1993 the composer founded the “Laboratorio Aperto Fatti Sonori”, an ensemble devoted to the execution of his scores. In 1997 he extended his application of the HN System to include sheets of steel. His musical activity ranges over a wide variety of fields: beside his research as experimental composer and performer, Buccino also works for the cinema and the theatre as a composer, interpreter, musical consultant, as a rock, pop and jazz composer, arranger and guitarist, and as a singer-songwriter, busker and music journalist. Bibliography * Bob Baker Fish, Dario Buccino – Corpo Nostro (Extreme), in “Cyclic Defrost”, 2009. * Pietro Misuraca, Suono dei Soli e le lamiere di Dario Buccino, in CURVA MINORE. Contemporary sounds, musica nuova in Sicilia 1997–2007, a c. di Gaetano Pennino, Regione Sicili

Dario Castello

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Dario Castello (bapt. 19 October 1602, Venice – 2 July 1631, Venice) was an Italian composer and violinist from the early Baroque period who worked and published in Venice. As a composer, he was a late member of the Venetian School and had a role in the transformation of the instrumental canzona into the sonata. Biographical details Dario Domenico Castello was born in Venice, where he was baptised on 19 October 1602. The title page of the 1621 edition of the first volume of the Sonate Concertate in stil moderno records him as Capo di Compagnia de Musichi d’Instrumenti da fiato in Venetia, indicating that he led a Venetian company of piffari, a band that could include sackbuts, cornetts, shawms, but also violins and viols. On 19 November 1624, he was appointed «sonador di violin» (violin player) of the St. Mark’s music chapel, at the time headed by Claudio Monteverdi. The title page of the second volume (1629) of the “Sonate concertate in Stil moderno” lists him as Musico Della Serenissima Signoria di Venetia in S. Marco, & Capo di Compagnia de Instrumenti, indicating that he worked at the great Basilica of St. Mark’s where Claudio Monteverdi was maestro di capella. Castello’s use o

Dario Marianelli

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dario Marianelli is an Italian composer. Early life Marianelli was born in Pisa, Italy. He studied in Florence with David Kimball (himself a pupil of Rosario Scalero), and in 1990 he moved to London. After a year as a postgraduate composer at the Guildhall School of Music studying with Francis Shaw he took up a three-year postgraduate program at the National Film and Television School in London, from which he graduated in 1997. While there, he also undertook diverse projects, composing for concerts, contemporary ballet and theatre productions. Career Marianelli had already written scores for several films and TV projects, including movies such as Ailsa and Pandaemonium, when director Joe Wright contacted him about scoring his 2005 film Pride & Prejudice. He subsequently composed for Wright’s films Atonement, The Soloist, Anna Karenina and Darkest Hour. Awards and recognitions In 2008 Marianelli won the Academy Award for Original Music Score and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for Atonement. He has also been nominated for Academy Awards for Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina. In 2018 he composed the score for Bumblebee, the sixth installment in the Transformers film seri

Dario Martinelli

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dario Martinelli (born Andria, Italy, March 1, 1974) is an Italian semiotician, musicologist and composer. Since 2012 he has been working at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania, as Full Professor in history and theory of arts He was the director of the International Semiotics Institute, and he is also affiliated to the University of Helsinki and the University of Lapland (adjunct professor in both cases). His visiting professorships include the University of Torino (2015–2016), the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (2012–2014), the Finnish Network University of Semiotics (2004–2007) and the Fine Arts Academy of Bari (2005–2006). Martinelli graduated at Bologna University in 1999 and earned his PhD at Helsinki University in 2002. He performs research and publishes monographs and articles in the fields of musicology, popular music studies, film studies, semiotics, animal studies (he is possibly best known for his work in zoomusicology and zoosemiotics) and a research platform called “numanities”, devoted to the rethinking of the role and paradigm of the humanities in modern society. He founded the Springer book series Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress, Martine

Dario Palermo

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Dario Palermo (born 14 June 1970) is an Italian composer. Biography Born in Milan, Dario Palermo began his musical studies in classic guitar at the age of nine, subsequently following studies in percussion with Italo Savoia (Teatro alla Scala of Milan, La Scala), and shortly after at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano with David Searcy and Jonathan Scully (Teatro alla Scala of Milan). In the early years of his career as performer, he played all over Europe in several ensembles, chamber groups and orchestras with, amongst others, Václav Neumann, Christa Ludwig, Thomas Allen, and Claudio Abbado. During the same years at the Civica Scuola di Musica, Palermo enrolled in composition studies initially with Massimiliano Carraro, and then with Giorgio Taccani and Giovanni Verrando. Palermo attended also seminars and classes with Pierre Boulez, Franco Donatoni, Emmanuel Nunes, Aldo Clementi, and particularly with Gérard Grisey. In 2003, he was selected by the Reading Panel of IRCAM, Institut de Recherché et Coordination Acoustique/Musique of Paris, Composition and Music Computer Technologies. Since 2003 he lived between France and United Kingdom where he completed a PhD in composition an

Davide Petrella

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Davide Petrella (born 6 August 1985), also known as Tropico, is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, and lyricist. Life and career Born in Naples, Petrella started his career as founder and frontman of the band Le Strisce, with whom he recorded three albums. In 2014, he collaborated with Cesare Cremonini on the album Logico, and since then he became one of the most requested songwriters in Italy. Artists with whom he collaborated include Gianna Nannini, Elisa, Marracash, Jovanotti, Elodie, Mahmood, Sophie and the Giants, Giusy Ferreri, Emma Marrone, Alessandra Amoroso, Fabri Fibra, Achille Lauro, The Kolors, Fedez, J-Ax, Fred De Palma and Anitta. At the 73rd edition of the Sanremo Music Festival two songs co-written by Petrella, Marco Mengoni’s “Due vite” and Lazza’s “Cenere”, took the lead in the final ranking, respectively in first and second place; together with Mogol, Alberto Testa, Franco Migliacci, Cristiano Minellono and Zucchero Fornaciari, he is one of the few songwriters to hold this record. Beyond his career as a songwriter for other artists, Petrella is also active as a singer-songwriter under the stage name Tropico. - ! rowspan=“1” Targa Tenco Best Song - !rowspan="

Demetrio Stratos

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Efstratios Dimitriou (; 22 April 1945 – 13 June 1979), known professionally as Demetrio Stratos, was a Greek-Italian vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music researcher, best known as the co-founder, frontman and lead singer of the Italian progressive rock band Area – International POPular Group. Born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, of Greek parents, he studied piano and accordion at the “National Conservatoire”. In 1957 he was sent to Nicosia, Cyprus, and, at the age of 17, moved to Milan, Italy, to attend the Politecnico di Milano University at the Architecture Faculty, where he formed his first musical group. In 1967, Demetrio Stratos joined the Italian beat band I Ribelli, and in 1972, founded Area. Stratos recorded many records, and toured festivals in Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands, Cuba, and the United States with Area, as well as a solo artist and in collaboration with other artists. He worked with Mogol, Lucio Battisti, Gianni Sassi, Gianni Emilio Simonetti, Juan Hidalgo, Walter Marchetti, John Cage, Tran Quang Hai, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Grete Sultan, Paul Zukofsky, Nanni Balestrini, Claude Royet-Journoud, and Antonio

Detto Mariano

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Detto Mariano (27 July 1937 – 25 March 2020) was an Italian composer, arranger, lyricist, pianist, record producer and music publisher. Life and career Born Mariano Detto in Monte Urano, Mariano started his career in 1958 but was launched by entering Adriano Celentano’s Clan Celentano, becoming keyboardist in his accompanying group “I Ribelli”, sporadic lyricist and official arranger of all the songs of the Clan between 1962 and 1967. He also collaborated with Lucio Battisti, Mina, Milva, Equipe 84. References External links * * Detto Mariano at Discogs

Dimitri Nicolau

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Dimitri Nicolau (21 October 1946 in Keratea, Greece - 29 March 2008 in Rome, Italy) was a composer, stage director, conductor, musicologist, writer and professor. He was born in Keratea, Greece and became a naturalized citizen of Italy. He began to compose and perform his compositions publicly in 1959. His catalogue today comprises more than 290 compositions- 5 symphonies, 10 string quartets, 3 lyric operas, chamber music, concerts, strassenmusik, vocal compositions, music for Plectra, sax music and cantatas. He frequented the faculty of Modern Letters in Rome University. Fundamental for his artistic formation is the relationship with the theory and the Collective Analysis of Massimo Fagioli. He dedicated several years to didactic activity as a teacher of stage song, vocal theatrical technique and as a composer of original music at the Institute of Ancient Drama (INDA) of Syracuse, the Theatrical Academy of Calabria, the Theater Calabria, etc. Reviews *Dimitri Nicolau with his composition “La melodia ritrovata” opus 41 (1975) it not only shows us to have a lot of new and original ideas but also to know how to write them. A really important composition of the recent years. The autho

Dimitri Scarlato

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dimitri Scarlato (born 21 April 1977) is an Italian composer and conductor, based in London. Early life and education He received his degree in Composition, Conducting and Score Reading in 2004 at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome while studying privately Jazz Piano and Classical Piano. After his studies in Rome, he studied conducting with Milen Nachev and Alexander Polyanichko in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, he moved to London in order to pursue a Master’s in Composition at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In 2014, he was awarded a Doctorate in Composition at the Royal College of Music, which in 2010 selected him as an RCM Rising Star. Film and theatre scoring In 2003, he composed the music for the musical Piaf…l’Hymne à l’Amour, directed by Carlo Lizzani. The musical was performed at several prestigious Italian theatres, including the Teatro Regio in Parma and the Teatro Argentina in Rome. In 2007, he worked on the music pre-production for the film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street directed by Tim Burton. While completing his Master’s in London, he began to collaborate with young directors from the London Film School and composed the music for several proje

Dom Capuano

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dom Capuano (born Domenico Capuano, 21 April 1975) is an Italian composer, record producer, and songwriter. He is known for his work in electronic dance music and pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. From the 2010s onward, his activities have expanded to include composing music for film, television, and video games. Capuano contributed to several internationally successful projects, including releases by Eiffel 65 and collaborations with artists such as Gabry Ponte and Karmah. Alongside his ongoing work in music production, he has increasingly focused on scoring independent and international screen productions. Early life and career Capuano studied music at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin, where he focused on double bass. He later expanded his training to include piano, composition, and conducting. During the early 1990s, he began working as a composer and record producer within the Italian dance music scene. In 1993, he composed “Let Me Be” for Da Blitz, which entered the Italian music charts. Additional releases followed throughout the decade, leading to further chart appearances in Italy and Europe. Worldwide recognition The album Europop by Eiffel 65 was released

Domènec Terradellas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Domènec Terradellas (baptized 13 February 1713, Barcelona – 20 May 1751, Rome) was a Spanish opera composer. The birthdate is sometimes incorrectly given as 1711. Carreras i Bulbena did extensive research in contemporary documents, such as baptismal records, and found that the correct date was 1713. All his works are thoroughly Italian in style. Career Born in Barcelona, the son of a day laborer, his early musical training is unknown. It has been said that Terradellas studied with the composer Francisco Valls in Barcelona, but Carreras i Bulbena’s research in Barcelona uncovered no evidence of this. On 23 May 1732, he entered in Naples as a student in the . He studied composition with the famous Neapolitan composer, Francesco Durante. Terradellas was one of a group of foreign-born composers who studied in Italy and adopted the Italian style. The reason for this is that Italian opera was by far the dominant genre of opera at this time, attracting composers from all across Europe: George Frideric Handel, Johann Adolph Hasse, Johann Christian Bach (all Germans), Thomas Arne (an Englishman), Josef Mysliveček (a Czech), and Vicente Martín y Soler (a Spaniard). Italy His first work, an o

Domenico Alberti

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Domenico Alberti (c. 1710 – 14 October 1746 (according to other sources: 1740 and studied music with Antonio Lotti. He wrote operas, songs, and sonatas for keyboard instruments, for which he is best known today. His sonatas frequently employ arpeggiated accompaniment in the left hand in one of several patterns that are now collectively known as Alberti bass. Alberti was one of the earliest composers to use those patterns, but was not the first or only one. The most well-known of these patterns consists of regular broken chords, with the lowest note sounding first, then the highest, then the middle and then the highest again, with the pattern repeated. Today, Alberti is regarded as a minor composer, and his works are played or recorded only irregularly. However, the Alberti bass was used by many later composers, and it became an important element in much keyboard music of the classical music era. An example of Alberti bass (Mozart’s Piano Sonata, K 545): In his own lifetime, Alberti was known as a singer, and often used to accompany himself on the harpsichord. In 1736, he served as a page for Pietro Andrea Cappello, the Venetian ambassador to Spain. While at the Spanish court, the f

Domenico Allegri

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Domenico Allegri (c. 1585 – 5 September 1629) was an Italian composer and singer of the early Baroque Roman School. He was the second son of the Milanese coachman Costantino Allegri, who lived in Rome with his family, and was a younger brother of the more famous Gregorio Allegri. Costantino sent three sons, Gregorio, Domenico and Bartolomeo, to study music at San Luigi dei Francesi, under the maestro di capella Giovanni Bernardino Nanino, brother of Giovanni Maria Nanino. The little boy had as schoolmates his elder brother Gregorio and then Antonio Cifra, Domenico Massenzio and Paolo Agostini. In 1606, Allegri was maestro di cappella of the church of Santa Maria at Spello, and from September 1609 until April 1610 served in the same role at the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome. From 3 April 1610 until his death, he held the same position at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, where he was buried. Allegri is mainly famous for being one of the first to include specific instrumental accompaniments to sacred vocal music on a small scale. While much of his music is lost, one piece which has survived is the Modi quos expositis in choris of 1617 which has accompaniments to the

Domenico Bartolucci

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Domenico Bartolucci (7 May 1917 – 11 November 2013) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the former director of the Sistine Chapel Choir and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and was recognised in the field of music both as a director and a prolific composer. Considered among the most authoritative interpreters of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Bartolucci led the Sistine Chapel Choir in performances worldwide, and also directed numerous concerts with the Choir of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, including a tour of the former Soviet Union. On 20 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the College of Cardinals. Because Bartolucci was over the age of 80, he was never eligible to participate in any papal conclave. Biography Early career At a very young age, Bartolucci entered the seminary in Florence, where he was recruited as a singer. Upon the death of his master Bagnoli, Bartolucci succeeded him as director of the Chapel of the Duomo of Florence. In those years, he began to compose his first masses, motets, and organ music, as well as madrigals and chamber music. At the end of 1942, Bartolucci went to Rome in order to deepen his knowledge of sacre

Domenico Brescia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Domenico Brescia (28 April 1866 – 1939) was an Italian composer who taught in Chile and Ecuador, then became known in the United States for writing chamber music as well as musical accompaniment for dramatic performances. Brescia led the Music Theory department at Mills College. Brescia influenced two students who would later make names for themselves in Ecuadorian contemporary music: Segundo Luis Moreno and Luis H. Salgado. Ecuadorian Indian moods were used in two musical numbers. Brescia wrote in the notes to the score that he thought it was the first time that a chromatic set of cowbells, spanning an octave and a half, had been used as a symphony instrument. Brescia brought Marcelli into the Bohemian Club where Marcelli wrote the music for the next year’s Grove Play. In 1921, Brescia’s Dithyrambic Suite for woodwind quintet premiered at Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge’s Berkshire Chamber Music Festival, with the performance featuring flautist Georges Barrère. Reviewer Carl H. Tollefsen commented on the name Dithyrambic, writing “After hearing the music and in order to link my recollections of it with the title, I decided that the words ‘Did he ramble’ would bring back both. I’ll say

Domenico Cimarosa

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Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School and of the Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is Il matrimonio segreto (1792); most of his operas are comedies. He also wrote instrumental works and church music. Cimarosa was principally based in Naples, but spent some of his career in various other parts of Italy, composing for the opera houses of Rome, Venice, Florence and elsewhere. He was engaged by Catherine the Great of Russia as her court composer and conductor between 1787 and 1791. In his later years, returning to Naples, he backed the losing side in the struggle to overthrow the monarchy there, and was imprisoned and then exiled. He died in Venice at the age of 51. Life and career Early years Cimarosa was born in Aversa, a town near Naples. His family name was Cimmarosa, which is how he is recorded on his baptismal record. He appears to have been an only child. His father, Gennaro, was a stonemason, and within days of Domenico’s birth the family moved to Naples where Gennaro found employment on the construction of the Palace of Capodimonte. His teachers were Gennaro Manna and

Domenico Dragonetti

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Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti (7 April 1763 – 16 April 1846) was an Italian double bass virtuoso and composer with a three string double bass. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of Venice, Republic of Venice and worked at the Opera Buffa, at the Chapel of San Marco and at the Grand Opera in Vicenza. By that time he had become notable throughout Europe and had turned down several opportunities, including offers from the Tsar of Russia. In 1794, he finally moved to London to play in the orchestra of the King’s Theatre, and settled there for the remainder of his life. In fifty years, he became a prominent figure in the musical events of the English capital, performing at the concerts of the Philharmonic Society of London as well as in more private events, where he would meet the most influential persons in the country, like the Prince Consort and the Duke of Leinster. He was acquainted with composers Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, whom he visited on several occasions in Vienna, and to whom he showed the possibilities of the double bass as a solo instrument. His ability on the instrument also demonstrated the relevance of writing scores for the double bass in the orch

Domenico Picciché

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Domenico Picciché (; born 18 July 1970), is an Italian pianist, composer and jurist. Biography Originary from Alcamo, in the Province of Trapani, he started the study of piano when aged only six and got his secondary school diploma, with honours, at the Liceo Scientifico Giuseppe Ferro in Alcamo. In 1988, when aged only eighteen, he earned his Academic Diploma in Piano from the Conservatory of Music Alessandro Scarlatti in Palermo, magna cum laude. He studied pianoforte with giants of world pianism, such as Jörg Demus, Maria Tipo, Franco Scala, Boris Petrushansky, Aldo Ciccolini; composition with Eliodoro Sollima; analysis with Piero Rattalino. 1st prize at “Città di Roma” Competition. 2nd prize (1st not assigned) at Enna “F. P. Neglia” International Competition. Specialized in piano transcription repertoire, he discovered and interpreted piano transcriptions by famous and unknown musicians (from Jan Sibelius to Antonio Scontrino). He also composed piano transcriptions, like La Valse by Maurice Ravel New York University; Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall; Französischer Dom, Berlin; Auditorium S. Cecilia, Rome; Eglise Saint-Merri and Centre Européen des Activités Artistiques, Paris; Tüb

Domenico Scarlatti

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Italy#

Scarlatti was born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples, then belonging to the Spanish Empire. He was born in 1685, the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Although his early musical education is unclear, he may have studied under Gaetano Greco, Francesco Gasparini, and Bernardo Pasquini. Scarlatti was appointed as a composer and organist at the Chapel Royal of Naples in 1701 and briefly worked under his father, who was then the chapel’s maestro di cappella. Domenico’s first two operas were produced in Naples in 1703: Ottavia Restituita al Trono and Il GiustIno. In 1703 he revised Carlo Francesco Pollarolo’s opera Irene for performance at Naples. Soon after Alessandro sent Domenico to Venice by way of Florence and gave him a letter for Fernando de’ Medici in the hope that there would be appointments from the Prince for Domenico and for himself. He thought that Venice would offer more opportunities for his son than Rome, even if no royal appointments were bestowed and they were not. After this, nothing is certain of his life until 1709, when he went to Rome and entered the service of the exiled Polish queen Marie Casimire. Some of these works, including Tolomeo e Alessandro (1711) and Amor d’un’ombra e gelosia d’un’aura (1714), were composed especially for Queen Casimir’s private theatre. He also composed religious works like a Stabat Mater for ten voices. When the exiled queen ran out of money and left Italy, Scarlatti became a musical director at the Julian Chapel at St. Peter’s from 1714 to 1719. While in Rome he met Thomas Roseingrave, who would later describe his harpsichord skills to Charles Burney. Scarlatti was already an accomplished harpsichordist; there is a story of a trial of skill with George Frideric Handel at the palace of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome, where Scarlatti was judged possibly superior to Handel on the harpsichord, although inferior on the organ. Later in life, he was known to cross himself in veneration when speaking of Handel’s skill. In Lisbon he became musical director to King John V of Portugal, as well as music master to the king’s younger brother Don Antonio and Princess Maria Magdalena Barbara. He also knew of and probably met the 16-year-old Carlos Seixas, who was also at the court of John V.

Eduardo Mezzacapo

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Eduardo Mezzacapo (1832–1898) was an Italian mandolinist, recognized as a virtuoso. He was also a composer, and a performer, organizing and playing in a mandolin quartet in France. Although he died before recording technology, his quartet did get recorded between 1905 and 1910. He was also the founder of l’Ecole de mandoline française (The French Mandolin School). At the time that he was teaching in France and at the school, the mandolin was regaining popularity. There had been a decline since the early 19th century, but around the beginning of the 20th century from the 1880s to the 1920s there was a mandolin “craze” in which the instrument enjoyed new popularity. The movement in France was enough to found a movement of French mandolin artists, including Gabriel Leone, Giovanni Fouchetti and Gervasio. Mezzacapo “became the most important exponent of his time,” through his performing and organizing and teaching. Mezzacapo studied the mandolin in Naples, but went to France before he was 20. He performed with his family there, and their success was such that they performed Verdi’s Othello in the Opéra Garnier. He also directed the Casino of Cannes orchestra, in the lounge of the Grand

Egisto Macchi

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Egisto Macchi (4 August 1928 – 8 August 1992) was an Italian composer. Biography Born in Grosseto, Macchi moved to Rome to study composition, piano, violin and singing with Roman Vlad (1946–51) and Hermann Scherchen (1949–54), among others. It was around this period that he also studied literature and human physiology at La Sapienza University. From the late fifties, he began his collaboration with a group of musicians (Franco Evangelisti, Domenico Guaccero and Daniele Paris), to whom he was bound by intense friendship. Together with Domenico Guaccero, Daniele Paris and Antonino Titone, he was one of the editors of the magazine Orders, which first appeared in 1959. With Bertoncini, Bortolotti, Clementi, De Blasio, Evangelisti, Guaccero, Paris, Pennisi, and Franco Norris, he founded the Association of New Consonance in 1960. He made a frequent hand at directing the association, and he held the office of President from 1980 to 1982, and also in 1989. From the day of its conception, he followed the activity of the International Week of New Music in Palermo. After creating the Musical Theatre of Rome with Guaccero, he founded Studio R7, an experimental, electronic music laboratory born

Elio Martusciello

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Elio Martusciello (born 23 November 1959) is an Italian experimental music composer and performer, principally on guitar and computer. He has studied photography with Mimmo Jodice and visual art with Carlo Alfano, Armando De Stefano and Rosa Panaro. He is a self-taught musician/composer and teaches “electronic music” at Conservatory of Music, Naples, Italy. His compositional aesthetics are derived from acousmatic issues, but in addition to acousmatic composition he composes for instruments and live electronics, sound installation, multi-media works, audiovisual art and computer music improvisation. He lives in Naples. Main collaborations He has worked with improvising musicians such as Ana-Maria Avram, Natasha Barrett, Eugene Chadbourne, Alvin Curran, Chris Cutler, Iancu Dumitrescu, Michel Godard, Tim Hodgkinson, Thomas Lehn, Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, Jerome Noetinger, Tony Oxley, Roberto Paci Dalo, Evan Parker, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Mario Schiano, Z’EV, and others. Bands Ossatura with Fabrizio Spera and Luca Venitucci Ka’e with Giorgio Bosso, Stefano Giampietro, Paolo Montella and Andrea Laudante Schismophonia with Mike Cooper Taxonomy with Graziano Lella and Roberto Fega Bindou

Elisabetta Brusa

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Elisabetta Olga Laura Brusa (born 3 April 1954) is an Italian/British composer. Biography Early life and education Elisabetta Brusa was born in Milan in 1954. She began composing pieces for piano at age five, and during her childhood wrote 32 works, including a string quartet. She graduated from the Milan Conservatory in 1980, where she studied with Bruno Bettinelli and Azio Corghi. She took summer courses in Dartington, England with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies from 1978-1985 and studied privately with Hans Keller in London. Brusa married conductor Gilberto Serembe in 1997. Her music has been performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, RSNO Royal Scottish National Orchestra, CBC Vancouver Orchestra, State Hermitage Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, The Women’s Philharmonic http://www.wophil.org/wphilrep/ of San Francisco, to name just a few. Submissions must be tonal in nature, and applicants must be under the age of thirty. Awardees * 2024: Güray Kapucu, Bird in a Cage * 2025: Asadbek Turgunov, Maqom Simfoniya

Eliza Mazzucato Young

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Eliza Mazzucato Young (July 7, 1846 – March 27, 1937) was an Italian-born American composer, musician, and educator. She wrote Mr. Sampson of Omaha (1888), one of the first operas by a woman to be produced in the United States. Early life Elisa Mazzucato was born in Milan, the daughter of opera composer Alberto Mazzucato and Teresa Bolza, a daughter of Count , Austrian police commissioner in Milan. Her father was the director of the conservatory at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. She studied music with her father, and in London. Career Eliza Mazzucato taught at the National Training School of Music in London, before it closed in 1882, and then at the Royal College of Music. She resigned in 1883 when she married one of the students, an American baritone named Bicknell Young. The couple moved to Salt Lake City in 1885, to open a music school, Young composed the music for the comic opera Mr. Sampson of Omaha (1888), one of the first operas by a woman to be produced in the United States; the libretto was by Fred Nye. Sheet music for songs from the opera continued to be published for years after its debut. Other compositions by Young included a one-act opera, The Maiden and the Reaper,

Eloy Fritsch

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Eloy Fernando Fritsch (born 1968) is an electronic musician, keyboard player and main composer of Brazilian progressive rock band Apocalypse. As a solo artist he creates cosmic new-age music. History In 1983 Fritsch formed progressive rock band Apocalypse. They are considered pivotal in the development of progressive rock in Southern Brazil. In 1992, he moved to Porto Alegre and began his solo project composing electronic music. His first official solo album was Dreams, recorded in 1994 and 1995. During 1997, he released his second solo album, Behind the Walls of Imagination, which showcases his skills with various electronic and acoustic keyboard instruments. In the mid-1990s, Fritsch secured a recording contract with French label Musea. His third album for them, Space Music, was released in 1998. The composer reveals his sci-fi style with Cyberspace. In this album Fritsch offers 1970s-inspired keyboard symphonic/electronic progressive instrumental music. Fritsch performs electronic music that evolves between Vangelis’ ambient and impressionist electronic, and the synthesized progressive rock of masters such as Rick Wakeman. Nevertheless, Fritsch has found his own style within mel

Elsa Respighi

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Elsa Respighi (; 24 March 1894 – 19 March 1996) was an Italian mezzo-soprano singer and composer. She was the wife and former pupil of Ottorino Respighi. Respighi created a ballet and completed her husband’s opera, but also composed a significant number of her own works after his death, including operas and choral works. She published a biography of her husband, and established the Fondo Respighi in Venice to promote music education in Italy. Biography Respighi was born Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo on 24 March 1894 in Rome. She studied solfege and piano privately, and then from 1905 at the Istituto Nazionale di Musica in Rome. As a mezzo-soprano singer and composer herself, Elsa Respighi created ballets out of her husband’s Ancient Airs and Dances suites, and completed his final opera Lucrezia in 1937. Throughout her long life she championed her husband’s work unfailingly. In 1955 she produced a memoir of her encounters with some of the most influential cultural figures of the early twentieth century. She also published a biography of Respighi in 1962. Since then, several of her own works, chiefly for solo voice with accompaniment, have been given their premiere. Respighi is considered

Emanuele Muzio

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Donnino Emanuele Muzio (or Mussio) (24 August 1821 in Zibello – 27 November 1890 in Paris) was an Italian composer, conductor and vocal teacher. He was a lifelong friend and the only student of Giuseppe Verdi. Biography In April 1844, Verdi took on Muzio, eight years his junior, as a pupil and amanuensis. He had known him since about 1828 as a protégé of his own supporter, . Muzio, who in fact was Verdi’s only pupil, became indispensable to the composer. He reported to Barezzi that Verdi “has a breadth of spirit, of generosity, a wisdom.” The relationship was to grow stronger, and Muzio remained a lifelong friend. In November 1846, Muzio wrote of Verdi: “If you could see us, I seem more like a friend, rather than his pupil. We are always together at dinner, in the cafes, when we play cards…; all in all, he doesn’t go anywhere without me at his side; in the house we have a big table and we both write there together, and so I always have his advice.” Muzio was to remain associated with Verdi throughout his life, assisting in the preparation of scores and transcriptions, and later conducting the premieres of many of his works in their premiere performances in the US and elsewhere. H

Emilia Gubitosi

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Emilia Gubitosi (3 Feb 1887 – 17 Jan 1972) was an Italian pianist and composer. She was the first woman to graduate in composition from the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in Naples. She worked as a concert pianist in Europe until her marriage to composer Franco Michele Napolitano, and then as an administrator. She later taught at the Conservatory and assisted with the symphony orchestra and the choral school. She helped found the Associazione Musicale Alessandro Scarlatti in Naples. She was a composer of large-scale works for orchestra, as well as operas and chamber works. Life Emilia Gubitosi was born in Naples and studied music with Beniamino Cesi, Costantino Palumbo, Fromesco Simonetti, Camillo De Nardis and Nicola D’Arienzo at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in Naples, graduating in 1906 with a diploma in piano and in 1906 as the first woman graduate in composition. Works Gubitosi composed mostly large-scale works for orchestra, but also chamber works and songs, and two operas, Fatum, a four-act work, and Nada Delvig, a one-act opera published in 1909. Selected works include: *Concerto for piano and orchestra (1917 ; publ. 1943) *Allegro appassionato for violin and o

Emilio Usiglio

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Emilio Usiglio (18 January 1841 – 7 July 1910) was an Italian composer and conductor. Life and career Usiglio was born on 18 January 1841 in Parma. He studied music in Parma, first with Giuseppe Barbacini and then with Giovanni Rossi, before continuing his education in Pisa with Carlo Romani and in Florence with Teodulo Mabellini. At the age of 20 he began his operatic career with some success with La locandiera. He wrote exclusively opere buffe, his most famous being 1879’s Le donne curiose after the play by Carlo Goldoni. As a conductor, Usiglio led the premiere, in 1875, of the new version of Arrigo Boito’s Mefistofele in Bologna, and in 1877 he conducted the Italian premiere of Georges Bizet’s Carmen in Naples and of Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas in Venice. In 1889 he led the first Modena performances of Fosca by Antonio Gomes. Due primarily to his increasing alcoholism, Usiglio was forced to retire as a conductor in 1897. He died in Milan on 7 July 1910. His wife was the soprano Clementina Brusa. Works Operas *La locandiera, libretto by Giuseppe Barilli (Turin, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, 5 September 1861) *Un’eredità in Corsica, libretto by Raffaello Berninzone (Milan, Teatro di Sa

Emma Mundella

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Emma Wright Mundella (30 April 1858 – 20 February 1896) was an English composer and arranger, recital pianist, church organist, choral conductor, teacher of music and hymnal editor. In her short life she published anthems, choruses and cantatas as well as songs, hymns, pieces for solo piano and for piano and other string instruments. As Director of Music Teaching at Wimbledon High School for Girls her particular interest was the encouragement of musical appreciation by young people, in pursuit of which she wrote many compositions for children and schools. Though her music is now seldom heard, her lasting achievement was her well-regarded editorship of The Day School Hymnbook, the expanded edition of which was published shortly after her early death and which brought her posthumously into national prominence. Early life and education Emma Mundella was born in Nottingham, England, the first of a family of eight children. Her father, John Mundella, was a hosiery manufacturer in the family firm of Hine & Mundella. He died when she was 15. Her uncle was Anthony John Mundella, a Liberal statesman and a member of William Ewart Gladstone’s Cabinet. Her grandfather, Antonio Mondelli, was an

Ennio Morricone

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ennio Morricone (10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classical works, Morricone is widely considered one of the most prolific and greatest film composers of all time. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, ten David di Donatello, eleven , two European Film Awards, the Golden Lion Honorary Award, and the Polar Music Prize. His filmography includes more than 70 award-winning films, all of Sergio Leone’s films from A Fistful of Dollars on, all of Giuseppe Tornatore’s films since Cinema Paradiso, Dario Argento’s Animal Trilogy, as well as The Battle of Algiers (1966), 1900 (1976), La Cage aux Folles (1978), Le Professionnel (1981), The Thing (1982), The Key (1983) by Tinto Brass and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989). He received the Academy Award for Best Original Score nominations for Days of Heaven (1978), The Mission (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Bugsy (1991), Malèna (2000) and The Hateful Eight (2015), winning for the last.

Ennio Porrino

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Ennio Porrino (20 January 1910 – 25 September 1959) was an Italian composer and teacher. Amongst his compositions were orchestral works, an oratorio and several operas and ballets. His best known work is the symphonic poem Sardegna, a tribute to his native Sardinia, which premiered in Florence in 1933. Life and career Porrino was born in Cagliari and studied at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He later studied with Ottorino Respighi from 1932 to 1935. According to Alfredo Casella, he became one of Respighi’s disciples, championing an Italian national music movement and openly opposing composers such as Casella, Dallapiccola, and Malipiero for their Modernist music. After Respighi’s death in 1936, Porrino and Respighi’s widow Elsa completed his unfinished opera Lucrezia for its posthumous premiere at La Scala in 1937. Porrino died in Rome in 1959 at the age of 49. The Concorso Internazionale di Pianoforte Ennio Porrino was established in his memory in 1980. Selected filmography * The Howl (1948) * Altura (1949) References External links * *

Enrico Intra

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Enrico Intra (born 3 July 1935) is an Italian jazz pianist, composer, conductor. During his long career, Intra has collaborated with such notable musicians as Gerry Mulligan, Franco Cerri, Lee Konitz, Milton Jackson, Severino Gazzelloni, Pino Presti, Tullio De Piscopo, David Liebman and others. Works * La Messa d’Oggi Ri-Fi RFL ST 14043, 1971 * Archetipo (Suite for Sextet with Violoncello and Oboe) * Contro la seduzione * Dissonanza-Consonanza * The Blues * Nosferatu * Bach-Cage-Intra * Nuova Civiltà *Nicole Discography * To the Victims of Vietnam, Ri-Fi, 1974 * Gerry Mulligan meets Enrico Intra, with Pino Presti and Tullio De Piscopo, Produttori Associati, 1976 * The Blues, CD, Album, Dire, 1991 * Wach im Dunklen Garten. Instrumentalmusik nach Gregorianischen Gesängen Kreuz, CD, 1999 * Bernstein/Gershwin/Rodgers, with the Civica Jazz Band and Franco Cerri, Soul Note, CD, 2000 * Live!, Distr. IRD, CD, 2005 * Le case di Berio, Audio CD, Album, Rai Trade, Alfa Music, 2005 * Like Monk, Alfa Music, Audio CD, 2006 * Franco Cerri & Enrico Intra Jazz Italiano Live 2007, MAG 2007 * David Liebman/Enrico Intra Liebman meets Intra Contenuto Alfa Music, CD, 2008 * Franco Ambrosetti/Enrico Intr

Enrico Melozzi

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Enrico Melozzi (born 22 June 1977), also known as Melox, is an Italian conductor, composer, arranger, cellist, and record producer. Life and career Born in Teramo, as a child Melozzi learned to play the piano by himself and at the age of eight he composed his first pieces. After his diploma in cello, he graduated in composition at the London College of Music. References External links * *

Enrico Polo

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Enrico Polo (18 November 1868 in Parma – 3 December 1953 in Milan) was an Italian violinist, composer and pedagogue. Biography Polo was admitted to the Royal School of Music in Parma (now the Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Boito) in 1879 studying violin and composition. He graduated in June 1887 with honors and received the Barbacini Prize for outstanding graduate of his class. He was a close friend of orchestra director Arturo Toscanini from the earliest years of study in Parma. In the fall of 1887, Toscanini was to conduct Giuseppe Verdi’s I Lombardi alla prima crociata and requested Polo to play the lengthy violin solo at the end of Act III. In 1893, with the financial support of Count Stefano Sanvitale, Polo went to Berlin to study with Joseph Joachim. In 1903 Polo was appointed Professor of Violin at the Milan Conservatory where he was an influential teacher for more than thirty years. In 1906, he founded the Quartetto Polo along with violinist Costantino Soragna, violist Guglielmo “Willy” Koch and cellist Camillo Moro. The quartet performed to great acclaim in Milan and throughout Europe. During World War I, Soragna was replaced by Michelangelo Abbado, a student of Polo at th

Enrico Simonetti

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Enrico Simonetti (29 January 1924 – 28 May 1978) was an Italian pianist, composer, conductor, and television and radio presenter. Life and career Born in Alassio, a Province of Savona, Simonetti studied piano at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. A lover of jazz, in the early 1950s he founded a jazz band with Piero Piccioni and Bruno Martino, with whom he performed in the most important nightclubs of the time. In 1953 he moved, with his family, to Brazil, where he found immediate success as musician, composer and entertainer, hosting a long running television program, Simonetti Show, which lasted for 147 episodes; thanks to his popularity he was made an honorary citizen of Brazil and was introduced into the “Candido Randon da Silva” order. In 1964 he came back to Italy, where he joined RAI television, making his debut in the show Chitarra, amore mio. He was active as a television and radio host (often paired with Isabella Biagini), as a film composer, and even an occasional actor. Simonetti died at age 54 from complications following a major surgical operation to remove a tumor in his throat. He was the father of composer and musician Claudio Simonetti. Selected filmography *

Enrico Toselli

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Enrico Toselli, Count of Montignoso (March 13, 1883 – January 15, 1926), was an Italian pianist and composer. Born in Florence, he studied piano with Giovanni Sgambati and composition with Giuseppe Martucci and Reginaldo Grazzini. He embarked on a career as a concert pianist, playing in Italy, European capital cities, Alexandria and North America. His most popular composition is Serenata ‘Rimpianto’ Op.6 No.1. They had one son, Carlo Emanuele (7 May 1908 – 1969). Toselli’s memoirs of his marriage to royalty, Mari d’altesse: 4 ans de mariage avec Louise de Toscane, ex-princesse de Saxe, were published in French after his divorce. He died of consumption in 1926 at the relatively young age of 43. References *Luisa di Toscana. La mia storia, Societa’ Editrice Italiana, Milano (1911). *Enrico Toselli. Mari d’altesse: 4 ans de mariage avec Louise de Toscane, ex-princesse de Saxe, Albin Michel Éditeur, Paris (1912). *Enrico Toselli. Il mio matrimonio con Luisa di Sassonia, Italian translation by Paolo Reni, Societa’ Editrice Italiana, Milano (1912). *Leonardo Previero. Enrico Toselli, Il musicista della Serenata, Edizioni Polistampa, Firenze (1997). External links *

Enrique Mazzola

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Enrique Mazzola is a Spanish-born Italian conductor. He studied at the Giuseppe Verdi Milan Conservatory. Known for his work in bel canto opera and French repertoire, Mazzola performs internationally as both an operatic and symphonic conductor. * Between 1999 and 2003, he was the artistic and music director of the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano *He served as the artistic and music director of the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France from the 2012/13 to 2018/19 season *He was appointed principal guest conductor at Deutsche Oper Berlin starting in the 2018/19 season *As of July 1, 2021, Mazzola is music director of Lyric Opera of Chicago *In 2022, he was appointed Conductor in Residence at Bregenz Festival Distinctions * October 2018: Mazzola was made a Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. * August 2020: Mazzola was awarded the Grifo Poliziano. Selected discography * Beethoven: Piano Concerto Nr. 1 & Symphony Nr. 5. Cédric Tiberghien (pianist), Enrique Mazzola (conductor). Orchestre national d’Île-de-France. Label: NoMadMusic *Bellini / Donizetti / Rossini / Meyerbeer: Opera Ouvertures. Enrique Mazzola (conductor). Orchestre national d’Île-de-France. Label: No

Enzo Camporeale

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Enzo (Vincenzo) Camporeale (born 27 July 1966) External links *

Enzo Gragnaniello

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Enzo Gragnaniello (born 20 October 1954) is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. Life and career Born in Quartieri Spagnoli, Naples, Gragnaniello began playing the guitar at the age of 12 and began composing his first songs at 18 years old. In 1977 he formed the group “Banchi nuovi”, named after the Committee of unemployed people to which he belonged. Gragnaniello made his solo debut in 1983, with the eponymous album Enzo Gragnaniello. In 1991 his song “Cu’mmè”, recorded by Roberto Murolo and Mia Martini, obtained a great commercial success and became instant classics in Italy; in 1997 with the same song Gragnaniello won the music festival “Viva Napoli”. Gragnaniello composed songs for Andrea Bocelli, Adriano Celentano, Gerardina Trovato among others. He is also active as a composer of musical scores for stage plays and films. Discography Album * 1983 - Enzo Gragnaniello * 1985 - Salita Trinità degli Spagnoli * 1990 - Fujente * 1991 - Veleno mare e ammore * 1993 - Un mondo che non c’è * 1994 - Cercando il sole * 1996 - Posteggiatore abusivo * 1996 - Continuerò * 1998 - Neapolis mantra * 1998 - Canzoni di rabbia canzoni d’amore * 1999 - Oltre gli alberi * 1999 - Dai Quartieri

Enzo Marciano

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Enzo Marciano is an Italian conductor, composer and organist. Early life Enzo was born in Corigliano d’Otranto (Lecce) into a musical family. He studied at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome with Barbara Giuranna, Fernando Germani, Franco Ferrara and Olivio Di Domenico. He also studied with Giovanni Orsomando and Peter Rorke. He first conducted at age of 10 when his father Donato (a conductor) pushed him on the podium and told him to conduct the opening item of a concert because he felt sick (it was not true). Career Enzo has conducted orchestras in Italy and in Australia where he lives with his wife Marisa (a concert pianist) and two children Dony and Sebastian (both musicians). Some of his concerts have been recorded live and published on CDs. Much of his professional career has been spent in Australia where he is the organist at the National Shrine of St. Anthony in Melbourne. Enzo’s compositions include music for films, TV shows, a Passacaglia for organ and orchestra, various orchestral and choral works, three Masses and orchestrations of the most popular organ music by Bach which have been recorded and published on CDs. His recording of the Beethoven’s Eroica has been high

Ercole Bottrigari

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Ercole Bottrigari (24 August 153130 September 1612 ) was an Italian scholar, mathematician, poet, music theorist, architect, and composer. Life The illegitimate son of Giovanni Battista Bottrigari, a wealthy Bolognese aristocrat, and Cornelia (alias Caterina) de’ Chiari of Brescia, he was legitimized on 16 August 1538 and then raised in his father’s house at Sant’Alberto, near Bologna. On 7 March 1542 Bottrigari was selected by the Bolognese senate as one of a group of 12 young aristocrats deputed to welcome the new Cardinal Legate, Gasparo Contarini, to the city. Evidently Bottrigari distinguished himself in the recitation of poetry and orations on this occasion; he was duly rewarded by Contarini who invested him with the titles of Knight of the Holy See and Lateran during a Pontifical High Mass in Bologna Cathedral on 9 April 1542. As a young man he studied classical languages with Francesco Lucchino of Trento, perspective and architecture with Giacomo Ranuzzi and mathematical sciences with Nicolò Simo, professor of astronomy at the University of Bologna. Bottrigari also studied music with Bartolomeo Spontone with whom he remained in close contact for many years; their friendship

Ermanno Picchi

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Ermanno Picchi (7 June 1811 – 18 April 1856) was an Italian composer, pedagogue and music critic who played an active role in the musical life of Florence from 1836 until his early death in 1856. Life and career Picchi was born in Impruneta in the Province of Florence and studied composition under Ignazio Colson. His first opera, Marco Visconti premiered at the Teatro del Cocomero in Florence in 1838. His second opera Il tre novembre premiered in 1844 at the Teatro della Pergola. Over the course of his career he composed four operas, an oratorio, numerous pieces of sacred music, music for military bands, and two piano fantasias (both published by Ricordi) on themes from Donizetti’s La fille du régiment and Pacini’s Saffo. He also composed Concerto for alto sax and band, on the occasion of the presentation of the sax in Italy. He was appointed secretary of the Florence Conservatory (at the time an annex of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze) in 1850 and in 1852 succeeded Giovanni Pacini as its director. Picchi became the founding editor of the weekly journal Gazzetta musicale di Firenze in 1853, providing critical guidance in its first two years of publication. Each issue came i

Ernesto Cavallini

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Ernesto Cavallini (30 August 1807 – 1874) was an Italian clarinetist and composer. Born in Milan, Cavallini studied at the Milan Conservatory under Carulli. He performed at the Conservatoire Concerts in 1830 with his brother, violinist Eugenio Cavallini. He became the principal clarinetist of La Scala under Giacomo Panizza. Cavallini was described as the “Paganini of the clarinet”. His playing inspired Verdi to compose a clarinet solo and cadenza in his 1862 La forza del destino, and led Panizza to include a set of variations for clarinet in his The Challenge of Barletta. Cavallini also composed several works for E♭ clarinet, including the Carnival of Venice variations, I figli di Eduardo 4th in partnership with Panizza, and Fantasia on a Theme from Ultimo Giorno di Pompeii. He cited Rossini as an influence in his compositions, and composed Una Lagrima sulla Tomba dell’Immortale Rossini in his honour. A new CPO c.d.(CPO 777 938-2,63 minutes) of Cavallini’s 1st & 2nd clarinet concertos & a Fantasy & Variations is now available. References External links *Free scores at the Mutopia Project

Ernesto Köhler

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Ernesto Köhler (4 December 1849 – 17 March 1907) was an Italian flautist and composer. He was considered one of the best flautists of his era as well as a prolific composer and a gifted educator. As a young student, Köhler exhibited a natural proclivity for his chosen instrument and made rapid progress in his studies. During these early years he embarked upon numerous concert tours in Italy with his brother Ferdinando, who was a noted pianist. At the urging of the Italian flautist Cesare Ciardi, Köhler subsequently left Vienna for an appointment as a flautist in the orchestra of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersberg in 1871. Following the death of Ciardi in 1877, Köhler subsequently assumed a position as a soloist in the orchestra of the Imperial Opera in Saint Petersburg and rose to become the orchestra’s first flautist in 1900. In this capacity, he served for several years as the premier flautist in the Empire of the Czar. His publisher was Julius Heinrich Zimmermann. Death Ernesto Köhler died in Saint Petersburg on 17 March 1907. Compositions for flute A partial listing of Köhler’s compositions for flute includes the following works: Flute and orchestra * Shephard Idylle, (Hirte

Ernesto Massimo Verardi

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Ernesto Massimo Verardi (born 1 March 1936), is an Italian guitarist and composer. Biography Also known as Massimo Verardi or Ernesto Verardi, he began his career in the late 50s, collaborating in the decades that followed in studio and tour, with numerous, renowned performers and arrangers/conductors. He is credited in productions that have seen him play with Mina, as well as in many recordings, in several live concerts as lead guitarist; with Mia Martini, with whom in addition to 4 album, he played, at the singer’s express request, in the TV show “Recital de Mia Martini”, broadcast in France. Verardi also composed, with lyrics by Luigi Albertelli, the song Un altro giorno con me which gave the title to the homonym album. Studio collaborations continued with Ornella Vanoni, Shirley Bassey (after the recording in Italy of This Is My Life he participated, once again as lead guitarist, in a mini-tour, culminating with the New Year’s Eve ‘68 concert at La Bussola Versilia by Sergio Bernardini; also, still on electric, acoustic or 12-string guitar, albums with Fabrizio De André, Milva, Mango, Gianni Bella, Pino Donaggio, Massimo Bubola, Iva Zanicchi, Pierangelo Bertoli, Nino D’Angelo,

Ernesto Rubin de Cervin

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Ernesto Rubin de Cervin Albrizzi (5 July 1936 – 29 March 2013) was an Italian composer, musicologist and teacher. Biography He was born in Venice in 1936. As a child he studied violin with Gian Francesco Malipiero at the Venice Conservatory, who suggested that he should start composition classes. He studied solfege with Bruno Maderna. After high school, he studied composition at the Florence Conservatory under Roberto Lupi and on a private basis with Luigi Dallapiccola. From 1965 to 1985 he taught, first solfege at the Liceo musicale in Udine, then didactic, analysis and composition at the Venice Conservatory. His teachings there established the New Venice School. Whilst at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, he taught harmony and counterpoint to Giuseppe Sinopoli. References External links *Article by Rubin de Cervin prefaced by Joachim Noller

Errico Petrella

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Errico Petrella (10 December 18137 April 1877) was an Italian opera composer. Life and career Petrella was born at Palermo, capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. A conservative of the Neapolitan school, he was the most successful Italian composer, second only to Verdi, during the 1850s and 1860s. He also earned the latter’s scorn for his compositional and dramatic crudities, which nonetheless played well on the stage. Petrella was a popular composer in his day, both of opera buffa and more serious work. His best opera, Jone, has considerable melodramatic force and vitality, and Petrella’s melodic style, though old-fashioned in comparison with Verdi’s operas of the 1850s, is still appealing. None of his early works, premiered between December 1829 and 1839, were particularly successful. It was not until Il carnevale di Venezia (Naples, Nuovo, 20 May 1851) that he really became noticed. Elena di Tolosa (Naples, Fondo, 12 August 1852) followed. Finally, in 1854, he took the Italian operatic world by storm with Marco Visconti (Naples, San Carlo, 1854) based on the novel of the same title by Tommaso Grossi. L’assedio di Leida (La Scala, 1856) was his fourth straight triumph, while Jone (La

Ettore Campogalliani

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Ettore Campogalliani (30 September 1903 – 3 June 1992) was an Italian composer, musician and teacher. Campogalliani studied piano in 1921, graduating from the Conservatory of Bologna. He then studied composition at the Conservatory of Parma in 1933. Finally he studied singing at the Conservatory of Piacenza in 1940. and as a pianist, he dedicated himself to teaching. He taught piano at the Liceo Musicale of Piacenza and singing at the conservatories of Parma and Milan. He then went on to coach vocal technique and interpretation at the opera school of La Scala in Milan. Campogalliani was the voice teacher of Renata Tebaldi, Renata Scotto, Mirella Freni, Felix Rolke (when Mirella Freni was 19 years old; himself voice teacher of a niece of Mirella Freni), Ferruccio Furlanetto, Ruggero Raimondi, Luciano Pavarotti, Carlo Bergonzi, Gino Penno, Antonio Carangelo and Giuliano Bernardi. In 1946, to honour his father Francesco, Ettore Campogalliani founded the Accademia Teatrale Francesco Campogalliani, a theatre and drama academy. Selected compositions *Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano (1932) *Sarabanda and Minuetto for piano Op. l (1934) *Sonata in e Minor for Violin and Piano *‘L’arrivo’

Ettore Perosio

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Ettore Perosio (May 10, 1868 - February 14, 1919) was an Italian composer and conductor. Perosio was a native of Genoa, the son of art critic and amateur musician Giuseppe Perosio, who had been a friend of Giuseppe Verdi. The younger Perosio studied at the Niccolò Paganini Institute in Genoa before embarking on a conducting career that took him around Italy, as well as to Spain, Portugal, and the United States. His career also took him to Buenos Aires and Montevideo, where he worked alongside soprano Eugenia Burzio. Perosio married soprano Giuseppina Falconis della Perla (née Battaglia) in 1900. He died in the city of his birth. Perosio composed five operas during his career. The first of these, premiered at Genoa’s Teatro Paganini on January 13, 1889, was Adriana Lecouvreur, to a libretto by his father; based on the same play that later inspired Francesco Cilea, this saw performance in other theaters as well. Three other stage works - Furio, to a libretto by Luigi Orsini; Scacco al re, to a libretto by E. Ducati; and Morosina - appear never to have received a performance. Besides operas, Perosio also wrote chamber music, songs, and sacred works. He also produced Apoteosi di Colomb

Eugenia Calosso

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Eugenia Calosso (21 April 1878 – after 1914) was an Italian conductor and composer. She studied at the conservatory in Leipzig, and studied composition with Giovanni Cravero. She began her career as a conductor at the Casino Municipale in San Remo and continued concert tours of Europe until 1914. Calosso wrote madrigals, orchestral suites, and instrumental works for violin and piano, and more than fifty lieder. She wrote one opera, Vespero, with a libretto by Ernesto Ragazzoni. Life Eugenia Calosso was born on 21 April 1878 in Turin, Piedmont. She studied at the conservatory in Leipzig, and studied composition with Giovanni Cravero. Calosso wrote madrigals, lieder, orchestral suites, and instrumental works for violin and piano. She wrote about fifty lieder. She died after 1914. References

Eugenio Cavallini

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Eugenio Cavallini (16 June 1806 — 11 April 1881) was an Italian conductor, composer, violinist, and violist. In 1833 he became first violinist of the orchestra at La Scala, a post he held through 1855. He also served as a conductor at La Scala, notably leading the world premieres of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia (1833), Donizetti’s Gemma di Vergy (1834), Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda (1835), Saverio Mercadante’s Il giuramento (1837), Mercadante’s Il bravo (1839), Giuseppe Verdi’s Oberto (1839), Verdi’s Un giorno di regno (1840), Donizetti’s Maria Padilla (1841), Verdi’s Nabucco (1842), Verdi’s I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1843), Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco (1845), Federico Ricci’s Estella di Murcia (1846), and Domenico Ronzani’s Salvator Rosa (1854). At La Scala Cavallini also conducted performances of Vincenzo Bellini’s La sonnambula (1834), Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (1834), Bellini’s I puritani (1835), Daniel Auber’s La muette de Portici (1838), Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1839), Donizetti’s La fille du régiment (1840), Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (1843), Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix (1844), Verdi’s Ernani (1844), Verdi’s Attila (1846), Verdi’s Jérusalem (1850), Verdi’s R

Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco

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Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco (12 July 1675, Verona, Republic of Venice — 12 July 1742, Munich, Bavaria) was an Italian composer, violinist, and cellist. Life Dall’Abaco was born in Verona to renowned guitarist Damiano dall’Abaco. He is thought to have been a pupil of Torelli’s, from whom he would have learned violin and cello. He became a violinist with Tommaso Antonio Vitali in Modena, and in 1704 joined the court of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria in Munich as Kammermusiker. After only a few months, he fled with the court to Brussels following Maximilian’s defeat at the Battle of Blenheim. When he went into exile with the court, he spent time in France and absorbed some of the influences there. On Maximilian’s restoration and return to Munich in 1715, Dall’Abaco was appointed Concert-meister. He continued to compose chamber music at the French and Dutch courts until 1740, when he retired. Dall’Abaco’s music is especially indebted to Vivaldi and Corelli. Dall’Abaco died on his 67th birthday. While in Brussels, Dall’Abaco fathered Joseph Abaco (1710–1805). Published works * Opus 1: 12 Sonate da Camera, for violin and violoncello with accompaniment * Opus 2: 12 Concerti a qu

Ezio Bosso

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Ezio Bosso (; 13 September 1971 – 14 May 2020) was an Italian composer, pianist, double bass player, and conductor. He composed film scores such as Un amore and Gabriele Salvatores’ Io non ho paura, and ballets which were performed by The Royal Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet, among others. As a pianist, he released a solo album which entered the Italian charts. Life Born in Turin in 1971, Bosso learned to read and play music before he was four and started to have his first piano lessons with his aunt who was a pianist. He studied piano, double bass, and theory at Turin Conservatorium. He also collaborated with theatre directors such as James Thiérrée and choreographers such as Rafael Bonachela. Some of Bosso’s music for piano was compared to the work of Philip Glass. Awards Bosso won several awards for his compositions, including the Australian Green Room Award and the Syracuse NY Award, and was nominated for two David di Donatello Awards. Compositions Symphonies * Symphony No.1: “Oceans” * Symphony No.2: “Under the Trees” Voices * Symphony No.3: “Four Letters” for string quartet and orchestra * Symphony No.4: “Alma Mater” * Little Symphony for a Pair of Glasses for orchestra

Fabio Campana

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Fabio Campana (14 January 1819 – 2 February 1882) was an Italian composer, opera director, conductor, and singing teacher who composed eight operas which premiered between 1838 and 1869. He was born in Livorno, the city where his first two operas premiered, but in the early 1850s he settled in London. There he opened a famous singing school, conducted concerts, and continued his reputation as a prolific and popular composer of art songs and concert arias. It was first performed on 14 August 1838 at the Teatro degli Avvalorati in Livorno, with Verdi’s future wife Giuseppina Strepponi in the title role. The opera was warmly received as was his next opera Giulio d’Este which premiered at the same theatre in 1841. Campana also directed several operas at the theatre, including Mercadante’s Il giuramento (1839), Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1840), Meyerbeer’s Il crociato in Egitto (1840), and Bellini’s Il pirata (1840). In 1850 Campana had gone to Paris, armed with a letter of recommendation from Rossini to seek a position at the Théâtre des Italiens which at that time was run by Benjamin Lumley. The first of his “Grand Matinee Musicale” concerts took place in 1854 under the patronag

Fabio Frizzi

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Fabio Frizzi (born 2 July 1951) is an Italian musician and composer. Born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, he is best known for his scores for horror films. Career Prior to his work in film, he was a member of several classical music groups and a pop rock band. He was a frequent collaborator with horror film director Lucio Fulci. Fabio is the older brother of the late television presenter Fabrizio Frizzi. Influences and style Fabio Frizzi’s scores draw from electronic, classical and rock music. He often uses the mellotron and Moog synthesizer in his compositions, owing to his love of progressive rock. Selected filmography Solo Finnish singer Taiska used the melody of Frizzi’s composition “Ibo lele” for her song, “Mombasa”. With Bixio - Frizzi - Tempera References External links * *Fabio Frizzi interviewed by Lionel Grenier for luciofulci.fr (in French) *Fabio Frizzi interviewed by Tim Fife for Cinema Suicide (in English) *Fabio Frizzi interview by Fangoria

Fabio Ilacqua

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Fabio Ilacqua (born 8 October 1975) is an Italian lyricist, composer, arranger, record producer and singer-songwriter. Life and career Born in Varese to a Sicilian father and a Calabrian mother, Ilacqua studied at the Brera Academy in Milan. He started his professional career as singer-songwriter in 2007, winning the Festival and releasing his only album Ballata del dopocena. Ilacqua had his breakout thanks to the collaboration as a lyricist with Francesco Gabbani, with the songs “Amen” and “Occidentali’s Karma” respectively winning the Sanremo Music Festival 2016 newcomers competition and the Sanremo Music Festival 2017 big artist competition. Ornella Vanoni Paola Turci, and Marco Mengoni. In 2022, he produced and arranged the Francesco Guccini album Canzoni da intorto. References External links * *

Fabio Mengozzi

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Fabio Mengozzi (born May 12, 1980) is an Italian composer and pianist. Biography Fabio Mengozzi was born on May 12, 1980, in Asti. studied piano with Aldo Ciccolini, orchestral conducting and composition, masterclasses with Azio Corghi at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He won several awards including: 2nd prize at “11° Concorso Pianistico Nazionale Città di Genova” (1991); 1st prize at “3° Concorso Nazionale per Giovani Pianisti Comune di Terzo d’Acqui” (1991); 1st prize at “1° Concorso Nazionale Riviera dei fiori Città di Alassio” (1992); 1st prize at “XIII Concorso Pianistico Nazionale Città di Genova” (1992); 1st prize at “Concorso Musicale Europeo Città di Moncalieri” (1992); 1st prize at “2° Concorso Nazionale di Musica per borse di studio di Tortona” (1992); 1st prize at “7° Concorso Nazionale di Esecuzione Musicale Franz Schubert in Tagliolo Monferrato” (1992); 2nd prize at “3° Concorso Nazionale di Musica per giovani interpreti Città di Asti” (1992); 2nd prize at “1° Concorso Pianistico Italiano Premio Città di Cortemilia” (1993); 2nd prize at “4° Concorso Pianistico Nazionale Carlo Vidusso in Milano” (1994); 1st prize at “Concorso Pianistico Nazionale Lo

Fabio Vacchi

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Fabio Vacchi (; born 19 February 1949) is an Italian composer. Biography Training and debut Fabio Vacchi studied at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini of Bologna with Giacomo Manzoni and Tito Gotti. In 1974 he participated in the courses of the Tanglewood Festival in the United States, where he was awarded the Koussevitzky Prize in Composition. In 1976 he won first prize at the Gaudeamus Composition Competition in the Netherlands, with the work Les soupirs de Geneviève for 11 string soloists. In the same year, he wrote Sinfonia in quattro tempi, conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli for the Venice Biennale Festival, which thereafter dedicated to him two monographic concerts in 1979 From the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino to the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berliner, the Gewandhaus and the Carnegie Hall Vacchi made his debut at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival in 1982 with Girotondo, an opera whose libretto was adapted from Arthur Schnitzler. Following this opera came Il Viaggio (Teatro Comunale di Bologna, text by Tonino Guerra), – in the same year, 1990, when he attended the New York Festival of Contemporary Music with L’usgnol in vatta a un fil - then La station thermale, with a

Fabrizio De Rossi Re

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Fabrizio De Rossi Re (born 1 August 1960) is an Italian composer and librettist. He composes operas, symphonic, choral and chamber music, and performs as a pianist. Biography De Rossi Re was born in Rome. He studied at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome under and Raffello Tega. He has had also the chance to meet and study with other important figures of the Italian music, such as Sylvano Bussotti, Salvatore Sciarrino, Luciano Berio, and the jazz pianist Umberto Cesari. He teaches Elements of composition for Music education at the Conservatory G. B. Pergolesi of Fermo, and has been involved in teaching Didactics of improvisation and composition for High school teachers (organized by the Ministry of Education. ) He has been a member of the artistic association of Nuova Consonanza in Rome since 1987. As a jazz pianist, he often participated in sessions with many other soloists, balancing the heritage of classic music and jazz with the continuous research of new creative paths and sounds. His works has been recorded by Adda Records, Agenda, BMG Ariola, CNI, Edipan, Fonit Cetra, I Move, QQD, Rai Trade, RCA, Semar, and Sonzogno. Selected works Stage *Biancaneve, ovvero il perfido

Fausto Romitelli

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Fausto Romitelli (1 February 1963 – 27 June 2004) was an Italian composer. Life and career Romitelli was born on 1 February 1963 in Gorizia, Italy. He studied composition at the Milan Conservatory and subsequently took part in courses at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena with Franco Donatoni and at the Scuola Civica di Milano. In 1991, he moved to Paris, where he became a student of Hugues Dufourt and Gérard Grisey. From 1993 to 1995, he was compositeur en recherche at IRCAM. Romitelli achieved successes in numerous European competitions, and his music has been performed by ensembles such as Berg Orchestra and at festivals such as the , , Steirischer Herbst (Graz), the Venice Biennale, and the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. His video opera An Index of Metals (2003) was awarded the Franco Abbiati Prize by the National Association of Music Critics in Italy in 2004. He died aged 41 in Milan on 27 June 2004, following a long battle with cancer. Works 1980s *Suite for chamber ensemble, 1982 (unpublished) *Dia Nykta for solo flute, 1982 *Versilia for soprano and orchestra, 1983 (unpublished) *Lustralis for wind quintet, 1983 (unpublished) *Solare for solo guitar, 1983 *Dimensioni for 16

Federico De Robertis

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Federico De Robertis (born 5 June 1962) is an Italian musician, composer and record producer. De Robertis was born in Lucca, Tuscany. He composed the soundtrack for many movies by the Italian director Gabriele Salvatores, Puerto Escondido (1992), Nirvana (1995) and Siberian Education (2013), also for the Vanzina’s Brothers. Career De Robertis started working on soundtracks in 1991 with the director Gabriele Salvatores, then with Carlo Vanzina, as well as others. In October 2011, he founded a music group, Fede & gli Infedeli, with which he performed several soundtracks and songs of his own composition. In 2018, he authored a theme for the film Volare (film) directed by Gabriele Salvatores, and the same year he worked on the composition of the music for a multimedia art project on La rondine by Giacomo Puccini. The following year, as part of an event organized by Lucca Film Festival, the arrangements of the original music for Blade Runner composed by Vangelis. In 2020, he composed the original music for Italia Lockdown, a collective film edited by Salvatores. Selected discography Solo and Collaboration *Puerto Escondido (1992, soundtrack) *S.P.Q.R.: 2,000 and a Half Years Ago (1994,

Federico Favali

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Federico Favali (born 17 June 1981) is an Italian composer of classical music. Biography Born in Pietrasanta, and raised in Lucca, he began composing as a self-taught student. In 2004, he graduated in piano from Istituto superiore di studi musicali “L. Boccherini” of Lucca, and also graduated in DAMS (fine arts) from the University of Bologna with a thesis on the analysis of the first movement of the quartet op.3 by Alban Berg. He studied composition at King’s College London, University of Birmingham (PhD), at the Conservatorio “G. Puccini” of La Spezia, at New York University-Steinhardt School. His music has been performed all over the world (Germany, England, Argentina, Indonesia, Ireland, Australia, South Korea, United States and Japan). Among his various collaborations, the one with the double bass player Gabriele Ragghianti is worth mentioning. In 2014, the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca commissioned the opera The fall of the house of Usher, inspired by the tale of Edgar Allan Poe. It was staged at the Teatro San Girolamo of Lucca on 4 May 2014. In 2015, the Municipality of Lucca awarded him as “Lucca man of the year”. In the same year, he was invited to Daegu International Contem

Federico Ricci

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Federico Ricci (22 October 1809 – 10 December 1877), was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. Born in Naples, he was the younger brother of Luigi Ricci, with whom he collaborated on several works. Federico studied at Naples as had his brother. His first big success was with La prigione di Edimburgo, one of his best serious works. He stayed with serious subjects for several years, and of these Corrado d’Altamura was a particular success. However, his last collaboration with his brother, a comedy called Crispino e la comare, was hailed as the masterpiece of both composers, so Federico devoted himself thereafter entirely to comedy. After another success closely followed by a major flop in Vienna, Federico took an official job teaching in St Petersburg and for 16 years he wrote no operas. In 1869 he moved to Paris, and there Une folie à Rome ran for 77 nights; other French comedies of his — mainly revisions of his own and his brother’s earlier works — found some success. He also contributed the Recordare Jesu in the Sequentia to the Messa per Rossini. In 1870 for Cremona he created a pastiche, La vergine di Kermo, containing music by Pedrotti, Cagnoni, Ponchielli, Pacini, Rossi

Felicita Casella

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Felicita Casella née Lacombe, also Félicie (c. 1820 – after 1865) was a French-born Italian singer and composer. She married Italian cellist and composer Cesare Casella and moved with him to Porto. Her opera Haydée was performed in Porto in 1849 and again in a revised and improved version at the Teatro Dona Maria in Lisbon in 1853, where Casella sang in the principal role. Her next opera Cristoforo Colombo was performed in 1865 at the Théâtre Impérial in Nice. Some of her works were issued by Ricordi. Life Felicita Casella was born around 1820 as Félicie Lacombe. She was born at Bourges, and was the sister of French pianist and composer Louis Lacombe. She studied pianoforte and singing at the Paris Conservatoire. Before 1849, she married Italian cellist and composer Cesare Casella and moved with him to Porto. Her opera Haydée was a retelling of Alexandre Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo, with libretto by Luiz Felipe Leite. The opera was performed in Porto in 1849 and again at the Teatro Dona Maria in Lisbon in 1853, where Casella sang in the principal role. Cohen reports that only the Lisbon version, which had been revised and improved, was considered successful. She also composed roma

Ferdinando Arnò

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Ferdinando Arnò (born in Manduria, November 29, 1959) is an Italian composer, arranger, producer and the founder of Quiet, please!, a recording studio and production company active in the recording and advertising field. Ferdinando Arnò studied jazz improvisation at Berklee College of Music in Boston. His teachers were, among others, Gary Burton, John La Porta, Tom McKinley, Charlie Banacos and Phil Wilson. Arnò was involved in jam sessions in Boston with internationally renowned musicians such as Victor Bailey (Weather Report), Tommy Campbell, Bob Gullotti, Ed Schuller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Branford Marsalis and Jeff Watts. When he completed his studies, Arnò received his diploma from Quincy Jones at the graduation ceremony. On his return to Italy he worked as an arranger and composer for television, doing films, documentaries, program theme songs, variety shows and cartoons. In that same period he arranged and composed songs for Emi, Bmg, Warner (he wrote Il Tempo sung by Ornella Vanoni), and the theater, collaborating with Jerome Savary, Dario Fo and Fiorenzo Carpi. In the nineties Arnò began composing jingles for TV commercials, an activity that was consolidated in 2000 with

Ferdinando Bertoni

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Ferdinando Gasparo Bertoni (15 August 1725 – 1 December 1813) was an Italian composer and organist. Early years He was born in Salò, Republic of Venice, and began his music studies in Brescia, not far from his birthplace. Around 1740 he went to Bologna, where he studied until 1745 with the famous music theorist Giovanni Battista Martini. Career Then he moved to Venice, where in 1752 he was appointed as first organist at San Marco. From 1755 to 1777 he was choirmaster at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti, also in Venice. In the period 1778–1783 he was in London, where he composed operas for the King’s Theatre. Back to Venice in 1784, he succeeded Baldassare Galuppi in 1785 as Kapellmeister of San Marco and preserved this position until his retirement in 1808. Works A prolific writer of church music, Bertoni also composed 70 operas which fell into oblivion, except Orfeo (Venice, Teatro San Benedetto, 1776), based on the same libretto by Ranieri de’ Calzabigi for the work of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Orfeo ed Euridice (Burgtheater, Vienna, 1762). Bertoni composed this work especially for his friend Gaetano Guadagni, a castrato, who would interpret the role of Orfeo (the same role he had in

Ferdinando de Cristofaro

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Ferdinando de Cristofaro (1846 – 18 April 1890) was one of the most celebrated mandolin virtuosi of the late 19th Century. He was also a classical pianist, teacher, author and composer, who performed at the chief courts of Europe, and received the royal appointment of mandolinist to the King of Italy. Cristofaro was born in Naples. He received his musical education in the Conservatory of Naples, devoting himself to the study of the piano. He was beaming a virtuoso on that instrument too, and would have outdone his achievements as a mandolinist. Cristofaro was entirely self-taught on the mandolin, and he soon distinguished himself by his performances on this instrument in Italy. To the Neapolitans, he introduced a new and completely advanced method of playing—accustomed as they were to hearing the instrument in the hands of strolling players for accompanying popular songs. The classical compositions, executed by Cristofaro, caused unbounded enthusiasm, astonishment, and admiration. His fame spread rapidly throughout Italy, and after appearing with success in all the important cities, he was induced to visit Paris. He arrived Paris in 1882, where he was immediately recognised as the

Ferdinando Giorgetti

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Ferdinando Giorgetti (23 June 1796 in Florence, Italy – 23 March 1867 in Florence, Italy ) was a composer, violinist, educator and Italian publicist. Life Child prodigy and royal teacher Giorgetti, a child prodigy, started studying violin with Giovanni Francesco Giuliani at five years old and continued on this path for 9 years. However, nothing is known regarding his education of composition, so it is most probable that he was self-taught. First soloist experiences and paralysis In 1811, Elisa Bonaparte hired him as her personal violinist («Chamber Violin of the Queen of Etruria»), Because of the loss of his job, and above all, his paralysis, he was forced to leave his career as a soloist and dedicate his efforts to composition, teaching, musical publicity, and the organization of events and performances. In 1827, on the frontispiece of Tre trj di una difficoltà progressiva (dedicated to Paganini) he indicates «first violin of the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany», and thanks to the support of the court (members to which Giorgetti dedicated numerous compositions), he began promoting instrumental music and cultured European musical language, an activity to which he dedicated all o

Ferdinando Paer

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ferdinando Paer (1 June 1771 – 3 May 1839) was an Italian composer known for his operas. He was of Austrian descent and used the German spelling Pär in application for printing in Venice, and later in France the spelling Paër. Life He was born in Parma into a family of Austrian descent. He came from a musical family. His grandfather Michael Pär was a regimental band member from Peterwardein (today Petrovaradin, part of Novi Sad). His father Giulio Paer was a trumpeter with the Ducal Bodyguards and also performed at church and court events; his mother was Francesca Cutica. He was named Ferdinando after Duke Ferdinand of Parma by Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Duke Ferdinand’s wife. He studied music theory under the violinist Gasparo Ghiretti, a pupil of the Conservatorio della Pietà de’ Turchini in Naples. Career His first stage work, Orphée et Euridice, premiered in 1791 and helped begin a fruitful career of composing for the young composer. His first Italian opera, Circe, was given during the Carnival of Venice in 1792; others rapidly followed, and his name was soon famous throughout Italy. At the age of 20, he became choirmaster in Venice. In 1802 he was appointed composer

Fernando De Luca

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Fernando De Luca (born 1961 in Rome) is an Italian harpsichordist, organist, teacher and composer. Biography Fernando De Luca began his musical studies at a very young age, devoting himself first to the organ, then to the piano, obtaining his diploma in 1987 under the direction of Velia De Vita. He also studied counterpoint and basso continuo with Mons.Domenico Bartolucci, Kapellmeister of the Sistine Chapel. In 1992 he obtained his diploma in harpsichord at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome under the direction of Paola Bernardi, with the best grades and honors. The same year, on the recommendation of the Director, he received the Marcello Intendente prize from ARAM as the best diploma of the academic year. He is interested in the problem of philological interpretation of the harpsichord repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, paying particular attention to the study and practice of historical tunings. In 1994, he won first prize in the Gambi harpsichord competition of the Gioacchino Rossini Conservatory of Pesaro From 1994 to 2003, both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles, he was invited by numerous Italian and foreign concert institutions such as the Gonfalone (Rome)

Fernando Mencherini

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Fernando Mencherini (1949 in Fermignano – 1997 in Cagli) was an Italian composer of chamber works who reached musical prominence before his early death. Biography He attended the Conservatory “G. Rossini” in Pesaro, studying electronic music with Walter Branchi. His career as a composer began in 1977 and he soon gained much respect in avant-garde circles. His works have been performed at major contemporary music festivals throughout Europe and in America, by leading musicians including the Arditti Quartet, Fausto Bongelli, Lucia Bova, Francesco Dillon, Claudio Jacomucci, Massimo Mazzoni, Annamaria Morini, Enzo Porta, Ciro Scarponi, Stefano Scodanibbio and the poet Edoardo Sanguineti. He was an eclectic musician, refusing to be bound by a single harmonic language, with an amazing ability to renew himself. His scores are worked very finely, but always driven by human impulses expressed with a vital energy and frenetic tension that transmit immediately to the listener. The Concorso Internazionale di Interpretazione di Musica Contemporanea “Fernando Mencherini” is an international music competition that awards prizes for the performance of the composer’s works. Selected works *Notturno

Ferruccio Busoni

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Ferruccio Dante Michelangiolo Benvenuto Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary figures of his time, and he was a sought-after keyboard instructor and a teacher of composition. From an early age, Busoni was an outstanding, if sometimes controversial, pianist. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory and then with Wilhelm Mayer and Carl Reinecke. After brief periods teaching in Helsinki, Boston, and Moscow, he devoted himself to composing, teaching, and touring as a virtuoso pianist in Europe and the United States. His writings on music were influential, and covered not only aesthetics but considerations of microtones and other innovative topics. He was based in Berlin from 1894 but spent much of World War I in Switzerland. He began composing in his early years in a late romantic style, but after 1907, when he published his Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, he developed a more individual style, often with elements of atonality. His visits to America led to interest in North American indigenous tr

Filippo Capocci

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Filippo Capocci (11 May 1840 – 25 July 1911) was an Italian organist and composer. Biography Born in Rome, Capocci was trained in organ and harmony by his father Gaetano (1811-1898) and in 1861 received a piano diploma from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 1875, he was appointed organist of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. In 1898, he took over from his father as choirmaster at the Basilica. He also served in the Roman churches of St. Ignatius and St. Mary of Montserrat. Unlike his father, Filippo Capocci adhered to nineteenth-century musical aesthetics, avoiding the theatrical style, and dedicated himself to a style of performance and composition similar to that of the French organist Alexandre Guilmant. His opportunity for wider recognition came in 1881 with the inaugural concert for the new Merklin organ at the Church of St. Louis of France. By this time, thanks to his friendship with Guilmant, the world’s largest churches opened their doors to Capocci. Capocci was also one of the three foreign organists who performed in a series of organ concerts using the Cavaille-Coll organ at Trocadero during the 1889 Paris World Fair. In 1890, his performance with Guilmant an

Fiorenzo Carpi

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Fiorenzo Carpi De Resmini (19 October 1918 – 21 May 1997) was an Italian composer and pianist, probably best known for the “Pinocchio” theme. Biography Born in Milan, in 1945 Carpi graduated at the Milan Conservatory, pupil of Arrigo Pedrollo and Giorgio Federico Ghedini; He also collaborated with the Nobel laureate playwright Dario Fo on all his plays between 1953 and 1967, then more sporadically until Carpi’s death in 1997. Fo’s 1997 play Il diavolo con le zinne (The Devil with Boobs) featured an homage to Carpi following his death. Carpi was a prolific film score composer, well known for his long collaboration with the director Luigi Comencini. In 1981 he won the David di Donatello for Best Score for Comencini’s Eugenio. He also composed numerous pop songs, television scores, commercial jingles, symphonic and chamber opera works. Selected filmography * Fugitive in Trieste (1951) * Zazie dans le Métro (1960) * Leoni al sole (1961) * A Very Private Affair (1962) * Paris, My Love (1962) * I cuori infranti (1963) * I 4 tassisti (1963) * Misunderstood (1966) * Death on the Run (1967) * Italian Secret Service (1968) * Giacomo Casanova: Childhood and Adolescence (1969) * The Howl (1970

Fiorenzo Fiorentini

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Fiorenzo Fiorentini (10 April 1920 – 27 March 2003) was an Italian actor, author, composer, screenwriter and radio personality. Life and career Born in Rome, Fiorentini began his career as an author and radio actor, creating many successful macchiette (i.e. comic monologues caricaturing stock characters). He made his stage debut in 1954, in the revue Tutto fa Broadway. Partial filmography * Maracatumba… ma non è una rumba! (1949) - sor du fodere’, l’intrattenitore * Anthony of Padua (1949, writer) * Viva il cinema! (1952) - Tonino * A Mother Returns (1952, writer) * Giovinezza (1952, writer) * Good Folk’s Sunday (1953) - Vincenzo * Ci troviamo in galleria (1953) - Pippo * Café chantant (1953) - Se stesso / Himself * Cento serenate (1954) - Don Alfonso detto Fofò * Le vacanze del sor Clemente (1955) - Mr. Cheri * I pinguini ci guardano (1956) * The Traffic Policeman (1960) - Padre di Otello (voice, uncredited) * Paris, My Love (1962) - Claudio Nesti * Carmen di Trastevere (1962) - Carmen’s Guitar Player * Canzoni a tempo di twist (1962) * The Monk of Monza (1963) - Smilzo, un bravo * Gli onorevoli (1963) - Professore * I ragazzi dell’hully-gully (1964) * Lo scippo (1965) * How We

Flavio Testi

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Flavio Testi (4 January 1923 in Florence – 14 January 2014 in Milan ) was an Italian composer of contemporary classical music and musicologist. Biography He studied with Giulio Cesare Gedda and Luigi Perrachio at the Turin Conservatory, and took an arts degree at Milan University (1951). He then worked for Suvini Zerboni and Ricordi while also composing, pursuing his interest in music history and working on various radio projects for the RAI. From 1972 he devoted himself to educational activities, teaching music history at the Padua Conservatory and then taking up teaching posts at the Milan Conservatory and Florence Conservatory. Musical style and influence As a composer, Testi’s music has been strongly influenced by the works of Stravinsky along with his own dramatic sensibility. This is particularly evident in his earlier orchestral works such as Concerto (1954) and Divertimento (1956). His La crocifissione premièred at La Scala in 1954 to great acclaim. The expressiveness of work was particularly admired and the composer followed similar style in his Stabat mater (1957) and New York oficina y denuncia (1964), the latter of which denounced the dehumanizing environment of the mod

Fortunato Chelleri

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Fortunato Chelleri (originally: Keller, also: Kelleri, Kellery, Cheler) (May or June 1690 in Parma – 11 December 1757 in Kassel) was a Baroque Kapellmeister and composer. Biography Chelleri’s father had emigrated from Germany to Italy; his mother was from the Italian family of musicians Bazzani (or Bassani, see also Giovanni Battista Bassani). After the early death of his parents, he grew up with his uncle Francesco Maria Bazzani in Piacenza, who trained him as a musician. Chelleri started to compose operas for different opera companies in Northern Italy in 1708. He served in noble families in Barcelona, Florence and Venice, among others, including a post as maestro di capella of Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici. In 1722 Fürstbischof Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn engaged him as Hofkapellmeister in Würzburg, together with Giovanni Benedetto Platti. After the death of the Fürstbischof in 1724, Chelleri was in Kassel Hofkapellmeister of the Landgraf Karl von Hessen-Kassel. Between 1732 and 1734, he followed Karl’s son and successor Frederick of Sweden to the royal court of Stockholm. He returned to Germany with the title and fund of Hofrat (Court Councillor) and directed the private o

Fortunato Santini

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Fortunato Santini (Rome, 5 January 1777 was an Italian priest, composer and music collector. Life Santini was born in Rome and raised in an orphanage, where he studied counterpoint with Giuseppe Jannacconi. Later on he took organ lessons with G. Giudi. Between 1798 and 1801 he studied theology and philosophy and was ordained a priest in 1801. In those years he already started to copy and collect music manuscripts of the Roman School. He believed that he would only fully understand these old scores if he were able to copy them. Even in the 19th century it was not easy to understand the complicated handwritten scores of the 16th century. These first copies he made, set up the base for his collection which soon became more and more important. To copy musical compositions, Santini went to look for the originals in the different libraries and archives of Rome’s churches and monasteries. Thanks to cardinal Carlo Odescalchi, who quartered Santini’s collection in his private palace in Rome, Santini had access to private archives held by the Roman nobility, like the Ruspoli family. In 1820 Santini published a catalog of about a thousand musical scores in his growing collection. This catalog

Francesca Caccini

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Francesca Caccini (; 18 September 1587 – most likely between 1641 and 1645) was an Italian composer, singer, lutenist, poet, and music teacher of the early Baroque era. She was also known by the nickname La Cecchina , given to her by the Florentines and probably a diminutive of Francesca. She was the daughter of Giulio Caccini. Her only surviving stage work, La liberazione di Ruggiero, is widely considered the oldest opera by a woman composer. As a female composer she helped to solidify the agency and the cultural and political programs of her female patron. Personal life Early life Caccini was born in Florence on September 18, 1587. She received a humanistic education (Latin, some Greek, as well as modern languages and literature, mathematics) in addition to early musical training with her father. According to Liliana Panella, the first well-founded testimony of Francesca’s singer’s activity, together with her sister Settimia, at the Medici court, is 1602: in his diary Cesare Tinghi notes that on 3 April 1602 St. Nicholas church in Pisa, where the court moved every year during Lent, polychoral music was directed by “Giulio Romano Giulio Caccini , having the wife (the second wife,

Francesco Balilla Pratella

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Francesco Balilla Pratella (Lugo, Italy February 1, 1880 – Ravenna, Italy May 17, 1955) was an Italian composer, musicologist and essayist. Although he was one of the leading advocates of Futurism in Italian music, much of Pratella’s own music betrays little obvious connection to the views espoused in the manifestos he authored. Biography Born in Lugo, and deeply impressed by the folk-music he heard in his childhood in his native Romagna (now part of Emilia-Romagna), Pratella entered Pesaro Conservatory and studied with Vincenzo Cicognani and Pietro Mascagni. Pratella’s professional career was largely centered in teaching and musicology; he served as director of the Liceo Musicale in Lugo from 1910 until 1927, when he accepted a post as director of the Istituto G. Verdi in Ravenna, where he remained until his retirement in 1945. His interest in collecting Romagna’s folksongs began before his futurist period and continued after, intensifying later through Pratella’s arrangements of folksongs and training of choruses. Pratella also made modern performance arrangements of early polyphonic music. From 1921 to 1925 Pratella headed the Bologna-based music publication Il Pensiero Musicale

Francesco Barsanti

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Francesco Barsanti (1690–1775) was an Italian flautist, oboist and composer. He was born in 1690 in the Tuscan city of Lucca, but spent most of his life in London and Edinburgh. Biography Very little is known about Barsanti’s background. His father may or may not have been the opera librettist Giovanni Nicolao Barsanti (Il Temistocle ) but this has never been proven. He studied law in Padua as a young man, but abandoned it to pursue a career in music. In 1714 Barsanti emigrated to London with Francesco Geminiani, another musician from Lucca who was several years his senior. He played oboe and recorder, and soon obtained a post in the opera orchestra at the Haymarket where Handel’s operas were being produced. Nerici reports that he returned briefly to Lucca in 1717 and again in 1718 to play in the Festival of the Holy Cross, ‘for a very high salary.’ According to Hawkins and other authorities, in 1735 Barsanti left London for Edinburgh in Scotland where he obtained a post as a ‘Master’ with the Edinburgh Musical Society. He stayed in Scotland for eight years, during which time he benefitted from the support (moral if not financial) of the young Lady Erskine (Charlotte Hope) (1720-17

Francesco Canova da Milano

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Francesco Canova da Milano (Francesco da Milano, also known as Il divino, Francesco da Parigi, etc.) (18 August 1497 – 2 January 1543) was an Italian lutenist and composer. He was born in Monza, near Milan, and worked for the papal court for almost all of his career. Francesco was heralded throughout Europe as the foremost lute composer of his time. More of his music is preserved than of any other lutenist of the period, and his work continued to influence composers for more than a century after his death. Life Francesco da Milano was almost certainly born in Monza, a small city some 15 km north-northeast of Milan. His father Benedetto was a musician, as was his elder brother Bernardino. According to Luca Gaurico’s Tractatus astrologicus (1552), Francesco studied under Giovanni Angelo Testagrossa, but today this is considered somewhat unlikely. By 1514 Francesco was a member of the papal household in Rome. From that time for most of his career he was closely associated with the papal court. He and his father became private musicians to Pope Leo X in October 1516; Francesco’s father kept this position until December 1518, but Francesco stayed until Leo’s death in 1521. Little is kno

Francesco Cavalli

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Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverdi as the dominant and leading opera composer of the mid 17th-century. A central figure of Venetian musical life, Cavalli wrote more than thirty operas, almost all of which premiered in the city’s theaters. His best known works include Ormindo (1644), Giasone (1649) and La Calisto (1651). Life Cavalli was born at Crema, then an inland province of the Venetian Republic. He became a singer (boy soprano) at St Mark’s Basilica in Venice in 1616, where he had the opportunity to work under the tutorship of Claudio Monteverdi. He became second organist in 1639, first organist in 1665, and in 1668 maestro di cappella. He took the name “Cavalli” from his patron, Venetian nobleman Federico Cavalli. Though he wrote prolifically for the church, he is chiefly remembered for his operas. He began to write for the stage in 1639 (Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo) soon after the first public opera house opened in Venice, the Teatro San Cassiano. He established so great a reputation that he was summone

Francesco Cilea

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Francesco Cilea (; 23 July 1866 – 20 November 1950) was an Italian composer. Today he is particularly known for his operas L’arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur. Biography Born in Palmi near Reggio di Calabria, Cilea was the son of Giuseppe Cilea and Felicita Gallo. Giuseppe was a prominent lawyer and Cilea originally intended to follow his father into a law career. He gave an early indication of an aptitude for music when at the age of four he heard a performance of Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma and was greatly affected by it. He was sent to study music at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella in Naples under the guidance of Beniamino Cesi, he distinguished himself through diligence and precocious talent, earning a gold medal from the Ministry of Public Education and being appointed ‘first student instructor’. In 1889, for his final examination at the end of his course of study, he submitted his opera Gina, with a libretto by Enrico Golisciani which was adapted from the old French play Catherine, ou La Croix d’or by Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville (1787–1865). This “melodramma idilico” was performed in the college theatre, and it attracted the attention of the publish

Francesco Cilluffo

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Francesco Cilluffo (born in Turin, Italy, January 1979) is an Italian conductor and composer. Education He graduated in Composition and Conducting with Gilberto Bosco from the Conservatorio G. Verdi in Turin after having completed a Music Degree from the University of Turin with a thesis about Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd. In 2003 he moved to London, where he completed a PhD in Composition at the King’s College London, after having been awarded a Master in Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He also held the position of a Composition and Conducting fellow for the Academic Year 2004-2005. Particularly important for his development as a composer were the sessions with Alexander Goehr in Cambridge and meeting Tobias Picker. His works have been performed in Italy, England, Austria, Russia, United States and Hong Kong. He has worked as assistant conductor in the United States (Lyric Opera of Chicago and Hollywood Bowl Orchestra) and Europe (Gewandhaus, Leipzig, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Opera House, Opéra national du Rhin, Strasbourg, and Teatro La Fenice, Venice). He has also attended master classes with conductors such as Michael Til

Francesco d'Avalos

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Francesco d’Avalos (11 April 1930 in Naples – 26 May 2014 in Naples) was an Italian conductor and composer. Holder of the aristocratic titles of Prince d’Avalos and Marquis of Vasto and Pescara, d’Avalos was also a descendant of the uncle of Maria d’Avalos, the murdered first wife of Carlo Gesualdo. d’Avalos acknowledged that the Italian composer Antonio Favasta convinced his parents to allow him to study music. He began music studies at age 12, including piano studies with Marta De Conciliis, and later with Vincenzo Vitale. He subsequently studied composition with Renato Parodi. He considered Psiche, written at seventeen, as his first composition. He graduated with honours from the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella in Naples, with a degree in composition. He also studied philosophy at the University of Naples. He studied conducting at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, and his conducting mentors included Paul van Kempen, Franco Ferrara and Sergiu Celibidache. From 1951 to 1954, he was a music critic for Il Quotidiano. In 1972, Nino Rota recruited d’Avalos as a composition teacher to the Conservatory in Bari, where he remained until 1979. d’Avalos then accepted a faculty post at t

Francesco De Masi

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Francesco De Masi (11 January 1930 – 6 November 2005) was an Italian conductor and film score composer. Biography He studied composition at the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory in Naples under the guidance of Achille Longo, his uncle. De Masi became interested in film music when Longo was asked to compose a soundtrack for a film, and he asked De Masi to be his assistant. De Masi’s filmography includes scores for over 200 films and TV series, ranging from Spaghetti Westerns and sword and sandal epics to gialli and horror films, such as Lucio Fulci’s Lo squartatore di New York (The New York Ripper). De Masi also scored several action films, such as Enzo G. Castellari’s Quel maledetto treno blindato (The Inglorious Bastards), but he is best remembered for his work on Spaghetti Westerns. Unlike most other composers, De Masi started writing western scores slightly earlier than the genre’s most influential musician, Ennio Morricone. As De Masi’s music was less influenced by Morricone, his style had a distinctive sound. Many of his songs were performed by the low-voiced member of the I Cantori Moderni choir, Ettore “Raoul” Lovecchio. De Masi was also very interested in classical music. H

Francesco Fanciulli

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Francesco Fanciulli (May 29, 1853 – July 17, 1915) was a Grand Duchy of Tuscany-born naturalized American band director and composer. Between 1892 and 1897 he led the United States Marine Band. Biography Francesco Luigi Fanciulli was born in Porto Santo Stefano. He learned cornet at a young age and played in a local band. Displaying talent, he was sent to study at the Florence Conservatory, where he obtained his diploma. At age twenty he became the first cornettist at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, and in 1875 he obtained a position in the orchestra of the Politeama Fiorentino. He was also engaged as a conductor at the Teatro Goldoni, at the Politeama, and at the Teatro Nazionale. In 1876 he emigrated to the United States to teach privately for a wealthy New York family. Arriving in New York on September 24, 1876, he also began working as an organist at St. Peter’s Church in Brooklyn and as a teacher of piano and singing. He composed works for Patrick Gilmore’s band. Among his compositions was a piece transcribed from his first opera The Voyage of Columbus that Gilmore described as “the most beautiful piece of descriptive music ever written.” In 1892, Fanciulli’s reputation

Francesco Feo

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Francesco Feo (1691 – 28 January 1761) was an Italian composer, known chiefly for his operas. He was born and died in Naples, where most of his operas were premièred. Life Feo studied music at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà in Naples, starting on 3 September 1704. Among the other composers he met there were Leonardo Leo, Giuseppe de Majo (who would later marry his niece), and Niccolò Jommelli. His first teacher was Andrea Basso, and after 1705 Nicola Fago, who had only just been appointed. Feo remained at the conservatory until some time around 1712. In 1713 he presented his first opera, L’amor tirannico, ossia Zenobia (Tyrannical Love, or Zenobia), and for carnival 1714 Il martirio di Santa Caterina (The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Egypt), an oratorio. His fame began to increase with sacred works for local churches, such as his Missa defunctorum (Requiem Mass) in 1718, and with his recitatives, arias and comic scenes for performances of operas by other composers when they were staged in Naples. In 1719 Feo wrote La forza della virtù (The Power of Virtue), and then his opera seria Teuzzone in 1720. Real fame only came with his opera seria Siface, re di Numidia (Sy

Francesco Filidei

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Francesco Filidei (born 1973) is also a composer. Life Filidei graduated from the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence, where he won unanimously the first prizes in organ playing and music composition. He followed advanced courses of Salvatore Sciarrino, Giacomo Manzoni, Sylvano Bussotti, and studied further with Jean Guillou in Zürich. the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Ensemble orchestral contemporain and were recorded by Radio France and Rai Tre. His opera Giordano Bruno had its world premiere in 2015 in Porto. The libretto by is based on the eponymous short story by Yevgeny Zamyatin published in 1929. In 2023 Teatro alla Scala and the Opéra de Paris jointly commissioned Filidei to create a new opera Il Nome Della Rosa based on the book by Umberto Eco. References External links * Biography of Francesco Filidei, Centre de documentation de la musique contemporaine (Cdmc). *

Francesco Florimo

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Francesco Florimo (12 October 1800 – 18 December 1888) was an Italian librarian, musicologist, historian of music, and composer. Early life and friendship with Bellini Florimo was born in San Giorgio Morgeto in Calabria and enrolled at the age of 12 (or 15) at the Naples Conservatory (Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella). Career as a musician At the conservatory Florimo became a singing instructor and director of vocal concerts. His conservative Metodo di canto (Naples, 1840?; Milan, 1841–1843; enlarged 1861) was influential and widely praised. It claimed to be based on the teaching methods of the castrato Girolamo Crescentini, who was still head of the Naples Conservatory singing school at the time, and was meant to restore the ‘antico bello’, or true Italian style of singing from the time of Alessandro Scarlatti, Nicola Porpora, and Francesco Durante, which had been largely supplanted by the then fashionable ’la moda barocca’. Florimo died in Naples. His will donated to the Naples Conservatory thirty-seven volumes of correspondence, a rich source of material that has not yet been fully exploited; among these documents are some which reveal Florimo’s own published fabrications.

Francesco Libetta

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Francesco Libetta (born 16 October 1968) is an Italian pianist, composer, writer and conductor. Biography Born in Galatone, Southern Italy, Francesco Libetta studied music in Italy (piano with Vittoria De Donno; counterpoint with Cosimo Colazzo and Igino Ettorre; composition with Gino Marinuzzi; conducting with Alberto Maria Giuri) and in France (composition with Jacques Castérède). He moved to Lecce, where he has taught Chamber Music at the “T. Schipa” Conservatory. Described as a “poet-aristocrat of the keyboard with the profile and the carriage of a Renaissance prince” (M. Gurewitsch, New York Times), he first came to the attention of piano cognoscenti after his live performance of 53 Studies by Godowsky based on the 27 Studies by Chopin. Performances included: 1990 in Galatina; then 1994/95 in Milan; Naples, Florence; 2006 in Milan; 2010 one day in Brasília. Libetta’s repertoire now encompasses a very wide range, including all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas (performed first in Italy, 1993/94), several Mozart and Beethoven concertos, the complete Handel and Chopin works, as well as major works by Schubert, Schumann, Debussy, and Ravel. He is active as a conductor (in symphonic

Francesco Mancini (composer)

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Francesco Mancini (16 January 1672 – 22 September 1737) was a Neapolitan composer of considerable notoriety during his time as a prolific member of the Neapolitan School, and aided in the establishment of a local practice there. His contribution to the development of Italian opera, a particularly intrinsic aspect of the Neapolitan School as a whole, is especially lauded, as well as his writings of sacred works and cantatas. His name can be found in historical sources being lauded with other members like Nicola Porpora, Alessandro Scarlatti, and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Career He was an important teacher and managed to obtain his greatest duty during Alessandro Scarlatti’s absence from the Neapolitan court, between 1702 and 1708. In this period, he was Director of the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto from his predecessor Giuliano Perugino, composing the opera, Il zelo animato there (1733), as well as being first organist and maestro of the Capella Reale. This time has been segmented by scholars into two parts: his opera phase (1707-1713) and his sacred music phase (1716-1720). His assistant while as Reale was Giuseppe Porsile. In 1735, Mancini was forced to conclude his partic

Francesco Mander

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Francesco Mander (26 October 1915, Rome – 2 September 2004, Latisana) was an Italian conductor and composer. Biography Francesco Mander was the only son of Pietro Mander, a film producer and owner of Mander Film, and Lucia Mercadante. From his father he inherited his love for literature; from his mother he gained a passion for music. His mother was a descendant of noted Italian opera composer Saverio Mercadante (1795-1870). From an early age his parents took him to concerts in Rome’s famed concert hall, the Augusteo. After the family moved to Milan, Mander continued his piano study and also took up the cello. His teacher was Enzo Martinenghi, the solo cellist of the Teatro alla Scala orchestra, then under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. Back in Rome, he went to university (literature) and studied composition with Alfredo Casella and Cesare Dobici, obtaining his degree in composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome (1939) in only four years instead of the usual ten years required. He studied conducting with Antonio Guarnieri in Siena, a city where not many years later he would teach himself, having amongst his pupils musicians like Zubin Mehta. Career Mander conducted his f

Francesco Manfredini

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Francesco Onofrio Manfredini (22 June 1684 – 6 October 1762) was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and church musician. He was born in Pistoia to a trombonist. In Bologna, then a part of the Papal States, he studied violin with Giuseppe Torelli, a leading figure in the development of the concerto grosso. Manfredini also took instruction in composition from Giacomo Antonio Perti, maestro di cappella of the Basilica of San Petronio from 1696 when the orchestra was temporarily disbanded. Much of his music is presumed to have been destroyed after his death; only 43 published works and a handful of manuscripts are known. To quote his Naxos biography, “His groups of Concerti Grossi and Sinfonias show a highly accomplished composer, well versed in the mainstream Italian school of composition”. A contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi, his extant work shows the influence of the latter. He became a violinist, c. 1700, in the orchestra of the Chiesa di Santo Spirito in Ferrara. In 1704, however, he returned to Bologna, employed again in the re-formed orchestra of San Petronio. He became a member of the Accademia Filarmonica in the same year that he published his firs

Francesco Paolo Frontini

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Francesco Paolo Frontini (Catania, August 6, 1860 – Catania, July 26, 1939) was an Italian composer. He studied music with his father, composer Martino Frontini; he also studied the violin with Santi D’Amico, playing a concert with him at the town concert hall at the age of 13. At 15 his first composition, a Qui tollis, was played at the city cathedral, under the direction of Pietro Antonio Coppola. In 1875 Frontini matriculated at the Palermo Conservatory, where he studied with Pietro Platania; from there he passed to the conservatory in Naples, where he received his diploma in composition under the tuition of Lauro Rossi. Among his first substantial compositions was a funeral Mass in honor of Pietro Coppola. In 1881 came the premiere of a three-act melodrama, Nella; further operas followed, beginning with Sansone in 1882, Aleramo (based on the legend of Adelasia and Aleramo) in 1883, Fatalità in 1890, Malia (on a libretto of Luigi Capuana) in 1891, and Il Falconiere in 1899. At the same time his lyric poem Medio-Evo received favorable notice from Jules Massenet. He wrote music for the one-act play Vicolo delle belle by Saverio Fiducia, as well as for Antonino Russo Giusti’s comed

Francesco Piu

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Francesco Piu (born 12 June 1981) is an Italian composer, guitarist and singer. Biography Born and raised in Osilo, in Italy’s Sardinia region, Piu began learning the guitar when he was nine years old thanks to his father, who was a bassist. As an adult, he began playing with various rock-blues groups, and in 2003, he won the Blues for Sardinia contest at the Narcao Blues Festival with his first official group, Blujuice. The following year, he was the opening act for John Mayall at the festival and took up a solo career as a one-man band, playing the acoustic guitar, resonator guitar, banjo, weissenborn, washboard and harmonica. His first musical repertoire featured acoustic covers of blues classics, as well as blues reinterpretations of rock classics by artists such as Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix. His covers also included elements of soul, funk and rock. In 2007, he released his first album, Blues Journey, for the Groove Company. After the album came out, he participated in various Italian blues festivals, performing with Guy Davis, Roy Rogers, Kevin Welch, Andy J. Forest, Bob Stroger, Eugenio Finardi, Watermelon Slim and Eric Bibb. He was the opening act for Johnny Winter, Robben

Francesco Portinaro

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Francesco Portinaro (c. 1520 – ?1578) was an Italian composer and humanist of the Renaissance, active both in northern Italy and in Rome. He was closely associated with the Ferrarese Este family, worked for several humanistic Renaissance academies, and was well known as a composer of madrigals and dialogues. Life He was born in Padua around 1520. While he published a book of motets in Venice in 1548, no biographical details are available for the period before 1550. He was the son of a Paduan official, was married to Laura d’Este, and was resident in the Este palace in Padua. In 1555 he applied unsuccessfully for the post of maestro di cappella, music director, at the city’s cathedral, and failing in this enterprise, spent the rest of the decade in humanistic as well as musical pursuits. In particular, he had an active life working for four secular groups: a group of musicians in Padua, and three humanistic academies in Vicenza, Padua, and Verona. One of his master was Lorenzo Barozzi. Such academies were becoming common in the late 16th century, as a part of the Renaissance rebirth of humanistic thought; in music they were the location of the first experiments with monody and multi

Francesco Soriano

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Francesco Soriano (1548 or 1549, in Soriano nel Cimino – 19 July 1621, in Rome) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most skilled members of the Roman School in the first generation after Palestrina. Soriano was born in Soriano, near Viterbo. He studied at the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome with several people including Palestrina, and became a priest in the 1570s. By 1580 he was maestro di cappella at S. Luigi dei Francesi, also in Rome. In 1581 he moved to Mantua, taking a position at the Gonzaga court there; but in 1586 he moved back to Rome where he spent the rest of his life working as choirmaster at three separate churches, including the Cappella Giulia at St. Peter’s. He retired in 1620. Soriano worked with Felice Anerio to revise the Roman Gradual in accordance with the needs of the Counter-Reformation; this work was left incomplete by Palestrina. Stylistically, Soriano’s music is much like Palestrina’s, but shows some influence from the progressive trends prevalent around the turn of the century. He adopted the polychoral style, while retaining the smooth polyphonic treatment of Palestrina, and he had a liking for homophonic textures,

Francesco Taskayali

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Francesco Taskayali (Rome, July 4, 1991) is an Italian pianist and composer. Biography Born in Rome to an Italian mother and a Turkish father, he spent his childhood in Istanbul’s Cihangir district until the age of five years. In 1996 his parents moved to Latina, a city near Rome, where Taskayali remained until 2008, then he returned to live in Istanbul to finish school. He currently lives in Milan. He began composing music in 2004 at age 13 with the song “È Sera”. In 2010 he released his first album Emre, a collection of all the songs composed up to 18 years old, including single “Addio al Terminal”. At the age of 20, Francesco enrolled at Luiss Guido Carli university, studying for a bachelor’s degree in political science. However, unable to successfully pass the sociology exam in the first term, he decided to drop out. He has represented Italy on various occasions. In 2012, he performed in Caracas with The Orchestra of El Sistema. On 2 June in Berlin, he participated in the celebrations of the Republic Day of Italy. In 2016, he performed in Los Angeles during the Day of the Music Festival. Furthermore, on December 28, 2016, he took part in a charity concert in Tbilisi alongside N

Franco Alfano

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Franco Alfano (8 March 1875 – 27 October 1954) was an Italian composer and pianist, best known today for his operas Risurrezione (1904), Sakùntala (1921), and Cyrano de Bergerac (1936), and for having completed Puccini’s opera Turandot in 1926. He had considerable success with several of his own works during his lifetime. Early life and training He was born Francesco Alfano on 8 March 1875 at 8:15 a.m. in Posillipo, Naples, to French-born Francesca “Fanny” (during World War I italianized to Fourcati ) and Vincenzo Alfano, a highly regarded silver engraver, whose firm, Vincenzo Alfano & Figli, was appointed to the Italian royal family. Francesco was the first of six sons and there was also one daughter. which he entered as an external student on 1 December 1891 and where he remained three years. In 1895 he pursued further composition studies with Hans Sitt and Salomon Jadassohn in Leipzig. From 1918 he was Director of the Conservatory of Bologna, from 1923 Director of the Turin Conservatory, and from 1947 to 1950 Director of the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro. Alfano died in Sanremo. Operas Alfano completed his first opera, Miranda (unpublished), for which he also wrote the libretto

Franco Casavola

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Franco Casavola (13 July 1891, in Modugno, near Bari – 7 July 1955, in Bari) was a Futurist composer and theorist. He is noted as one of the authors of the Le Sintesi Visive della Musica, a manifesto that proposed the intrinsic visual counterparts of music. Futurist movement In a letter dated 1 October 1922, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti wrote to inform the composer, theorist and writer Franco Casavola that: “I’ve listened to Tankas, Quatrain, Gioielleria Notturna, Leila and Muoio di sete on the piano. They reveal to me a strong and original musical genius. We Futurists would be pleased if you would join our fight against obsolete ideas.” Casavola (who had studied music at the Rome Conservatory) accepted this invitation and formally joined the radical Italian art movement. He began to compose new pieces under the influence of earlier manifestoes written by Marinetti and, later, the specific manifestos on Futurist music produced by Francesco Balilla Pratella and Luigi Russolo, variously dated between 1909 and 1914. Early Futurist work by Casavola included: Ranocchi al Chiaro d Luna (Frogs in the Moonlight) by A.G. Bragaglia and La Danza della Scimmie (Dance of the Monkeys) for the Teatr

Franco Donatoni

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Franco Donatoni (9 June 1927 – 17 August 2000) was an Italian composer. Biography Born in Verona, Donatoni started studying violin at the age of seven, and frequented the local music academy. Later, he studied at the Milan Conservatory and, from 1948, at the Bologna Conservatory. At least three generations of composers studied with Donatoni. Among his Italian pupils were Sandro Gorli, Roberto Carnevale, Giulio Castagnoli, Ivan Fedele, Luca Mosca, Riccardo Piacentini, Fausto Romitelli, Luc Brewaeys, Pietro Borradori, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Alessandro Solbiati, and Piero Niro; his foreign pupils include Michael Dellaira, Pascal Dusapin, Sylvie Bodorová, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Magnus Lindberg, Katia Tiutiunnik, Javier Torres Maldonado, and Juan Trigos. Donatoni died in Milan in 2000. His music appears on the CD labels Stradivarius, Kairos, and Neos. Works References Works cited * Further reading *Barkl, Michael. 2018. Etwas ruhiger im Ausdruck: Franco Donatoni’s Crisis. Beau Bassin: Lambert Academic Publishing. . *Luppi, Guillermo. 2016. “Shedding Some Light on Donatoni’s Lumen”. Perspectives of New Music 54, no. 1 (Winter): 179–195. External links *Obituary in The Musical Times *A reminiscen

Franco Evangelisti (composer)

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Franco Evangelisti (January 21, 1926 – January 28, 1980) was an Italian composer specifically interested in the scientific theories behind sound. Biography Born in Rome, Evangelisti abandoned engineering studies in order to dedicate himself to musical composition. In 1948 he became a composition student of Daniele Paris in Rome, where he also studied piano with Erich Arndt. In 1952 he moved to Germany, where he pursued advanced composition studies with Harald Genzmer at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. Starting in 1952 he took part in the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, where he had the opportunity of meeting Werner Meyer-Eppler of the University of Bonn, thanks to which he began to be interested in electronic music. At the invitation of Herbert Eimert, in 1956–57 he worked in the electronic studio of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne. In 1957, the orchestral conductor Hermann Scherchen invited him to work in the Studio of Experimental Electroacoustics of UNESCO in Gravesano, where he became involved with biophysics and explored the possibility of directly translating brain impulses into sonic vibrations. In 1960, together with other musicians such as Francisco Pennisi and Aldo Clem

Franco Faccio

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Francesco (Franco) Antonio Faccio (8 March 1840 – 21 July 1891) was an Italian composer and conductor. Born in Verona, he studied music at the Milan Conservatory from 1855 where he was a pupil of Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti and, as scholar William Ashbrook notes, “where he struck up a lifelong friendship with Arrigo Boito, two years his junior” and with whom he was to collaborate in many ways. Initially, he became known as the composer of two operas and, in his years (1871–1889) as music director of the Teatro alla Scala opera house, Faccio became known as a conductor of Verdi’s music at La Scala, in different parts of Italy, and abroad. Professional career After finishing his studies he began his career as a composer. His first collaboration with Boito was on a patriotic cantata, Il quattro giugno in 1860 when Boito also wrote some of the music as well as the text, Faccio’s second opera, Amleto, one of the many operas based on William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, was written for Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice and was given its première on 30 May 1865. The cast included some of the finest singers of the day. As Ashbrook notes, while its “innovatory libretto” was written by Boito, there was "

Franco Godi

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Franco Godi (born 10 June 1940) is an Italian composer, conductor, arranger and record producer. Born in Milan, Godi grew up in Prato, where he started his musical activity as a member of a band. After working in a local radio station, in 1962 he composed his first jingle for the Bertolli oil, and from then he became the most active composer in the field of commercials and Caroselli in Italy, as to be called “Mr. Jingle”. Discography Filmography References External links * * * Franco Godi at Discogs

Franco Leoni

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Franco Leoni (24 October 1864 – 8 February 1949) was an Italian opera composer. After training in Milan, he made most of his career in England, composing for Covent Garden and West End theatres. He is best known for the opera L’oracolo, written for Covent Garden but taken up successfully by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In addition to his operas, Leoni wrote several cantatas and oratorios and many ballads and other songs. He also worked as a conductor in London, both in the concert hall and in the theatre. Life and works Early years Leoni was born in Milan and studied music at the Milan Conservatory under Amilcare Ponchielli and Cesare Dominiceti. His opera Raggio di Luna (Moonbeam) to a libretto by Camillo Zanoni was first performed at the Teatro Manzoni in Milan in June 1890. Two years later, Leoni emigrated to England, which remained his home until 1917. In 1896, he wrote what he called “a dramatic musical poem”, “Sardanapalus”, inspired by Byron’s 1821 play of the same name. The work, for soloists, chorus and orchestra, was premiered at the Queen’s Hall and was well reviewed, although reviewers commented on the influence of earlier composers on the score. In 1897, Leoni’s

Franco Mannino

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Franco Mannino (25 April 1924 – 1 February 2005) was an Italian film composer, pianist, opera director, playwright and novelist. Biography Mannino was born in Palermo. He was married with Uberta Visconti di Modrone, a sister to the film and stage director Luchino Visconti (see below). He died in Rome in 2005. Music career He made his debut as pianist at the age of 16. He conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada between 1982 and 1986, among the others. In all he wrote more than 440 compositions including opera, ballet, oratorios, symphonies, chamber music and music for the theatre. In addition there was his music for more than a hundred films by some of the best-known directors of his day, including Luchino Visconti with whom he collaborated several times, including such films as Death in Venice (conductor) and Ludwig (piano and arrangements for orchestra of music by Richard Wagner: mainly “Porazzi-theme” and excerpts from Tristan and Isolde), Conversation Piece and L’Innocente, both conducting original composed material. His 1963 opera Il diavolo in giardino, from a libretto by Visconti (and collaborators) based on a Thomas Mann short story, was presented at the Teatr

Franco Margola

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Franco Margola (Orzinuovi, Brescia, 30 October 1908 – Nave, Brescia, 9 March 1992), was a 20th-century Italian composer. Compositions Operas *Il mito di Caino *Il Titone (lost) Symphonic works *Sinfonia delle Isole, for string orchestra *Il campiello delle streghe (1930) * Trittico for Strings (1936-7) * Arioso for Strings (1939) * Notturno e Fuga for String Orchestra (1940) * Teorema armonico * Sei Madrigali for Strings * Antiche Musiche di Virginalisti Inglesi, for Strings *Sinfonia per orchestra (published by Bongiovanni in 1961) *Passacaglia per orchestra (published by Bongiovanni in 1962) Chamber music *One quintet published in 1934. *8 String quartets (1935-1950) *Quintet for Piano and Strings No. 1, dC 17 (1933) *Quintet for Piano and Strings No. 2, dC 83 (1946) *Quartet No. 7 for Flute and String Trio, dC 87 (1948) *Sonatina a sei for Winds and Piano (1961) *La Longobarda, for Flute, Oboe, and Piano, dC 208 (1976) *Sonata a tre for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon *Quattro Bagatelle for Winds *Piccola Suonata for Violin and Piano (1929) *Cello Sonata in E major (between 1931–45) *Cello Sonata No. 3 in C major *Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major (1931) *Sonata Breve (No. 3) for Violin

Franco Micalizzi

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Franco Micalizzi (born 21 December 1939 in Rome) is an Italian composer and conductor, best known for his scores in Poliziotteschi films. His first success was for the musical score of the Spaghetti Western They Call Me Trinity, in 1970. He had previously collaborated on composing with Roberto Pregadio the famous whistled western score for the 1969 film The Forgotten Pistolero (original: Il Pistolero dell’Ave Maria). His main theme for the 1976 poliziottesco film A Special Cop in Action was used in the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. His other scores include The Last Snows of Spring, Beyond the Door and The Last Hunter. He often worked with Umberto Lenzi, scoring his movies Syndicate Sadists, Rome Armed to the Teeth, Violent Naples, The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist, Brothers Till We Die, The Greatest Battle, From Corleone to Brooklyn, Black Demons and Mean Tricks. In 1984 he founded the group “The Micalizzi Family” with his sons Cristiano and Alessandro. His piece “The Puzzle” appears in the soundtrack of Curb Your Enthusiasm and a slow tempo excerpt of it, rearranged for clarinet and bassoon, is often used in the series as the “stare” theme. Selected filmography Refe

Franco Simone

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Francesco Luigi “Franco” Simone (born 21 July 1949) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer and television host, known as il poeta con la chitarra (“the poet with the guitar”) for the poetical value of his lyrics. Background Born in Acquarica del Capo in the province of Lecce, Apulia, Simone started his career winning the Castrocaro Music Festival in 1972. In 1974 he entered the competition at the Sanremo Music Festival with the song “Fiume grande”, obtaining his first success in the Italian hit parade. In 1977 he released the LP Respiro, whose title track remains among Simone’s most popular songs on streaming. The following year (1978) he released the album Paesaggio (Landscape), which reached the top of the hit charts in Argentina. The song Paisaje became one of the most popular songs in the Spanish language, with dozens of covers like those of Gilda and Vicentico. In 1993 his LP La Ley del Alma (y de la piel), containing the Spanish versions of his songs, reached the 13th position in the USA Billboard Hit Parade, first LP of the parade not sung in English 4 . From 2008 to 2011 he gave singing lessons at “Star Rose Academy” in Rome where he taught to sister Cristina Scuccia, th

Fred Bongusto

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Alfredo Antonio Carlo “Fred” Buongusto (6 April 1935 – 8 November 2019) was an Italian light music singer, songwriter and composer who was very popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Career history Bongusto was born in Campobasso in 1935. He made his recording debut with the song “Bella Bellissima”, a song written by Ghigo Agosti and produced by the Milan-based label Primary. It was released on phonographic record in 1960. Some of his most successful songs include “Amore fermati”, “Una rotonda sul mare”, “Spaghetti a Detroit” and “Prima c’eri tu”, which won the 1966 edition of Un disco per l’estate. Bongusto’s proclivity for exploring Latin American rhythms and American Big Band swing made him very popular in South America, especially in Brazil. He had collaborated with Toquinho, Vinicius de Moraes and João Gilberto, who successfully covered Bongusto’s song “Malaga” in his 1991 album João. In the 1990s, he was elected as a PSI town councillor in Bari. On 18 March 2005, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi presented him with a silver plate to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his musical debut. On 2 June 2005, he was awarded the title of Commendatore by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Personal

Gabriella Cecchi

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Gabriella Cecchi (born 3 November 1944) is an Italian pianist, music educator and composer. Cecchi taught music at the Italian State School and performed in a piano duo. She also worked as a music critic for the daily newspaper La Nazione and contributed to monthly magazines. Cicchi’s music has been performed internationally and has been broadcast on Radio RaiTre. Cecchi was awarded the Athena prize in 1988. Cecchi is a co-founder of the Italian Composers Foundation. Life Gabriella Cecchi was born on 3 November 1944 in Ricco del Golfo, La Spezia. She is an Italian pianist, music educator and composer. She began her study of music at the age of 16. She studied in Lucca, and learned composition with Franco Donatoni at the Chigiana Music Academy in Siena, where she also took courses in Renaissance music and music education. Selected works Cecchi composes solo pieces, chamber music and works for orchestra, often with experimental, multimedia and complex structures. Selected works include: * Intersezioni for piano (1982) * Assonanze for harpsichord (1984) * Imagenes de la Argentina theater music (2005) * Sères for string quartet (1984) * Favoletta, instrumental References

Gaetano Braga

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Gaetano Braga (June 9, 1829 – November 21, 1907) was an Italian composer and cellist. He was born in Giulianova in Abruzzi and died in Milan. Braga’s works include compositions for the cello (two concertos, a quintet, a quartet, works for cello and piano) and the operas: *Alina or La spregiata (1853, Naples) *Estella di San Germano (1857, Vienna) *Il ritratto (1858, Naples) *Margherita la mendicante (1859, Paris) *Mormile (1862, Milan) *Ruy Blas (1868) *Reginella (1871, Lecco) *Caligola (1873, Lisbon) A “Serenata” (serenade) by Braga, sometimes called “Angel’s Serenade” or “Légende valaque” (Wallachian Legend), is a dialogue (comparable to that in “Erlkönig”) between a worried mother and a girl who hears an angel’s voice calling her; in the end the girl follows the voice (“O mamma buona notte, io seguo il suon, io seguo il suon!”). The main melody, as sung by a choir, is also the theme from the CBS television show, Amos ’n’ Andy. It is mentioned in Anton Chekhov’s short story “The Black Monk,” as well as in other Russian works of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As composed, the narrator sings the voice of the mother and girl, while the angel’s voice is portrayed through the

Gaetano Brunetti

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Gaetano (or Cayetano ) Brunetti (1744 in Fano, Papal States – 16 December 1798, Colmenar de Oreja, Madrid, Spain) was an Italian-born composer who was active in Spain during the reigns of kings Charles III and Charles IV. As well as being musically influential at court, He also became violin teacher to the future Charles IV (then Prince of Asturias), who unlike his father was an avid music lover. In 1788, when Charles IV came to the throne, Brunetti took charge of a newly formed royal ensemble, for which he composed prolifically and also programmed works by European composers of the day, such as Joseph Haydn. little of Brunetti’s music was published during his lifetime, thereby largely precluding knowledge of his music for almost two centuries. This catalogue revealed that the U.S. Library of Congress houses almost half of the surviving manuscript scores. References Sources * Further reading * External links * * Manuscript scores at the Library of Congress * Manuscripts and scores at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (via Isidore)

Gaetano Coronaro

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Gaetano Coronaro (18 December 1852 – 5 April 1908) was an Italian conductor, pedagogue, and composer. He was born in Vicenza and had his initial musical training there followed by study from 1871 to 1873 at the Milan Conservatory under Franco Faccio. He composed orchestral works, sacred music, and chamber pieces as well as several works for the stage. La creola, which premiered at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in 1878, was the only one to have any success. Operas * Il tramonto – (melodramatic essay), libretto by Arrigo Boito; and La morte dell’ Honwed – (Milan Conservatory, 8 August 1873) * II malacarne – dramma lirico in 3 acts, libretto by (Teatro Grande, Brescia, 20 January 1894) * La signora di Challant – libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa from his play of the same name (composition date unknown, unperformed) References External links * *

Gaetano Giani Luporini

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Gaetano Giani Luporini (28 May 1936 – 27 February 2022) was an Italian composer and academic. Life and career Born in Lucca, the grandson of the composer Gaetano Luporini, after studying violin he enrolled at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence, graduating in composition under Roberto Lupi. Luporini died from complications of COVID-19 in Barga, Province of Lucca, on 27 February 2022, at the age of 85. References Further reading * * External links * *

Gaetano Luporini

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Giovanni Gaetano Luporini (1865–1948) was an Italian composer. A native of Lucca, he studied there with before transferring to the Milan Conservatory, where he studied with Anselmi and Alfredo Catalani. He served as director of Lucca’s Pacini Institute between 1902 and 1937. Luporini also composed orchestral and vocal music. He wrote a number of operas, including: References External links * *

Gaspare Spontini

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Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (14 November 177424 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conductor from the late Classical and early Romantic eras. During the first two decades of the 19th century, Spontini was an important figure in French opera, and he composed over twenty works. Biography Born in Maiolati, Papal State (now Maiolati Spontini, Province of Ancona), he spent most of his career in Paris and Berlin, but returned to his place of birth at the end of his life. During the first two decades of the 19th century, Spontini was an important figure in French opera. In his more than twenty operas, Spontini strove to adapt Gluck’s classical tragédie lyrique to the contemporary taste for melodrama, for grander spectacle (in Fernand Cortez for example), for enriched orchestral timbre, and for melodic invention allied to idiomatic expressiveness of words. As a youth, Spontini studied at the Conservatorio della Pietà de’ Turchini, one of four active music conservatories of Naples. Working his way from Italian city to city, he got his first break in Rome, with his successful comedy Li Puntigli delle Donne (Carnival 1793). In 1803, he went to Paris, where, on 11 February 180

Gennaro Manna

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Gennaro Manna (12 December 1715 - 28 December 1779) was an Italian composer based in Naples. He was a member of the Neapolitan School. His compositional output includes 13 operas and more than 150 sacred works, including several oratorios. Life The son of Giuseppe Maria Manna and Caterina Feo (sister of the composer Francesco Feo), he received his musical training at the in Naples, where his uncle Francesco Feo was primo maestro. He made his operatic debut at the Teatro Argentina in Rome with Tito Manlio on 21 January 1742. Thanks to its success, he received a new commission from the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice for the carnival of the following year, where he gave Siroe re di Persia. After his return to Naples, he composed Festa teatrale per la nascita dell’Infante with Nicola Bonifacio Logroscino, which was never staged. In 1744, he was appointed maestro di cappella of the Senate of Naples, succeeding Domenico Sarro, and in January 1745, with Achille in Sciro, he made his debut at the Teatro di San Carlo with and Gaetano Majorano, which was well received. On 1 October 1755, after the death of Francesco Durante, the primo maestro of the , he took the position of interi

Gerardo Iasilli

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Gerardo Iasilli (November 10, 1880 – May 10, 1969) was an Italian-American saxophonist, conductor, and composer. He was born in Muro Lucano, Italy, and immigrated to the United States in 1904. He first joined the Silvio Mancini Band, where he eventually became assistant conductor and arranger. He later joined the Giuseppe Creatore Orchestra. He then formed and led his own band Orchestrina Italiana Gerardo Iasilli. He composed and arranged mostly brass and band music. He composed a number of marches, including the “American Army”, “America”, and “Blue Eagle” marches. He wrote many books of etudes and exercises for saxophone, and published many arrangements for band and for saxophone. * Blue Eagle March * Generale Umberto Nobile * Do re mi * Furore d’Una Banda (Furor of the Band) Many of these compositions were recorded on early Victor and Columbia phonographs, where he is credited variously as Iasilli, Issilli, and Jasilli. References

Giacinto Scelsi

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Giacinto Francesco Maria Scelsi, count d’Ayala Valva (; 8 January 1905 – 9 August 1988) was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French. He is best known for having composed music based around only one pitch, altered in all manners through microtonal oscillations, harmonic allusions, and changes in timbre and dynamics, as paradigmatically exemplified in his Quattro pezzi su una nota sola (“Four Pieces on a single note”, 1959). This composition remains his most famous work and one of the few performed to significant recognition during his lifetime. His musical output, which encompassed all Western classical genres except scenic music, remained largely undiscovered even within contemporary musical circles during most of his life. Today, some of his music has gained popularity in certain postmodern composition circles, with pieces like his “Anahit” and his String Quartets rising to increased prominence. Scelsi collaborated with American composers including John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Earle Brown, as well as being a friend and a mentor to Alvin Curran. His work was a source of inspiration to Ennio Morricone’s Gruppo di Improvvisazione di Nuova Consonanza, and his

Giacomo Benvenuti (composer)

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Giacomo Benvenuti (16 March 1885, Toscolano – 20 January 1943, Barbarano-Salò) was an Italian composer and musicologist. Life and career He was the son of organist Cristoforo Benvenuti and studied at the Liceo Musicale (now the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini) in Bologna under Luigi Torchi (musicology) and Marco Enrico Bossi (organ). In 1919 his collection of songs for voice and piano accompaniment, Canti a una voce : con accompagnamento di pianoforte, was published in Bologna. In 1922 he published a collection of 17th-century art songs entitled 35 Arie di vari autori del secolo XVII. Composer Samuel Barber studied the works of Giulio Caccini, Andrea Falconieri, and other early Italian composers under his tutelage in Milan in 1933–1934. For the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma he adapted Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo for a production which premiered on 27 December 1934. The adaptation was later used for the first recording of L’Orfeo in 1939, which included a performance by the orchestra of La Scala Milan under conductor Ferrucio Calusio. References

Giacomo Carissimi

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(Gian) Giacomo Carissimi (; baptized 18 April 160512 January 1674) was an Italian composer and music teacher. He is one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque or, more accurately, the Roman School of music. Carissimi established the characteristic features of the Latin oratorio and was a prolific composer of masses, motets, and cantatas. He was highly influential in musical developments in northern European countries through his pupils, like Kerll in Germany and Charpentier in France, and the wide dissemination of his music. Biography Carissimi’s exact birthdate is not known, but it was probably in 1604 or 1605 in Marino near Rome, Italy. Of his early life almost nothing is known. Giacomo’s parents, Amico (1548–1633, a cooper by trade) and Livia (1565–1622), were married on 14 May 1595 and had four daughters and two sons; Giacomo was the youngest. Nothing is known of his early musical training. His first known appointments were at Tivoli Cathedral, under the maestri di cappella Aurelio Briganti Colonna, Alessandro Capece and Francesco Manelli; from October 1623 he sang in the choir, and from October 1624 to October 1627 he was the organist. In 1628 Carissimi moved nort

Giacomo Facco

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Giacomo Facco (4 February 1676 – 16 February 1753) was an Italian Baroque violinist, conductor and composer. One of the most famous Italian composers of his day, he was completely forgotten until 1962, when his work was discovered by composer, conductor, and musicologist Uberto Zanolli. Biography Facco was born in Marsango, a small settlement near Padua and Venice in the Republic of Venice. For many years, he was a conductor in Italy. In 1705, he was employed in Palermo as choirmaster, teacher, and violin virtuoso to Carlo Antonio Spinola, Marquis of Los Balbases (the Viceroy of Sicily). In 1708, the viceroy transferred his residence to Messina, and Facco followed him. In Messina, he composed The Fight between Mercy and Incredulity. In 1710, he presented in Messina Cathedral his work The Augury of Victories, dedicated to King Felipe V. In a report dated 22 January 1720, the Patriarch of the West Indies, Cardinal Carlos de Borja de Centelles and Ponce of León, Archbishop of Trebisonda, wrote that Facco had an excellent pay in the court of the king of Spain (having rejected an offer, of equal pay, by the Portuguese court, where Spinola served as Spanish ambassador). On 9 February, Fa

Giacomo Puccini

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Family and education#

Born in Lucca in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, in 1858; he was the sixth of nine children of Michele Puccini (1813–1864) and Albina Magi (1830–1884). The Puccini family was established in Lucca as a local musical dynasty by Puccini’s great-great-grandfather – also named Giacomo (1712–1781). This first Giacomo Puccini, though often referred to as Jacopo, was maestro di cappella of the Cattedrale di San Martino in Lucca. He was succeeded in this position by his son, Antonio Puccini, there, he studied composition with Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti, Amilcare Ponchielli, Amintore Galli, and Antonio Bazzini. He shared his dorm with Pietro Mascagni. Later that year, Puccini composed his Mass, marking the culmination of his family’s long association with liturgical music in his native Lucca.

Gialdino Gialdini

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Gialdino Gialdini (10 November 1842 – 6 March 1919) was an Italian composer and orchestra conductor. Gialdini was born in Pescia, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and studied at Florence with Teodulo Mabellini. He won a prize offered by the Pergola Theatre of that city for the best opera, with Rosmunda, which met, however, with an unfavourable reception when produced in 1868. After two more operas he tired of composing operas and started conducting opera productions, to international acclaim. In 1889 he conducted Wagner’s Lohengrin at Bologna. Later he returned to composing operas. In September 1904 he became the Artistic Director of the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in the then Austrian city of Trieste but had to abandon the post when Italy entered the war against Austria in May 1915. He then returned to his native Pescia for retirement, and died there aged 76. Works *Rosmunda (opera, premiered 5 March 1868 at the Teatro Pergola, Florence) *La secchia rapita (opera buffa, premiered 1872 at the Teatro Goldoni, Florence) *l’Idolo cinese (opera buffa, premiered 1874 at the Teatro delle Logge, Florence) *I due soci (opera buffa, premiered 24 February 1892 at the Teatro Brunetti, Bologna) *La Pu

Giammateo Asola

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Giammateo Asola (also spelled Gian Matteo, Giovanni Matteo; Asula, Asulae; 1532 or earlier – 1 October 1609) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance. He was a prolific composer of sacred music, mostly in a conservative style, although he may have been one of the first composers to write a part for basso continuo. Life He was born in Verona, and began studying at San Giorgio in Alga in 1546 in the congregation of secular canons. While in Verona he most likely studied with Vincenzo Ruffo. In 1569 he became a secular parish priest, and in 1577 became maestro di cappella at Treviso Cathedral; however, in 1578 he went to Vicenza Cathedral to take the equivalent job there, where the pay and musical opportunities were greater. He only stayed there four years, going to Venice in 1582, which was the center of activity in northern Italy for sacred music. Except for a short return to Verona c. 1590–1591, he lived in Venice until his death, working at the church of S Severo, as one of four chaplains; apparently he was never associated with St. Mark’s. Music and influence Asola was a rare case of a composer working in Venice who showed almost no stylistic influence from the Venetian sch

Giampaolo Coral

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Giampaolo Coral (22 January 1944 – 17 February 2011) was an Italian composer. Life Coral was born on 22 January 1944 in Trieste. He began his musical career at age 14 as an organist in his native city of Trieste. After graduating in piano at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, he began his career as a substitute teacher at the Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste (1967–1973) and as a music consultant to the Teatro Stabile del Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto Teatro (1977–1985). He was also active as a choir director and as a teacher of “choral exercises” at the Giuseppe Tartini Conservatory of Music in Trieste (1971–2001). From 1982 he was a member of the Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers (SIAE). Giampaolo Coral was essentially self-taught, but his spiritual teachers were Arnold Schoenberg and Franco Donatoni, with whom he had a long friendship. He was the Artistic Director of the City of Trieste Music Prize, an international competition of musical composition and a member of the Federation of International Music Competitions of Geneva. In 1987 he founded an association in Trieste (Chromas – the Association of Con

Gian Carlo Menotti

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Gian Carlo Menotti (; ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship and never officially became an American citizen. One of the most frequently performed opera composers of the 20th century, he wrote his most successful works in the 1940s and 1950s. Highly influenced by Giacomo Puccini and Modest Mussorgsky, Menotti further developed the verismo tradition of opera in the post-World War II era. His father was a businessman and his mother a talented amateur musician. He spent three years studying at the conservatory, during which time he frequently attended operas at La Scala, which cemented his lifetime love for the artform. That same year, he met fellow Curtis schoolmate Samuel Barber, who became his partner in life as well as in their shared profession. As a student, Menotti spent much of his time with the Barber family in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and the two also spent several summer breaks in Europe attending opera performances in Vienna and in Italy while studying at Curtis. A cri

Gian Domenico Partenio

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Gian Domenico Partenio () In 1672, he composed the music for Cristoforo Ivanovich’s La costanza trionfante, which premiered at Venice’s San Moisè church. Partenio collaborated frequently with the librettist Matteo Noris. In November 1681, their opera Flavio Cuniberto was performed for the first time in the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo. It premiered in 1669 at the Santi Giovanni e Paolo church, and has music also attributed to Antonio Cesti. Compositions *Il Genserico, libretto by Nicolò Beregan (premiered 1669; attributed) *La costanza trionfante, libretto by Cristoforo Ivanovich (premiered 1672) *Flavio Cuniberto, libretto by Matteo Noris (premiered 1681; revised in 1687) *Dionisio, libretto by Matteo Noris (premiered 1681; acts 2 & 3) *La bugia regnante, libretto by Nicolò Minato (premiered 1682; act 1) References

Gian Francesco Malipiero

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Gian Francesco Malipiero (; 18 March 1882 – 1 August 1973) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor. Life Early years Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gian Francesco Malipiero was prevented by family troubles from pursuing his musical education in a consistent manner. His father separated from his mother in 1893 and took Gian Francesco to Trieste, Berlin and eventually to Vienna. The young Malipiero and his father broke up their relationship bitterly, and in 1899 Malipiero returned to his mother’s home in Venice, where he entered the Venice Liceo Musicale (now the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia). After stopping counterpoint lessons with the composer, organist and pedagogue Marco Enrico Bossi, Malipiero continued studying on his own by copying out music by such composers as Claudio Monteverdi and Girolamo Frescobaldi from the Biblioteca Marciana, in Venice, thereby beginning a lifelong commitment to Italian music of that period. Musical career In 1905 Malipiero returned to Venice, but from 1906 to 1909 was often in Berlin, following Max Bruch’s classes. Later, in 1913, Ma

Gian Paolo Chiti

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Gian Paolo Chiti (21 January 1939 – 27 March 2026 ) was an Italian composer and pianist. His teachers included Carlo Zecchi, Arturo Bonucci, and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. In 1960, Chiti won prizes in the Treviso and the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition. Chiti has had a dual career as a composer and concert pianist. He often performed alongside his late wife, mezzo-soprano Patricia Adkins Chiti. He composed works for film and television as well as concerts and festivals in Italy and abroad. His compositions have featured at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Venice Biennale, the Edinburgh International Festival, and the Lutosławski Festival. Since 1984, Chiti has served as the Director of the Composition Department at the Conservatorio of Santa Cecilia in Rome. He is also a member of the Italian National Committee for Dance and serves on the faculty boards of several universities. Chronological works list This list includes all serious concert music composed by Gian Paolo Chiti, including works for young musicians. It does not include transcriptions and arrangements, film and television scores or popular works. * Zoological Garden (solo piano – young performers

Gian Pieretti

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Dante Luca Pieretti (born 12 May 1940), better known as Gian Pieretti, is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer, mainly successful in the second half of the 1960s. Life and career Born in Ponte Buggianese, in 1963 Pieretti released his first single “Perduto Amor” as Perry, before adopting the name Gian Pieretti for his second single “Ciao”, released the same year. In 1964, he started performing accompanied by I Grifoni, a band consisting of future Premiata Forneria Marconi members Franco Mussida, Giorgio Piazza and Franz Di Cioccio. Discography ;Album * 1967 - Se vuoi un consiglio * 1969 - Il viaggio celeste di Gian Pieretti * 1973 - Il vestito rosa del mio amico Piero * 1975 - Cianfrusaglie * 1989 - Don Chisciotte * 1992 - Bang * 1993 - Il vento dell’Est * 1997 - Caro Bob Dylan… * 2011 - Tatanka Yotanka * 2013 - Cinquant’anni da poeta * 2019 - Nobel References External links * * *

Gian Piero Reverberi

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Gian Piero Reverberi (; born 29 July 1939) is an Italian pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and entrepreneur. Biography After obtaining Diplomas in piano and composition from the Paganini Conservatory in Genoa, Reverberi worked in a wide range of media, including TV themes, spaghetti Western soundtracks to pop and rock records, where, with Robert Mellin, he composed the memorable music to the children’s TV series The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe in 1964. He created the Rondò Veneziano ensemble. He also worked with his brother Gian Franco on the song “Last Men Standing” (or “Nel cimitero di Tucson”) from the soundtrack of Django, Prepare a Coffin (Preparati la bara!), which was sampled in Gnarls Barkley’s hit “Crazy”. As a producer, Reverberi worked for New Trolls and Le Orme progressive rock bands, being also listed as one of the official members of the latter for a short stint. In the 1960s-1970s he was also the producer of several albums of singer-songwriters such as Lucio Battisti, Fabrizio De André, Luigi Tenco and Gino Paoli. In 1979, he founded the Rondò Veneziano chamber orchestra, which he has led ever since, having been the main composer, arranger, and conductor of t

Gianandrea Gavazzeni

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Gianandrea Gavazzeni (25 July 19095 February 1996) was an Italian pianist, conductor (especially of opera), composer and musicologist. Gavazzeni was born in Bergamo. For almost 50 years, starting from 1948, he was principal conductor at La Scala, Milan, from 1966 to 1968, being its music and artistic director. He had his Metropolitan Opera debut on 11 October 1976. He conducted eight performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore that year at the Met. His compositions include concertos such as ‘Concerto bergamasco’; ‘The Song of St Alexander’; and sonatas. His last wife was the soprano Denia Mazzola-Gavazzeni. In January 1993, at age 83, he conducted Jules Massenet’s Esclarmonde at Teatro Massimo di Palermo, with his wife singing the title role. It was the first time he had conducted this opera. Gianandrea Gavazzeni died on 5 February 1996. References External links *Biography of Gianandrea Gavazzeni *New York Times, Gavazzeni’s death announcement

Giancarlo Bigazzi

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Giancarlo Bigazzi (5 September 1940 – 19 January 2012) was an Italian music producer and composer. He was a former member of comedy music group Squallor. Life and career Born in Florence, he was one of the best known Italian songwriters and lyricists of the 1970s and 1980s. He wrote some of the most successful Italian pop records, many of which became international hits, such as “Gloria”, “Self Control”, “No Me Ames”, “Tu”, “Take the Heat off Me”, and “Ti amo”. He was also a film score composer; among his soundtracks are Forever Mary, Boys on the Outside and the Academy Award-winning Mediterraneo. He began his career at a very young age, writing major hits for Riccardo Del Turco (“Luglio”), Caterina Caselli (“Il carnevale”), Mario Tessuto (“Lisa dagli occhi blu”), and Renato dei Profeti (“Lady Barbara”). Throughout the 1970s, Bigazzi established himself as a prolific lyricist and composer, often collaborating with Totò Savio on songs for Massimo Ranieri (“Vent’anni”, “Erba di casa mia”), and with Gianni and Antonio Bella on hits for Marcella Bella (“Montagne verdi”, “Io domani”, “Nessuno mai”, “Un sorriso e poi perdonami”) and Gianni Bella (“Non si può morire dentro”, “No”, “Più ci

Gianluca Cascioli

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Gianluca Cascioli (born 17 July 1979 in Turin) is an Italian pianist, conductor, and composer. He studied composition at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin and piano with Franco Scala. In 1994, Cascioli won the Umberto Micheli International Piano Competition, whose jury included Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter, Charles Rosen, and Maurizio Pollini. The prize included a record contract with Deutsche Grammophon, for which he recorded three CDs in his late teens. He has appeared as a piano soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, and numerous other orchestras worldwide. Conductors he has worked with include Claudio Abbado, Roberto Abbado, Myung-Whun Chung, Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Roberto Carnevale, Mstislav Rostropovich, Neville Marriner, and many others. His chamber-music partners have included Maxim Vengerov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Stefano Mollo, the Berlin Philharmonic Octet, and many others. He has conducted the Deutsche Kammerorchester Frankfurt, and among compositions of his to be performed are a Sonatina

Gianluigi Gelmetti

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Gianluigi Gelmetti OMRI, (11 September 1945 – 11 August 2021) was an Italian-Monégasque conductor and composer. Early life Gianluigi Gelmetti was born on 11 September 1945 in Rome, Italy. When 16 years old, Sergiu Celibidache let him conduct an orchestra, then took him as a pupil. He subsequently studied with Franco Ferrara and Hans Swarowsky. In 1967 he won the “Firenze” prize. Career Following his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Gelmetti regularly performed as a conductor at international opera houses, concert halls, and festivals. From 1989 to 1998 he was the Principal Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra as well as the Schwetzingen Festival; and from 2000 to 2009, Musical and artistic director of Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. From 2004 to 2008 he was the Principal Conductor and artistic director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In 2012, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, a post that he held until 2016. He was then named Chef Honoraire for life and was awarded the Monaco citizenship by H.S.H. Prince Albert II. While at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma he led some lesser-known or rediscovered lyric works; t

Gianluigi Trovesi

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Gianluigi Trovesi (born 1944) is an Italian jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He has won various Italian jazz awards. He also teaches in Italy. Early life Trovesi was born in Nembro near Bergamo in Lombardy in 1944. Later life and career In 1978 Trovesi won the “RAI TV National Competition for Saxophone and Clarinet” in 1978, and the Critics’ National Prize for his debut album, Baghet. He won Best Italian Disc for the albums Dances (1985), From G to G (1992) and Les Hommes Armés (1996). Trovesi has toured, recorded and performed with Anthony Braxton, Misha Mengelberg, Horace Tapscott, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Kenny Wheeler, Mark Dresser, Han Bennink, Tony Oxley and Günter Sommer. Trovesi is a member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra and performs in a duo with accordionist Gianni Coscia. He teaches in Italy. Discography As leader * * * * * * * * w/ Gianni Coscia * * * w/ Gianni Coscia * * * * w/ Gianni Coscia * * * w/ Gianni Coscia * w/ Anat Fort As contributor * * * * * * * *Marche jazz orchestra, year =1989 “Dies Irae”, Philology * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Filmography * Il cortile della musica (The Music Court), (2010) References

Gianni Bedori

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Gianni Bedori (25 November 1930 – 21 January 2005), also known as Johnny Sax, was an Italian jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, flautist and composer. Career Born in Mantua, Bedori graduated in clarinet at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna and started his career with singer . He became first known in 1963, when he started a twenty years-long collaboration with composer Giorgio Gaslini. and was a guest on his 1974 album Clic released on the Island Records label. Discography ;Albums * 1969 – Johnny Sax incontro con Bob Mitchell (PDU) * 1971 – Sortilege (Sun Records, SUld 13004) * 1973 – International hits collection – Vol. I (PDU, Pld.A 5055) * 1973 – International hits collection – Vol. II (PDU, Pld.M 5086) * 1973 – Hit parade – Vol. I (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3005) * 1973 – Successi sempreverdi – Vol. II (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3006) * 1973 – Liscio parade – Vol. III (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3007) * 1974 – Johnny Sax – Vol. IV (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3009) * 1974 – Dedicated to Picasso – A solo Album (PDU, Pld.A 5074) * 1975 – Johnny Sax – Vol. V (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3014) * 1976 – Non stop 1 (Produttori Associati, SAX/1715) * 1976 –

Gianni Bella

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Giovanni “Gianni” Bella (born 14 March 1947) is an Italian composer and singer-songwriter, the brother of singer Marcella Bella. Background Born in Catania, Bella started his career as composer for his sister, singer Marcella Bella authoring several hits with lyricist Giancarlo Bigazzi. In the seventies he debuted as a singer himself, scoring his first major success in 1974 with the song “Più ci penso”, which ranked second in the Italian hit parade. In 1976 he topped the hit parade In 1981 he entered the competition at the Sanremo Music Festival with the song “Questo amore non si tocca”; he returned in Sanremo five more times between 1986 and 2007, three times in couple with his sister Marcella. Discography Studio albums * 1974 - Guarda che ti amo (Derby) * 1976 - Sogni di un robot (Derby) * 1977 - Io canto e tu (Derby) * 1978 - Toc toc (CGD) * 1980 - Dolce uragano (CGD) * 1981 - Questo amore… (CGD) * 1983 - G.b.1 - Nuova gente (Avventura) * 1984 - G.b.2 (Avventura) * 1986 - Una luce (RCA Italiana) * 1988 - Due cuori rossi di vergogna (Polydor) * 1991 - La fila degli oleandri (Fonit Cetra) * 1994 - Vocalist (Fonit Cetra) * 1998 - Finalmente insieme (with Marcella Bella) (Pull/Fue

Gianni Ferrio

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Gianni Ferrio (16 November 1924 – 21 October 2013) was an Italian composer, conductor and music arranger. Life and career Born in Vicenza, Ferrio studied at the conservatories of Vicenza and Venice. Starting in the late 1950s, he was active as a composer of film scores. He composed some 120 soundtracks, mostly for Spaghetti Westerns and commedie sexy all’italiana films. Ferrio is also well known for his work in pop music, particularly for his collaboration with Mina, for whom he composed hit songs such as “Parole parole” and wrote arrangements and orchestrations for many songs and albums. The last collaboration with Mina was on her 2012 album 12 (American Song Book), for which Ferrio provided the string arrangements. Ferrio served as conductor for the Sanremo Music Festival in 1959 and 1962, for the Eurovision Song Contest 1965, and for several Italian TV shows. He died on October 21, 2013 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. Selected filmography *Who Hesitates Is Lost (1960) *Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today (1960) *A Dollar Of Fear (1960) *Gentlemen Are Born (1960) *Hercules in the Valley of Woe (1961) *5 marines per 100 ragazze (1961) *Appuntamento in Riviera (1962) *The Two Colonels

Gianni Marchetti

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Gianni Marchetti (Rome, 7 September 1933 – Rome, 10 April 2012) was an Italian composer and songwriter. He collaborated with Piero Ciampi, lyricist Mogol, singer Bobby Solo and others. Early life Gianni Marchetti was born on 7 September 1933, Rome, Italy. He enrolled in the musical institution Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in his early life to study piano in Rome. As a composer and conductor, he began his career in 1956. Career Gianni Marchetti contributed to the soundtracks of around forty films. He also composed a number of solo albums including solstitium and equinox. At the Sanremo Music Festival in 1965, the winning song was “Se piangi, se ridi”. Gianni Marchetti was involved in its composition, and collaborated with Bobby Solo and Mogol. In some of his work, he has also used the alias’s Joe Dynamo and John Servus. Of the latter, through the distribution of the RCA, he produced the work Evening in 1977 which has been used in multiple productions, such as a commercial for the deoderant Bac, the films love duro e violento, Le notti porno nel mondo n 2, and for the anime Attack No. 1’s Italian opening theme. Selected filmography Bibliography * See also * Piero Ciampi * Bob

Gianni Meccia

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Giovanni “Gianni” Meccia (2 June 1931 – 9 April 2024) was an Italian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. He was often associated with Jimmy Fontana. Life and career Born in Ferrara, in 1950 Meccia moved to Rome to pursue an acting career, eventually only getting some bit roles in some RAI TV series. An autodidact guitarist specialized in composing black humorous and nonsense songs, he was first noted by lyricist Franco Migliacci and later by Mario Riva, and had his breakout in 1959 with the song “Odio tutte le vecchie signore”, which he launched in the Riva’s popular music show Il Musichiere. In 1961 he took part in the eleventh edition of the Sanremo Music Festival with “Patatina”, and had a good success with “Cha-cha dell’impiccato”, a duet with his friend and frequent collaborator Jimmy Fontana. Filmography Actor * Moana, Virgin of the Amazon (1955) * Ragazzi del Juke-Box (1959) as Gianni * Nel blu dipinto di blu (1959) as Plainclothesman * Howlers in the Dock (1960) as Gianni aka Satana * Io bacio… tu baci (1961) as The Singer with a grey Pullover * Eighteen in the Sun (1962) * Canzoni in… bikini (1963) as Himself * Djurado (1969) as Ricky - Guitar Playe

Gilda Ruta

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Gilda Ruta (13 October 1853 – 26 October 1932) was an Italian pianist, music educator and composer. Biography Countess Gilda Ruta Cagnazzi was born in Naples, the daughter of composer Michele Ruta and English singer Emilia Sutton. She studied music with her father and with the opera composer Saverio Mercadante and became a noted pianist. She played before Queen Margherita of Italy at the Constanzi Theater in Rome (now Teatro dell’Opera di Roma) and won a gold medal at the International Exposition in Florence. After being widowed at age of 27 with two children, she began composing. She moved to New York City, taught private piano lessons in Greenwich Village, and died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Manhattan at age 79. Works Ruta produced more than 125 works for voice and piano, and also composed for opera. Selected works include: *Scherzo for pianoforte *Voglio guarire, melodia romantica *Tempo di Gavotta e Musette for pianoforte *Canto melanconico for contralto and basso *La Gavotta per pianoforte *Partirai!! canto for mezzo-sop and baritono *Alle stelle melodia romantica *Canzone marinaresca for soprano *Allegro appassionato for pianoforte *Per te! canto *Dolci memorie! melodia *Dam

Gino Marinuzzi

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Gino Marinuzzi (24 March 188217 August 1945) was an Italian conductor and composer, particularly associated with the operas of Wagner and the Italian repertory. Biography Marinuzzi was born and studied in Palermo, graduating from the Palermo Conservatory. He began his career in Palermo as well, conducting the local premieres of Tristan und Isolde in 1909, and Parsifal in 1914. He then appeared in Rome and Milan, where he conducted several local premieres (mostly Wagner operas) and many revivals of rarely performed operas such as Lucrezia Borgia, La straniera, Beatrice di Tenda and L’incoronazione di Poppea. In 1930, he conducted the world premiere of Ildebrando Pizzetti’s Lo straniero. He made guest appearances at the Paris Opéra, the Royal Opera House in London, and the Monte Carlo Opera, where he conducted the world premiere of Puccini’s La rondine in 1917. He was artistic director of the Chicago Opera Association from 1919 to 1921, and the Rome Opera from 1928 to 1934. He conducted opera at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires during seven seasons between 1915 and 1933. This included the Western Hemisphere premieres of Puccini’s La rondine (first version) in 1917 and Turandot in Jun

Gioacchino Cocchi

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Gioacchino Cocchi (circa 1712 – 11 September 1796) was a Neapolitan composer, principally of opera. Cocchi was probably born in Naples in about 1712, although his place of birth has also been given as Padua. His first works were performed in Naples and in Rome; the most successful was La maestra, written in Naples in 1747. It was performed at the Teatro Nuovo sopra Toledo of that city in the spring of 1747, and at the Teatro Formagliari of Bologna in October of the same year; on 11 March 1749 it was given at the King’s Theatre in London, and in 1752 at the Teatro de’ Fiorentini of Naples, with the title La scaltra governante. It was performed as La scaltra governatrice at the Académie de Musique in Paris on 25 January 1753, and as Die Schulmeisterin in 1754 at the Schlosstheater in Berlin. The work established a solid international reputation for Cocchi. He was in Venice from 1749 to 1757; there he became maestro di cappella of the Ospedale degli Incurabili, standing in for Vincenzo Legrenzo Ciampi, who had been given permission to visit London for an extended period. While in Venice, he taught composition to Andrea Lucchesi, who later was appointed Kapellmeister in Bonn. Cocchi tr

Gioachino Rossini

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Early life#

Rossini was born on 29 February 1792 in Pesaro, a town on the Adriatic coast of Italy that was then part of the Papal States. He was the only child of Giuseppe Rossini, a trumpeter and horn player, and his wife Anna, née Guidarini, a seamstress by trade, daughter of a baker. Giuseppe Rossini was charming but impetuous and feckless; the burden of supporting the family and raising the child fell mainly on Anna, with some help from her mother and mother-in-law. Stendhal, who published a colourful biography of Rossini in 1824, wrote: Giuseppe was imprisoned at least twice: first in 1790 for insubordination to local authorities in a dispute about his employment as town trumpeter; and in 1799 and 1800 for republican activism and support of the troops of Napoleon against the Pope’s Austrian backers. In 1798, when Rossini was aged six, his mother began a career as a professional singer in comic opera, and for a little over a decade was a considerable success in cities including Trieste and Bologna, before her untrained voice began to fail. In 1802 the family moved to Lugo, near Ravenna, where Rossini received a good basic education in Italian, Latin and arithmetic as well as music. He studied the horn with his father and other music with a priest, Giuseppe Malerbe, whose extensive library contained works by Haydn and Mozart, both little known in Italy at the time, but inspirational to the young Rossini. He was a quick learner, and by the age of twelve, he had composed a set of six sonatas for four stringed instruments, which were performed under the aegis of a rich patron in 1804. Two years later he was admitted to the recently opened Liceo Musicale, Bologna, initially studying singing, cello and piano, and joining the composition class soon afterwards. He wrote some substantial works while a student, including a mass and a cantata, and after two years he was invited to continue his studies. He declined the offer: the strict academic regime of the Liceo had given him a solid compositional technique, but as his biographer Richard Osborne puts it, “his instinct to continue his education in the real world finally asserted itself”. While still at the Liceo, Rossini had performed in public as a singer and worked in theatres as a répétiteur and keyboard soloist. In 1810 at the request of the popular tenor Domenico Mombelli he wrote his first operatic score, a two-act operatic dramma serio, Demetrio e Polibio, to a libretto by Mombelli’s wife. It was publicly staged in 1812, after the composer’s first successes. Rossini and his parents concluded that his future lay in composing operas. The main operatic centre in northeastern Italy was Venice; under the tutelage of the composer Giovanni Morandi, a family friend, Rossini moved there in late 1810, when he was eighteen.

Giorgio Battistelli

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Giorgio Battistelli is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Early life and education Giorgio Battistelli was born in Albano Laziale, Italy. He studied at the conservatory in L’Aquila, and is a former student of Stockhausen and Kagel. Career By 2009, Battistelli had written nearly 20 operas, on subjects ranging from Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopaedia to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In November 2009 he was artistic director of the Jerwood Opera Writing Programme hosted by Aldeburgh Music in England. Battistelli’s opera Wake was premiered by the Birmingham Opera Company in March 2018 and is inspired by the story of Lazarus being brought back from the dead. He was artistic director of the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano, the Orchestra Regionale Toscana. He has been director of the music section of the Venice Biennale. His music is published by Ricordi and recordings available on Stradivarius. Recognition and awards In 1990 Battistelli won the SIAE award for an opera, and in 1993 the Cervo Prize for contemporary music. He was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on 27 December 2020. Stage works References

Giorgio Federico Ghedini

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Giorgio Federico Ghedini (11 July 189225 March 1965) was an Italian composer. In addition to orchestral works, in 1949 he premiered a one-act opera based on Billy Budd by Herman Melville. Life Ghedini was born in Cuneo in 1892. He studied organ, piano and composition in Turin, then graduated in composition from the Bologna Conservatory under Marco Enrico Bossi in 1911. He worked as a conductor for a certain time, then he gave up to devote himself to teaching. He worked as a teacher of composition at the Turin Conservatory (1918–1937), Parma Conservatory (1937–1941), and finally the Milan Conservatory (1951–1962). Among his pupils, the most eminent were Marcello and Claudio Abbado, Luciano Berio, Guido Cantelli, Niccolò Castiglioni, Carlo Pinelli, and Fiorenzo Carpi. Guido Cantelli conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a 2 February 1952 broadcast concert of Ghedini’s Pezzo concertante for two violins, viola, and orchestra. He died in Nervi, near Genoa, in 1965. Style The composer was a deep lover of ancient music; he transcribed many works by such composers as Girolamo Frescobaldi, Claudio Monteverdi, and Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli. Ghedini’s works are often inspired by music fr

Giorgio Miceli

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Giorgio Miceli (21 October 1836 in Reggio Calabria – 1895, Italy) was an Italian opera composer who played mandolin and wrote music for the instrument. He was the composer for the operetta Zoe and for the music A Grand Serenade for Mandolin Band. * Zoe * Amanti sessagenarli * Conte di Rossiglione * Convito di Baldassare * Fata * Feodora * Fidanzata * Jefte * (La figlia di) Leggenda di Pisa * Rapimento * Serena * Somnambule References

Giorgio Nottoli

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Giorgio Nottoli (born 1945) is an Italian composer, musician and academic. Born in Cesena in 1945 he completed his musical studies at the Conservatory “G. Rossini” in Pesaro. He studied composition with Domenico Guaccero and Mario Bertoncini, guitar with Carmen Lenzi Mozzani and electronic music with Walter Branchi. Self-taught as a designer and researcher, has completed his apprenticeship in science, collaborating with various researchers, including Giuseppe di Giugno, Guido Guiducci and Silvio Santoboni. From 1968 he worked as a performer (lute and guitar) until 1975 and as a composer and researcher so far. Since 1975, conducts research in the field of science and technology, in the field of acoustics and computer music. Teaching activities He was professor of electronic music at the Conservatory of Frosinone “L.Refice” from 1974 until 2003. He was Professor of Electronic Music at the Conservatory of Rome “Santa Cecilia” from 2004 until 2013. At this Institute from 2006 to 2013, he served continuously in charge of coordinating the Department’s “New Technologies and Music”. Always at the Conservatory in Rome, he was a member of the Academic Council from 2010 to 2013. From 1999 to

Giorgio Pacchioni

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Giorgio Pacchioni (born 16 July 1947) is an Italian performer, professor, and composer. Life He has held the chair of recorder at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna (Italy) from 1977 to 2006, when he retired and moved to Ubatuba (Brazil). Pacchioni is a musicologist specializing in the revival of Baroque composition in the modern era, and has gained a following over the Internet for his Neo-Baroque compositions and fugues. Giorgio Pacchioni has promoted the music of Francesco Antonio Vallotti through both his performances and compositions. He actively collaborated with the musical association “Antiqua” on the transcription of Girolamo Dalla Casa’s Secondo libro de Madrigali a cinque voci con i passaggi (Venice 1590): in fact, he recomposed the whole Tenore partbook, which is missing from the only extant copy of the original print. The CD based on this opus, performed by “Il terzo suono” conducted by G.P.Fagotto, has won the “Speciale raccomandazione della giuria del premio discografico internazionale A.Vivaldi”. Pacchioni is also a well known ocarina maker. Works Works published by Ut Orpheus Edizioni 28 Preludi per Flauto Dolce solo in forma di progressione mus

Gioseffo Zarlino

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Gioseffo Zarlino (31 January or 22 March 1517 – 4 February 1590) was an Italian music theorist and composer of the Renaissance. He made a large contribution to the theory of counterpoint as well as to musical tuning. Life and career Zarlino was born in Chioggia, near Venice. His early education was with the Franciscans, and he later joined the order himself. In 1536 he was a singer at Chioggia Cathedral, and by 1539 he not only became a deacon, but also principal organist. In 1540 he was ordained, and in 1541 went to Venice to study with the famous contrapuntist and maestro di cappella of Saint Mark’s, Adrian Willaert. In 1565, on the resignation of Cipriano de Rore, Zarlino took over the post of maestro di cappella of St. Mark’s, one of the most prestigious musical positions in Italy, and held it until his death. While maestro di cappella he taught some of the principal figures of the Venetian school of composers, including Claudio Merulo, Girolamo Diruta, Giovanni Croce, the famous reactionary polemicist Giovanni Artusi, as well as Vincenzo Galilei, the father of the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Works and influence While he was a moderately prolific composer, and his motets are po

Giovan Gualberto Brunetti

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Giovan Gualberto Brunetti (Pistoia, 24 April 1706 – Pisa, 20 May 1787) was an Italian composer. Biographical Information Giovan Gualberto Brunetti studied violin with Atto Gherardeschi in Pistoia, and beginning in 1723 was the student of Giovan Carlo Maria Clari in Pisa. In 1728, Brunetti left in order to study violin at the Pietà dei Turchini Conservatory in Naples, where he was instead forced to study voice performance as a tenor. In 1733, he composed a comic opera, but his operatic career did not take off. Brunetti earned a living as a singer in Neapolitan churches until he was hired as the Chapel Master for the Duke of Monte Nero, who brought him to Sicily for 6 months, where he composed a serenata for the arrival of Charles of Bourbon in Messina (1735), as well as at least two comic operas on Pietro Trinchera’s librettos. and also worked for the Cavalieri of Santo Stefano; he resume his career in theater, using librettos by Gennaro Antonio Federico and Pietro Metastasio, achieving success in Lucca as well. At least three of the five children of Giovan Gualberto were musicians (among them became famous Antonio and Giuseppe, himself father of another Antonio) ) and the Palatina

Giovanna Bruna Baldacci

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Giovanna Bruna Baldacci (19 November 1886 – ? after 1910) was an Italian composer, pianist and poet. She studied piano and composition at the Istituto Musicale in Florence with Francesco Cilea and Moretti. After completing her studies, Baldacci worked as a concert pianist in Italy and Switzerland. She also taught choral singing and contributed articles to professional journals. In 1910 she won first prize for composition in an Italian Lyceum competition, for her work Madrigale. Life Giovanna Bruna Baldacci was born on 19 November 1886 in Pistoia, Italy. She was a composer, pianist and poet. She studied piano and composition at the Istituto Musicale (now called the Florence Conservatory) in Florence with Francesco Cilea and Moretti. At the institute she also studied under Edgardo Del Valle de Paz and Felice Boghen. In 1910 she won first prize for composition in an Italian Lyceum competition, for a work for three voices and piano called Madrigale. Baldacci’s compositions include choral works for children, songs and pieces for the piano. Baldacci’s date of death is unknown, but is thought to be after 1910. Works Baldacci composed mostly songs and piano pieces. Selected works include:

Giovanni Alberto Ristori

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Giovanni Alberto Ristori (1692 – 7 February 1753) was an Italian opera composer and conductor. Born in Bologna (the son of another musician, Tommaso Ristori), he joined an opera troupe, led by his father, in Dresden. This troupe was responsible to August II the Strong, who was both King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. August II lent his opera troupe to the Russian Empress Anna for her coronation (1731). The younger Ristori remained in Dresden for two decades after August’s demise, and he himself died there. Calandro, his opera in three acts to a libretto by Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, was the work which Empress Anna heard at her coronation. It is both the first opera buffa written in Germany and also the first Italian opera performed on Russian soil. Both the elder and the younger Ristori directed the staging, which involved thirteen actors and nine singers including Ludovica Seyfried, Margherita Ermini and Rosalia Fantasia. In 1916 the German musicologist Curt Rudolf Mengelberg published the first study on Ristori and his music: Curt Rudolf Mengelberg, Giovanni Alberto Ristori: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte italienischer Kunstherrschaft in Deutschland im 18. Jahrhundert (Leipzig:

Giovanni Allevi

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Giovanni Allevi (; born 9 April 1969) is an Italian pianist and composer. His song “O Generosa” is the current theme tune of the top flight of Italian football, Serie A. Biography Education Allevi attained a first-class diploma both in piano at the “F. Morlacchi” conservatoire in Perugia and in composition at the Milan Conservatory. He graduated cum laude in philosophy with a thesis entitled “Il vuoto nella Fisica contemporanea” (The Void in Contemporary Physics) and he attended the Accademia Internazionale di Alto Perfezionamento in Arezzo, under maestro Carlo Alberto Neri. In 1991, he did military service in the Italian Army Music Band. The master of the band noticed his piano talent and decided to put the piano soloist in his “inventory.” He played the Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin and the Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell in his capacity as the piano soloist of the Banda during a tour in numerous Italian theatres. At the end of his military service, Allevi started presenting in concert a repertory formed exclusively of his own compositions for pianoforte while at the same time attending courses of “Bio-music and music therapy” by professor Mario Corradini, in which he

Giovanni Antiga

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Giovanni Antiga (July 29, 1878 – July 11, 1960), also known as Jean Antiga, was an Italian organist and composer. He was born in Miane and he died in Nice. Career Born into a family with many children, he was entrusted to the care of his uncle, Leopoldo Antiga. He began to learn music under the tutelage of Ferdinando Battel, the organist at San Michele di Ramera. After graduating, he moved to the French town of Grasse. From 1902 to 1910, he was the director of the cathedral. He held the titles of Professor of Education and Grand Officer of the national academy of Paris. He married cellist Jenny Motti; they had two daughters, Mireille and Andreina. Notable works *Impressioni al Carmine (piccola suite) *Campane a festa *Presso una fontanella *Ninna Nanna *Raggi di luna sul mare *Campane di Roma *Contemplando un Crocifisso del Brustolon a S. Fior *Canto d’Amore *Piccola raccolta di impressioni giovanili *Riduzioni di composizioni classiche per le piccole mani *Sulla tomba di un eroe *La visione del Cadore *Le foglie d’autunno *Il canto del montanaro *La canzone nostalgica *Il tramonto del sole *Trot des cavaliers *Boite a musique *Le fontane di camurei *Je t’amerai toujours *Dance rou

Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi (musician)

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Domenico Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli (1624 – c. 1687) was an Italian composer and violinist. Life and works Pandolfi was born in Montepulciano in 1624, where he was baptised on 27 November, the second son of Giovanni Battista Pandolfi and the fourth son of his father’s second wife, Verginia Bartalini, the widow of Mario Mealli. His name at baptism was Domenico; it would appear that he adopted the names Giovanni Antonio on entering religious orders at some stage of his life. His father was the servant of a lawyer. Pandolfi’s stepbrother Lorenzo, at the age of around 8, had become a castrato singer at the court of Kraków. Another stepbrother, Giovan Battista Mealli, became a singer in Venice, where Domenico and the rest of the family joined him around 1630 following the death of old Pandolfi. The annals of the court of Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria in Innsbruck record that Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli was employed at the court in 1660. He is believed to have trained as a musician in Perugia. He moved to Innsbruck in 1652, and his sonatas Opp. 2 and 3 are dedicated to other court musicians there, many of whom were Italian. He left Innsbruck in 1662, and then took a p

Giovanni Bassano

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Giovanni Bassano (c. 1561 – 3 September 1617) was an Italian composer associated with the Venetian School of composers and a cornettist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was a key figure in the development of the instrumental ensemble at the basilica of San Marco di Venezia (St. Mark). His detailed book on instrumental ornamentation has survived. It is a rich resource for research in contemporary performance practice. Bassano was most responsible for the performance of the music of Giovanni Gabrieli, who would emerge as one of the most renowned members of the Venetian School. Life Giovanni was likely born in Venice, Republic of Venice, around 1560 or 1561 in the parish of San Maurizio. He was the son of Santo Griti da Sebenico (now Šibenik, Croatia) and Orsetta Bassano. Orsetta’s father Jacomo Bassano was the only brother of the six sons of Jeronimo Bassano who did not move permanently to London from Venice around 1540 as part of a new recorder consort to King Henry VIII. Santo seems to have taken over his father-in-law’s instrument-making business and adopted the surname of Bassano for himself. He was the probable inventor of bassanelli. Giovanni Bassano arrived a

Giovanni Battista Bassani

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Giovanni Battista Bassani (c. 1650 – 1 October 1716) was an Italian composer, violinist, and organist. Biography Bassani was born in Padua. It is thought that he studied in Venice under Daniele Castrovillari and in Ferrara under Giovanni Legrenzi. Charles Burney and John Hawkins claimed he taught Arcangelo Corelli, but there is no solid evidence for this assertion. He was an organist at the Accademia della Morte in Ferrara from 1667, but had probably left by 1675. He published his first music in 1677; the title page calls him maestro of music at the Confraternità della Morte in Finale Emilia, not far from Modena. He was maestro di cappella at Duke Alessandro II della Mirandola’s court in 1680, and was elected principe at the Accademica Filarmonica in Bologna. He became maestro di cappella at the Accademia della Morte in Ferrara in 1683, and then maestro di cappella at Ferrara Cathedral in 1686. For his contributions to the musical life of Ferrara, he was often called “Bassani of Ferrara”. He wrote 76 liturgically ordered services for use at Ferrara Cathedral between 1710 and 1712. He became director of music at Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo in 1712, and also taught at the Congreg

Giovanni Battista Ferrandini

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Giovanni Battista Ferrandini (c. 1710 – 25 October 1791), an Italian composer of the Baroque and Classical eras, was born in Venice, Italy and died in Munich, at the age of about 81. He was a child prodigy and entered the service of Duke Ferdinand Maria Innocenz of Bavaria at the age of 12 as an oboist. The newly constructed Bavarian Court Theatre (the Old Residenztheater, now known as the Cuvilliés Theatre after the architect) in Munich opened on 12 October 1753 with Ferrandini’s opera Catone in Utica. A recording of the opera made 250 years later in the same theatre is available (Oehms Classics OC 901). In 1755, Ferrandini retired to Padua, where in 1771, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his father Leopold Mozart visited him in retirement. Works, editions and recordings ;Operas * Giordo, 1727 * Il Sacrifico Invalido, 1729 * Adriano in Siria, 1737 * Catone in Utica, 1753 * Music for the coronation of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor in Frankfurt 1742 ;Cantatas * Cantata Il pianto di Maria, 1739 (long misattributed to Handel as HWV 234: Il pianto di Maria or Giunta l’ora fatal) (Full recording.) * Cantatas for Holy Week: O spettacolo pur troppo funesto. Ecco quel tronco (recordings: Elis

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

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Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), usually referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist, leading exponent of the Baroque; he is considered one of the greatest Italian musicians of the first half of the 18th century and one of the most important representatives of the Neapolitan school. Despite his short life and few years of activity (he died of tuberculosis at the age of 26), he managed to create works of high artistic value and historical importance, such as La serva padrona (The Maid Turned Mistress), which played an important role in the development and diffusion of the opera buffa in Europe, L’Olimpiade, considered “one of the finest opere serie of the early eighteenth century”, and Stabat Mater, which is among the most important works of sacred music of all time. In his lifetime, he wrote a total of 10 works for the stage, including 3 two-part intermezzos. Biography Born in Jesi in what is now the Province of Ancona (but was then part of the Papal States), he was commonly given the nickname “Pergolesi”, a demonym indicating in Italian the residents of nearby Pergola, which was the birth

Giovanni Battista Pescetti

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Giovanni Battista Pescetti (c. 170420 March 1766) was an organist, harpsichordist, and composer known primarily for his operas and keyboard sonatas. Musicologist and University of California, Santa Barbara professor John E. Gillespie wrote that Pescetti “stylistically stands as a bridge between Alberti and Domenico Scarlatti”. Life Born in Venice, Pescetti was the son of organ builder Giacinto Pescetti. His mother, Giulia Pescetti (née Pollarolo), was the daughter of opera composer and organist Carlo Francesco Pollarolo and the sister of composer and organist Antonio Pollarolo. He developed a friendship with Baldassare Galuppi, a fellow pupil of Lotti’s, with whom he collaborated in creating and revising operas. In 1739 he published a set of ten keyboard sonatas entitled Sonate per gravicembalo in London. This work included arrangements of the overture and arias in his opera La conquista del velo d’oro. References Further reading *Degrada, Francesco. 1966. “Le sonate per cembalo e per organo di Giovanni Battista Pescetti”. Chigiana (new series) 3:89–108. * *Taylor, Carole M. 1987. “From Losses to Lawsuit: Patronage of the Italian Opera in London by Lord Middlesex, 1739–45”. Music &

Giovanni Battista Sammartini

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Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c. 1700 – 15 January 1775) was an Italian composer, violinist, organist, choirmaster and teacher. He counted Gluck among his students, and was highly regarded by younger composers including Johann Christian Bach. It has also been noted that many stylizations in Joseph Haydn’s compositions are similar to those of Sammartini, although Haydn denied any such influence. Sammartini is especially associated with the formation of the concert symphony through both the shift from a brief opera-overture style and the introduction of a new seriousness and use of thematic development that prefigure Haydn and Mozart. Some of his works are described as galant, a style associated with Enlightenment ideals, while “the prevailing impression left by Sammartini’s work… is that he contributed greatly to the development of a Classical style that achieved its moment of greatest clarity precisely when his long, active life was approaching its end”. Sammartini quickly became famous as a church composer and obtained fame abroad. Over the years he joined many churches for work (eight or more by his death ) and wrote music to be performed at state occasions and in the houses of

Giovanni Battista Volpe

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Giovanni Battista Volpe (–1691) was a Venetian composer for operas during the Baroque period. He was also known as Rovetta and Rovettino. His uncle was Giovanni Rovetta, a composer and former maestro di capella. which premiered in the same theatre in 1663. He composed at least one more opera for the theatre. Volpe was the preferred choice of composers in absentia when changes had to be made to their work. Compositions *La costanza di Rosmonda, libretto by Aurelio Aureli (premiered 1659) *Gl’amori d’Apollo e di Leucotoe, libretto by Aurelio Aureli (premiered 1663) References

Giovanni Benedetto Platti

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Giovanni Benedetto Platti was born possibly 9 July 1697 (according to other sources 1690, 1692, 1700) in Padua, then belonging to Venice. He was an Italian Baroque composer and oboist. He died 11 January 1763 in Würzburg. Life Platti studied music in Italy (mostly singing, the oboe and the violin). While in Italy, where he stayed until 1722, he probably saw the recently invented fortepiano; a few of his keyboard solo sonatas and concertos might have been composed for it instead of the harpsichord, but this point is debatable. In his chamber works (duets and trios), the harpsichord is clearly the instrument required. No “piano” or “forte” indications are on Platti’s keyboard parts in his concertos for harpsichord and strings, though. Also, the extension of at least one of these concertos asks for a D that is beyond Cristofori’s instrument’s compass (4 octaves CC to c4). In 1722, he was called to Würzburg to work for the prince-bishop of Bamberg and Würzburg, Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn. There he married Theresia Langprückner, a soprano singer with whom he had at least two children. Platti spent the rest of his life in the town, working as a singer, instrument virtuoso, compos

Giovanni Bolzoni (composer)

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Giovanni Bolzoni (15 May 1841 – 21 February 1919) was an Italian composer and violinist, who is known for his Minuet for String Orchestra. Life and career Born in Parma, Bolzoni studied at the Parma Conservatory. After graduating in 1859, he was violinist and part-time conductor with Teatro Comunale di Reggio Emilia and Comunale di Cremona, eventually taking a position in Savona where he also taught violin. After six years he became its concertmaster and conductor. This was followed in 1874 by three years in Perugia as orchestral conductor and theatre director at the Istituto Morlacchi. In 1887, he became director of the Istituto Musicale, concertmaster at the Teatro Regio di Parma and of the Concerti Popolari. Bolzoni was the long-time director of the Turin Conservatory. Among his notable pupils were composers Carlo Adolfo Cantù and Edgard Varèse. In 1884, he conducted the premiere of the revised version of Puccini’s opera Le Villi. Bolzoni died in Turin, aged 77. Compositions Besides the popular Minuet, Bolzoni composed the operas Il matrimonio civile (premiered in Parma, 1870), La stella delle Alpi (Savona, 1876), and Jella (Piacenza, 1881). He also wrote Tema con variazioni for

Giovanni Bottesini

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Giovanni Bottesini (22 December 1821 – 7 July 1889) was an Italian Romantic composer, conductor, and a double bass virtuoso. Biography Born in Crema, Lombardy, he was taught the rudiments of music by his father, an accomplished clarinetist and composer, at a young age and had played timpani in Crema with the Teatro Sociale before the age of eleven. He studied violin with Carlo Cogliati, and probably would have continued on this instrument except for a unique turn of events. His father sought a place for him in the Milan Conservatory in 1835, but due to the Bottesini family’s lack of money, Bottesini needed a scholarship. Only two positions were available: double bass and bassoon. He prepared a successful audition for the double bass scholarship in a matter of weeks. Only four years later, a surprisingly short time by the standards of the day, he left with a prize of 300 francs for solo playing. This money financed the acquisition of an instrument of Carlo Giuseppe Testore, and a globe-trotting career as “the Paganini of the Double Bass” was launched. His fantasies on Lucia di Lammermoor, I puritani, Beatrice di Tenda and especially La sonnambula are virtuosic tours de force that ar

Giovanni Cesare Netti

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Giovanni Cesare Netti (4 September 1649, in Putignano – Naples, before 31 July 1686) was an Italian composer and maestro di cappella. Works They have been cataloged by Giovanni Tribuzio (siglum TN): Cantatas * TN I.1a: Addio cara libertà *TN I.1b: Addio cara libertà * TN I.2: L’innamorato Aminta * TN I.3: Nel bel regno d’amore * TN I.4: Nella stagione appunto * TN I.5a: Occhi belli, s’io v’adoro *TN I.5b: Occhi belli s’io v’adoro * TN I.6: Più non vanti la speranza * TN I.7: Semiviva e dolente (spurious) * TN II.1: Seguane pur che può, scoprirmi io voglio Serenatas * TN III.1: Nella notte più fosca * TN III.2: Risvegliatevi, o luci mie belle Antiprologues * TN IV.1: Acquaviva laureata (Acquaviva delle Fonti, 1682) * TN IV.2: Gara degli elementi in dotare li due misti (Acquaviva delle Fonti, 1682) * TN IV.3: Le perdite di Nereo e Dori al paragone delle glorie (Acquaviva delle Fonti, 1682) Operas * TN V.1a: Adamiro (Naples, 1681) *TN V.1b: Adamiro (Palermo, 1682) * TN V.2: La Filli La moglie del fratello (Naples, 1682) Bibliography *Dinko Fabris, Netti, Giovanni Cesare, in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 78, Roma, Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana, 2013. *Giovanni Cesare

Giovanni Croce

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Giovanni Croce (; also Ioanne a Cruce Clodiensis, Zuanne Chiozotto; 1557 – 15 May 1609) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance, of the Venetian School. He was particularly prominent as a madrigalist, one of the few among the Venetians other than Monteverdi and Andrea Gabrieli. Life He was born in Chioggia, a fishing town on the Adriatic coast south of Venice, the same town as Gioseffo Zarlino, and he came to Venice early, becoming a member of the boys’ choir at St. Mark’s under Zarlino’s direction by the time he was eight years old. Zarlino evidently found him in a choir in Chioggia Cathedral, and recruited him for St. Mark’s. Croce may have been a parish priest at the church of Santa Maria Formosa, and he took holy orders in 1585; during this period he also served as a singer at St. Mark’s. He evidently maintained some connection with Santa Maria Formosa, probably as a director of music, alongside his duties at St. Mark’s. After the death of Zarlino, he became assistant maestro di cappella; this was during the tenure of Baldassare Donato. When Donato died in 1603, Croce took over the principal job as maestro di cappella but the singing standards of the famous St. Mark’s C

Giovanni D'Anzi

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Giovanni D’Anzi (1 January 1906 – 15 April 1974) was an Italian songwriter. Biography D’Anzi was born in Milan. In 1935 he wrote music and lyrics of “Oh mia bella Madonnina” (“My beautiful little Madonna”), a song dedicated to his hometown which soon became very popular and a sort of unofficial city anthem. Between the 1930s and 1950s Giovanni D’Anzi and Alfredo Bracchi formed a very prolific pair of songwriters. They worked for radio, cinema and theater productions. Several of their songs were great hits. Among them “Ma le gambe”, “Bambina innamorata”, “Ma l’amore no”, “Voglio vivere così”, “Ti parlerò d’amor”. His song “Malinconia d’amore” has been sung by both Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras. Most of their songs were in Milanese dialect, and described ironically characters of the past in Milan, for example “La gagarella del Biffi Scala” (“The Spoiled Daughter of Mr Biffi Scala”) and “El Tumiami de Loret” (“The Braggart from Piazzale Loreto”), “El Biscella” (“The Silly-Bully Boy”). During the 1960s Giovanni D’Anzi retired from the musical scene. He moved to Liguria and took up painting. He died at Santa Margherita Ligure. Milan’s local authorities included him in the list of

Giovanni Domenico da Nola

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Giovanni Domenico da Nola (also Nolla) (c. 1510–1520 – May 1592) was an Italian composer and poet of the Renaissance. He was born in the town of Nola, Italy. He was a founding member of the Accademia dei Sereni in 1546–1547, where he knew Luigi Dentice and Marchese della Terza, who was a patron of Orlando di Lasso. Nola was appointed maestro di cappella at the SS Annunziata in Naples on 1 February 1563, a position he held up to his death 29 years later. He also taught singing to the women of the ospedali at the Annunziata and to seminary deacons. Nola’s first publication consisted of two books of Canzoni villanesche in 1541, which contained 31 villanescas and 11 mascheratas. They were held in high esteem by Nola’s contemporaries; arrangements of these works were made by Lasso, Hubert Waelrant, Adrian Willaert, Baldassare Donato, Perissone Cambio, and Antonio Scandello. Lyrically, the works are often humorous and draw on local dialects and sayings; musically, the works make skillful use of imitation and intentional parallel fifths. Nola published a book of madrigals in 1545; of the 29 works in the book, 22 are settings of Petrarch, including one madrigal, six canzoni and fifteen sonnet

Giovanni Ferretti

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Giovanni Ferretti (c. 1540 – after 1609) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance, best known for his secular music. He was important in the development of the lighter kind of madrigal current in the 1570s related to the villanella, and was influential as far away as England. Life His place of origin is uncertain, and both Venice and Ancona have been claimed as cities of his birth. The earliest documents of his career show him already to be employed as the maestro di cappella, the choirmaster, at the cathedral of Ancona in 1575. The next two decades have gaps, but some dates of employment are known. Between 1580 and 1582 he was at Loreto; from 1586 to 1588 at Gemona; in 1589 at Cividale del Friuli; and in 1596 he is recorded as being at Loreto again, this time as maestro di cappella at Santa Casa, a position he held until 1603. A reference to him in 1609 indicates he was still alive then, possibly living in Rome, and various other bits of evidence – such as his music appearing in Roman collections, and his acquaintanceship with Roman musicians – suggests that he may have spent part of his career there. When he died is not known, but it was likely after 1609. Works and influence F

Giovanni Fusco

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Giovanni Fusco (10 October 1906, Sant’Agata dei Goti, Benevento – 31 May 1968, Rome) was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor, who has written numerous film scores since 1936, including those of Alain Resnais’s Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and La guerre est finie (1966), as well as those of most of the 1948-1964 films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, from N.U. (Nettezza Urbana) to Il deserto rosso, except for La notte (soundtrack by Giorgio Gaslini) and some of his early short films. Two of his soundtracks, those of Antonioni’s Cronaca di un amore and L’avventura, won Silver Ribbon for the best film score from Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists in 1951 and 1961, respectively. His brother Tarcisio Fusco was also a composer. His daughter was the operatic soprano Cecilia Fusco. Selected filmography * The Countess of Parma (1936) * Joe the Red (1936) * Doctor Antonio (1937) * The Sin of Rogelia Sanchez (1940) * Two on a Vacation (1940) * Two Hearts (1943) * The Models of Margutta (1946) * Hand of Death (1949) * Mistress of the Mountains (1950) *Cronaca di un amore (1950) * The Mistress of Treves (1952) * They Were Three Hundred (1952) * Orphan of the Ghetto (1954) *

Giovanni Gabrieli

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Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms. Early life and education Gabrieli was born in Venice. He was one of five children, and his father came from the region of Carnia and went to Venice shortly before Giovanni’s birth. While not much is known about Giovanni’s early life, he probably studied with his uncle, the composer Andrea Gabrieli, who was employed at St Mark’s Basilica from the 1560s until his death in 1585. Giovanni may indeed have been brought up by his uncle, as is implied by the dedication to his 1587 book of concerti, in which he described himself as “little less than a son” to his uncle. Giovanni also went to Munich to study with the renowned Orlando de Lassus at the court of Duke Albert V; most likely he stayed there until about 1579. Lassus was to be one of the principal influences on the development of his musical style. although he probably composed even more for San Marco. San Marco had a long tradition of musical excellence and Gabr

Giovanni Giorgi (composer)

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Giovanni Giorgi (late 17th or early 18th century – June 1762 ) (Latin: Joannis de Georgiis) was a priest and an Italian composer. His style of polychoral church compositions are influenced by earlier Roman School composers such as Orazio Benevoli, but also incorporate later Roman Baroque features and (after about 1758) some elements of early Classical style. Life Giorgi is reputed to have originated from Venice, but few details of his life are known. In 1719 he was appointed maestro di cappella at the papal Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome, and was the successor of Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni. Many of Giorgi’s early compositions were written during his time in Rome. By January 1725 he was in Lisbon where he took up the post of court mestre de capela. He died in Lisbon in 1762. Works Many Portuguese records were lost in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, but in Giorgi’s case around 600 compositions have been preserved both in the Lateran archives in Rome and at Lisbon Cathedral. His extant works include: * 162 motets, some for 2 to 4 voices; also some for 8 or 16 voices * 33 mass settings for 2, 4, 8 and 16 voices; some with instrumental parts * 145 gradual settings for 2, 4 and 8 voices; so

Giovanni Gioviale

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Giovanni Gioviale (November 1885 – June 11, 1949) was an Italian composer and musician. He is considered one of the greatest mandolin virtuosos of all time. He also played guitar and banjo, and at the concert level with violin. He is special among the Italian mandolin masters, as one of the only ones to be recorded. He has also been credited for making famous the duo style of mandolin playing, in which one instrument sounds like several. Born Catania, Gioviale took up the mandolin when he was ten-years old. He was impressed by the music he heard at a barbershop. Craft halls were one of the types of place one could hear music in Catania then. He learned the mandolin first, then added banjo, guitar and violin, which he learned in school. He was an internationally travelling performer, performing in Spain, Africa, England, Austria and the United States. While in the United States, from 1926 to 1929, he recorded more than 50 recordings. After three years in the U.S., he missed his home and moved back to Italy. He was planning to return when he died in 1949. He continued to perform in Italy, playing in Turin, Milan, Rome, Genoa, and Palmero. In addition to his own works, he performed wo

Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger

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Johannes Hieronymus von Kapsberger, commonly known by his Italian name: Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger, (also: Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger, Giovanni Geronimo Kapsperger; possibly Venice, c. 1580 – Rome, 17 January 1651) was an Austrian-Italian virtuoso performer and composer of the early Baroque period. A prolific and highly original composer, Kapsberger is chiefly remembered today for his lute and theorbo (chitarrone) music, which was seminal in the development of these as solo instruments. He was nicknamed “the noble German” and “the German of the theorbo”, referencing his ethnicity and fame as a virtuoso of the theorbo and of the other instruments belonging to the lute family. Life Nothing is known about Kapsberger’s date and place of birth. His father Colonel Wilhelm (Guglielmo) von Kapsperger was a military official of the Imperial House of Austria, and may have settled in Venice, the city which may have been Kapsberger’s birthplace. After 1605 Kapsberger moved to Rome, where he quickly attained a reputation as a brilliant virtuoso. He cultivated connections with various powerful individuals and organizations and organized “academies” in his house, which were counted among the

Giovanni Legrenzi

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Giovanni Legrenzi (baptized August 12, 1626 – May 27, 1690) was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music, and organist, of the Baroque era. He was one of the most prominent composers in Venice in the late 17th century, and extremely influential in the development of late Baroque idioms across northern Italy. He was a massive influence on Arcangelo Corelli and Antonio Vivaldi. Life Legrenzi was born at Clusone, near Bergamo, then part of the Republic of Venice. His father, Giovanni Maria Legrenzi, was a professional violinist and, to some extent, a composer. We know Legrenzi had two brothers and two sisters, though one of the brothers, Marco, apparently a talented musician who performed with his father and brother in the 1660s, is not mentioned in Legrenzi’s will: it is presumed that he died young. His remaining brother and sisters are both mentioned in his will. Legrenzi was probably taught largely at home, and his performance skills developed at the local church, and it can also be assumed there was music-making in the house. Legrenzi received his first appointment in Bergamo, as Organist at Santa Maria Maggiore, a magnificent church with a celebrated musical his

Giovanni Lindo Ferretti

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Giovanni Lindo Ferretti (born 9 September 1953) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, and author. He is considered to be one of the founders of Italian punk rock music. Biography Lindo Ferretti was born in Cerreto Alpi (frazione of Collagna), in the province of Reggio Emilia, in the western part of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. After completing his studies and working as a psychiatric nurse for five years, Ferretti traveled around Europe. CCCP In East Berlin, he met , with whom, in 1982, he founded the band CCCP - Fedeli alla linea (“CCCP - Loyal to the line”). CCCP soon became a benchmark of the so-called “alternative music” in Italy. The band dissolved in 1990. CSI In 1992, again with Massimo Zamboni and with an original core member of the Italian band Litfiba, Gianni Maroccolo, he founded a new band called Consorzio Suonatori Indipendenti (“Consortium of Independent Players”), also known as CSI. This band continued until 2000, when Zamboni departed. The bands’ names followed the naming of the political entities of the Soviet Union and its dissolution in the late 20th century. “CCCP” is the Cyrillic lettering for SSSR (i.e. USSR), and “CSI” mimics the Italian acronym

Giovanni Maria Nanino

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Giovanni Maria Nanino (also Nanini; 1543 or 1544 – 11 March 1607) was an Italian composer and teacher of the late Renaissance. He was a member of the Roman School of composers, and was the most influential music teacher in Rome in the late 16th century. He was the older brother of composer Giovanni Bernardino Nanino. Life Nanino was born in Tivoli, and served as a boy soprano in the cathedral at Viterbo. In the 1560s he probably studied with Palestrina at San Luigi de’ Francesi in Rome; at any rate, he became maestro di cappella there after Palestrina left. In 1577 he joined the papal choir as a tenor, and remained in the choir for the rest of his life, occasionally taking the rotating post of maestro di cappella. During the 1590s he was renowned as a teacher; he and his brother established what is thought to be the first Italian-run public music school in Rome and many future composers studied with him and sang in his choirs, including Felice Anerio, Antonio Brunelli, Antonio Cifra and Gregorio Allegri (composer of the famous Miserere). Works Nanino’s output as a composer was not large, but it was distinguished, and his music—especially his madrigals—were extremely popular at the

Giovanni Maria Ruggieri

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Giovanni Maria Ruggieri or Ruggeri was a Baroque composer from Italy. His dates of birth and death are uncertain, but he may have been born about 1665 in Verona and died around 1725. He is known to have flourished from 1689–1720. Life His major works were apparently composed in Venice. His first work, La Clotilde, is extant, and on its title page he described himself as an amateur; the librettist for the same work described him as being distinguished among amateurs and the peer of the most celebrated scholars of music. Other than these fragments, very little is known about his personal life. Archives in the Museo Correr in Venice indicate that he owned several properties and he may have been in the service of the noble Contarini family, to whom he wrote a letter in 1695. His early musical career comprises four collections of trio sonatas, both da camera and da chiesa, published at some time between 1689 and 1697, but these have since been lost. His surviving sonatas display considerable invention and ability with counterpoint. In 1696 Ruggieri began working full-time as a composer and presumably encountered considerable success, because his operas were often revived: Armida abbando

Giovanni Pacini

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Giovanni Pacini (11 February 17966 December 1867) was an Italian composer from the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He is best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni’s operas. The family was of Tuscan origin, living in Catania when the composer was born. He served as the Florence Conservatory’s first director from 1849 through 1862. His first 25 or so operas were written when Gioachino Rossini dominated the Italian operatic stage. But Pacini’s operas were “rather superficial”, a fact which, later, he candidly admitted in his Memoirs. For some years he held the post of “director of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.” After Rossini moved to Paris in 1824, Pacini and his contemporaries (Giacomo Meyerbeer, Nicola Vaccai, Michele Carafa, Carlo Coccia, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, the brothers Federico and Luigi Ricci, and Saverio Mercadante) collectively began to change the nature of Italian opera and took bel canto singing in a new direction. Orchestration became heavier, coloratura was reduced, especially for men’s voices, and more importance was placed on lyrical p

Giovanni Paisiello

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Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born in Taranto in the Apulia region and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and eventually became assistant master. For the theatre of the Conservatorio, which he left in 1763, he wrote some intermezzi, one of which attracted so much notice that he was invited to write two operas, La Pupilla and Il Mondo al Rovescio, for Bologna, and a third, Il Marchese di Tidipano, for Rome. Works Operas * R 1.00 La moglie in calzoni (18.2.1764, Modena) * R 1.01 Il ciarlone (12.5.1764, Bologna) – lost * R 1.02 I francesi brillanti (24.6.1764, Bologna) * R 1.03 Madama l’umorista, o Gli stravaganti (26.1.1765, Modena) – lost * R 1.04 L’amore in ballo (carnival 1765, Venice S Moisè) * R 1.05 La mascherata delle nozze di Bacco e d’Arianna (11.2.1765, Modena) * I bagni d’Abano (spring 1765, Parma) * Il negligente (1765, P

Giovanni Picchi

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Giovanni Picchi (1571 or 1572 – 17 May 1643) was an Italian composer, organist, lutenist, and harpsichordist of the early Baroque era. He was a late follower of the Venetian School, and was influential in the development and differentiation of instrumental forms which were just beginning to appear, such as the sonata and the ensemble canzona; in addition he was the only Venetian of his time to write dance music for harpsichord. Life Little is known about Picchi’s early life, but his birthdate (1571 or 1572) can be inferred from his death record which states that he was 71 when he died on 17 May 1643. The earliest documentary evidence pertaining to him, unusually enough, is a picture: he appears as a lutenist on the title page of a 1600 dance manual by Fabritio Caroso (Nobilità di dame). Sometime before February 1607 he was hired as organist at the Venetian church of the Frari, and from 1623 to his death he was also organist at the confraternity Scuola di San Rocco, the most prestigious and wealthy of all the Venetian confraternities. In 1624 he applied for the position of second organist at St. Mark’s, but Giovanni Pietro Berti was chosen instead. He was a close contemporary of Mon

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

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Biography#

Palestrina was born in the town of Palestrina, near Rome, then part of the Papal States, to Neapolitan parents, Santo and Palma Pierluigi, in 1525, possibly on 3 February. His mother died on 16 January 1536, when Palestrina was 10. Documents suggest that he first visited Rome in 1537, when he was listed as a chorister at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the papal basilicas of the Diocese of Rome, which allowed him to learn literature and music. From 1544 to 1551, Palestrina was the organist of the Cathedral of St. Agapito, the principal church of his native city. In 1551 Pope Julius III (previously the Bishop of Palestrina) appointed Palestrina maestro di cappella or musical director of the Cappella Giulia, (Julian Chapel, in the sense of choir), the choir of the chapter of canons at St. Peter’s Basilica. Palestrina dedicated to Julius III his first published compositions (1554), a book of Masses. It was the first book of Masses by a native composer, since in the Italian states of Palestrina’s day, most composers of sacred music were from the Low Countries, France, or Spain. In fact the book was modelled on one by Cristóbal de Morales: the woodcut in the front is almost an exact copy of the one from the book by the Spanish composer. In 1555, Pope Paul IV ordered that all papal choristers should be clerical. As Palestrina married early in life and had four children, he was unable to continue in the chapel as a layman. A five-part Libera me Domine psalm for three choirs was sung at the funeral. Palestrina’s funeral was held at St. Peter’s, and he was buried beneath the floor of the basilica. His tomb was later covered by new construction and attempts to locate his grave have been unsuccessful. Italian composers Giovanni Maria Nanino and Gregorio Allegri, both of them disciples of his school, continued his works.

Giovanni Priuli

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Giovanni Priuli (or Prioli, ca. 1575–1626) was a Venetian composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. A late member of the Venetian School, and a contemporary of Claudio Monteverdi, he was a prominent musician in Venice in the first decade of the 17th century, departing after the death of his associate Giovanni Gabrieli and ending his career at the Habsburg court in Austria. His music straddled the dividing-line between Renaissance and Baroque idioms. Life Little is known of Priuli’s early life except that he was born in Venice around 1575. Information about the first twenty-five years of his life is lacking. Beginning in 1600, he was a close associate of Gabrieli, and it is presumed he may have been his student; the two were associated for the duration of Priuli’s Venetian career. When Priuli is first mentioned in the records of St. Mark’s, he was already an experienced musician, being hired as assistant organist to Gabrieli on several occasions between 1600 and 1605. In May 1607 he received a more permanent position as deputy organist; prior to that, the payment records indicated that his hires were for single engagements. Since St. Mark’s had two reg

Giovanni Sgambati

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Giovanni Sgambati (28 May 1841 – 14 December 1914) was an Italian pianist and composer. Biography Born in Rome, to an Italian father and an English mother, Sgambati, who lost his father early, received his early education at Trevi, in Umbria, where he wrote some church music and obtained experience as a singer and conductor. In 1860 he settled in Rome, and took up the work of winning acceptance for the best German music, then little known in Italy. The influence and support of Franz Liszt, who was in Rome from 1861, was naturally of great advantage to him, and concerts were given in which Sgambati conducted as well as played the piano. His compositions at this period (1864–1865) included a quartet, two piano quintets, an octet, and an overture. He conducted Liszt’s Dante Symphony on 26 February 1866 at the opening of the Sala di Dante at the Palazzo Poli, with 27 of Filippo Bigioli’s paintings exhibited nearby. He made the acquaintance of Richard Wagner’s music for the first time in Munich, where he travelled in Liszt’s company. His first album of songs appeared in 1870 (Schott Music), and his first symphony was played at the Palazzo del Quirinale in 1881; this, as well as a piano

Giovanni Sollima

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Giovanni Sollima (born 24 October 1962 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy) is an Italian composer and cellist. He was born into a family of musicians and studied cello with Giovanni Perriera and composition with his father, Eliodoro Sollima, at the Conservatorio di Palermo, where he graduated with highest honors. He later studied with Antonio Janigro and Milko Kelemen at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart and at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg. As a composer, Sollima’s influences are wide ranging, taking in jazz and rock, as well as various ethnic traditions from the Mediterranean area. Sollima’s music is influenced by minimalism, with his compositions often featuring modal melodies and repetitive structures. Because his works are characterized by a more diverse and eclectic approach to material than the early American minimalist composers, the American critic Kyle Gann has called Sollima a postminimalist composer. Sollima teaches at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and plays a cello by Francesco Ruggieri (made in Cremona in 1679). He has collaborated with the American poet and musician Patti Smith, appearing on her records and performing with her in concert. He also collabora

Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli

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Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli (c. 9 March 1690/1691, Livorno, Grand Duchy of Tuscany – 1772, London), after 1734 Anglicised to John Stephen Carbonell, was an Italian-born British composer and violinist, who later abandoned his musical career to become a vintner under royal patronage. Life Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli was born in the Italian port city of Livorno to Pietro Carboneu (alternatively Carboneo or Carbonell) and Teresa Cocchi. His year of birth is uncertain, with dates varying from 1690/1691 to 1699/1700. His father was a Frenchman who had immigrated from Aix-en-Provence, Province of Provence, while his mother was a local Leghorner. Not much is known of his early musical education; he was reputedly a pupil of Arcangelo Corelli, although there is little documentary evidence to support this. In 1711 and 1712, he was one of the violinists in the local ensemble during the celebrations of the Feast of Santa Croce in Lucca (13–14 September); on these occasions his name was recorded as “Gio: Stefano Carbonèo”. In 1716–1717 he lived in Venice, where he became acquainted with Antonio Vivaldi. Carbonelli participated in Vivaldi’s operatic productions, playing in the accompanying orches

Giovanni Tadolini

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Giovanni Tadolini (18 October 1789 – 29 November 1872) was an Italian composer, conductor and singing instructor, who enjoyed a career that alternated between Bologna and Paris. Tadolini is probably best known for completing six sections of Rossini’s 1833 version of the Stabat mater after the latter fell sick. However, he also composed eight operas as well as sinfonias, sonatas, chamber music, and numerous pieces of religious music and art songs. Biography Born in Bologna, he studied privately with Matteo Rubini (singing) and Stanislao Mattei (composition) at the Liceo Musicale (now the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini) of his native city, before going to work at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris as a répétiteur and chorus master from 1811 to 1814. Following the occupation of Paris by the Russian and Austrian armies in 1814, he returned to Italy where over the next 15 years he wrote a series of operas and served as a conductor and chorus master for the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. He also became a member of Bologna’s Accademia Filarmonica and maestro di cappella of St. Peter’s Cathedral in the city. In 1827, he married the soprano Eugenia Tadolini (née Savorani) who had been his s

Giovanni Valentini

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Giovanni Valentini (ca. 1582 – 29/30 April 1649) was an Italian Baroque composer, poet and keyboard virtuoso. Overshadowed by his contemporaries, Claudio Monteverdi and Heinrich Schütz, Valentini is practically forgotten today, although he occupied one of the most prestigious musical posts of his time. He is best remembered for his innovative usage of asymmetric meters and the fact that he was Johann Kaspar Kerll’s first teacher. Life Little is known about Valentini’s life. He was born around 1582/3, probably in Venice, and almost certainly studied music under Giovanni Gabrieli there. Although the typical graduation Opus 1 of madrigals to be expected from a Gabrieli pupil – such as Opus 1 of Mogens Pedersøn (1608), Johann Grabbe (1609) and Heinrich Schütz (1611) – is not extant, Antimo Liberati (1617–1692) who worked in Venice in the 1640s records him in a letter of the 1680s as “Giovanni Valentini Veneziano, della famosa Schola de’ Gabrielli.” In approximately 1604/5 Valentini was appointed as organist of the Polish court chapel under Sigismund III Vasa; his first published works are dated 1609 and 1611, when he was still in Poland. In 1614 Valentini was employed by Ferdinand II (

Girolamo Dalla Casa

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Girolamo Dalla Casa, also known as Girolamo da Udine and Hieronymo de Udene, was an Italian composer, instrumentalist, and writer of the late Renaissance. He was a member of the Venetian School, and more influential as a performer than as a composer. NOTOC Nothing is known about his life prior to his arrival at Venice, but he was probably born at Udine sometime before the middle of the 16th century. He was first hired by the musical establishment of St Mark’s Basilica on 29 January 1568, along with his two brothers, Giovanni and Nicolò, where they formed the first permanent instrumental ensemble.. The sonorous acoustical environment of this basilica was the center of activity of the Venetians. Giovanni Gabrieli clearly had Dalla Casa’s group in mind for much of his music, and the Dalla Casas are presumed to have played in many the elaborate polychoral compositions of the time. In 1572, Dalla Casa served as Venetian agent for the purchase of a large number of wind instruments and printed editions of music for the court of John of Austria, half-brother of Philip II of Spain and hero of the Battle of Lepanto in the previous year. The transaction, made though the Spanish resident a

Girolamo Frescobaldi

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Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (; also Gerolamo, Girolimo, and Geronimo Alissandro; September 15831 March 1643) was an Italian composer and virtuoso keyboard player. Born in the Duchy of Ferrara, he was one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. A child prodigy, Frescobaldi studied under Luzzasco Luzzaschi in Ferrara, but was influenced by many composers, including Ascanio Mayone, Giovanni Maria Trabaci, and Claudio Merulo. Girolamo Frescobaldi was appointed organist of St. Peter’s Basilica, a focal point of power for the Cappella Giulia (a musical organisation), from 21 July 1608 until 1628 and again from 1634 until his death. Frescobaldi’s printed collections contain some of the most influential music of the 17th century. His work influenced Johann Jakob Froberger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Henry Purcell, and other major composers. Pieces from his celebrated collection of liturgical organ music, Fiori musicali (1635), were used as models of strict counterpoint as late as the 19th century. Life Frescobaldi was born in Ferrara. His father Filippo was a man of property, possibly an organist since both Girolamo and his half-

Girolamo Scotto

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Girolamo Scotto (Hieronymus Scotus; also Gerolamo) (c.1505 – 3 September 1572 ) was an Italian printer, composer, businessman and bookseller of the Renaissance, active mainly in Venice. He was the most influential member of the firm of Venetian printers, the House of Scotto, which existed from the late 15th century until 1615. At its peak in the 1560s, the Scotto firm under Girolamo was one of the preeminent publishing firms of Europe, producing volumes on law, scholasticism, philosophy, medicine, theology, and ancient literature in addition to music. Only the firm of Gardano produced more books of music in the 16th century than the House of Scotto under Girolamo; over half of Scotto’s publications, 409 out of approximately 800 in total, were books of music. Life and work Girolamo was one of six children of Bernardino Scotto, of Milan (1447–1537). Born in Milan, his early life is undocumented, and prior to the first appearance of his name on a Scotto-published book in 1539, his name appears only once in the historical record: in a petition to the Venetian Senate dated 1536 requesting a printing privilege for a work of scholastic philosophy by Marcantonio Zimara on Averroes’ comment

Giulia Recli

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Giulia Recli (1890 – 19 December 1970) was an Italian composer and essayist. She won first and second prizes at musical competitions in New York, and her works Chimes at Sunrise and Nicolette s’Endorte were performed by the Metropolitan Opera. A concert of her work alongside that of three other women composers was performed in a symphony concert in Rome in 1965. Her music was also acclaimed in Germany. Recli was awarded the title Cavaliere Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana. Life Born in Milan, Recli was a student under Ildebrando Pizzetti and Victor de Sabata, learning piano, composition and singing. She was awarded first and second prizes at New York musical competitions. Recli’s works were introduced to American audiences by Tullio Serafin. In 1926, at a Metropolitan Opera concert headlining Belgian violinist, César Thomson, Recli’s Chimes at Sunrise was performed. In 1931, Recli’s Nicolette s’Endorte, described by The New York Times as a “graceful lullaby”, The other composers were Sandra Caratelli Surace, Norma Beecroft of Canada, and Claude Arrieu of France. Cohen describes her as the first Italian woman to have her music acclaimed in Germany. She was awarded the title Caval

Giuliano Taviani

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Giuliano Taviani (born 1969) is an Italian composer. Life and career Born in Rome, Taviani is the son of the director and screenwriter Vittorio. He started studying jazz, singing, and guitar at the Scuola Popolare di Musica di Testaccio, under Giovanna Marini, and after a brief experience as a guitarist and a vocalist in the band Defaillance he enrolled at the Conservatory of L’Aquila where he graduated in composition. After composing some incidental music, he debuted as a film score composer in 1999, for Gianni Zanasi’s See You. A longtime collaborator of Francesco Munzi, in 2015 he won two David di Donatello for Best Score and Best Song for Munzi’s Black Souls. Selected filmography * See You (1999) * Now or Never (2003) * Saimir (2004) * The Lark Farm (2007) * Love, Soccer and Other Catastrophes (2008) * The Ladies Get Their Say (2009) * Generation 1000 Euros (2009) * Oggi sposi (2009) * The Woman of My Dreams (2010) * Unlikely Revolutionaries (2010) * One Day More (2011) * Escort in Love (2011) * Ex 2: Still Friends? (2011) * Viva l’Italia (2012) * Caesar Must Die (2012) * Stay Away from Me (2013) * Black Souls (2014) * Sapore di te (2014) * Wondrous Boccaccio (2015) * Torno ind

Giulio Aldinucci

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Giulio Aldinucci (born 1981 in Siena) is an Italian composer working primarily in the field of experimental electroacoustic music. His practice encompasses composition, soundscape composition, and the use of archival materials, investigating the relationship between past and present. Through field recording as both method and medium, Aldinucci problematizes the distinction between the “natural” - conceived as the contingent and unregulated sonority of environmental phenomena - and the “artificial,” understood as the product of technologically mediated processes of capture, transformation, and recontextualization. He has released albums on labels including Karlrecords (Germany), 99chants (Germany), Home Normal (UK/Japan), Time Released Sound (USA), Dronarivm (Netherlands) and Nomadic Kids Republic (UK/Japan). He has also published EPs and collaborative albums with artists such as Enrico Coniglio, The Star Pillow, Ian Hawgood, Francis M. Gri, Francesco Giannico, and Pleq. In addition to his solo and collaborative works, Aldinucci has created installations, performances and composed music for theatre, video art, experimental radio and cinema. His music has appeared in various compilat

Giulio Briccialdi

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Giulio Briccialdi (1/2 March 1818 – 17 December 1881) was an Italian virtuoso flautist and composer, a technical innovator on his instrument and a professor of music. Briccialdi was born in Terni. He is commonly credited for inventing the B-flat (or “Briccialdi”) thumb key for the Boehm flute, but scholarship suggests that the innovation was Boehm’s first. He died in Florence. Biography Briccialdi was born in Terni, Italy, in the Papal States on 2 March 1818 and began studying flute with his father. After his father’s death, the 14-year-old Briccialdi moved to Rome to pursue a musical career and avoid family pressure to join the priesthood. His first appointment was to the Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome at the age of 17. While in Rome he studied composition and, in 1835, began teaching flute at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He then moved to Naples, where he was the flute teacher for the royal family. Over the next couple of years he worked in Naples and Milan, and was flute teacher to the king’s brother. Then in 1841 he toured Europe and America, finally settling in London the following year. In London he became a director of the instrument making firm Rudall and Rose and was

Giulio Caccini

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Giulio Romolo Caccini (also Giulio Romano) (8 October 1551 – buried 10 December 1618) was an Italian composer, teacher, singer, instrumentalist and writer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the founders of the genre of opera, and one of the most influential creators of the new Baroque style. He was also the father of the composer Francesca Caccini and the singer Settimia Caccini. Life Little is known about his early life, but he is thought to have been born in Rome, the son of the carpenter Michelangelo Caccini; he was the older brother of the Florentine sculptor Giovanni Caccini. In Rome he studied the lute, the viol and the harp, and began to acquire a reputation as a singer. In the 1560s, Francesco de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, was so impressed with his talent that he took the young Caccini to Florence for further study. By 1579, Caccini was singing at the Medici court. He was a tenor, and he was able to accompany himself on the viol or the archlute; he sang at various entertainments, including weddings and affairs of state, and took part in the sumptuous intermedi of the time, the elaborate musical, dramatic, visual spectacles which were one of t

Giulio Castagnoli

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Giulio Castagnoli (born 22 November 1958) is an Italian composer. Life and career Giulio Castagnoli was born 22 November 1958 in Rome. Castagnoli, great-grandson of the Florentine composer and pianist Edgardo Del Valle de Paz, graduated in literature (Turin University), piano and composition (Turin Conservatory) before postgraduate degrees in composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg with Brian Ferneyhough (1986), and at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Franco Donatoni (1987). He is currently professor of composition at the Turin Conservatory. Castagnoli collaborates with RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana as a musicologist in programs on contemporary music, leads a concert series in Turin, and is the editor of the musical review “Quaderni di Musica Nuova”. He won several international composition contexts. His one act radio opera “To the Museum” (libretto by Ugo Nespolo) got a special mention of the Jury at 1991 Prix Italia. He was selected in many other events, like the World Music Days of the ISCM in Hong Kong in 1988. Luciano Berio conducted his music. Castagnoli has also received commissions from Radio France, RAI-Italian Radio, the City of Geneva, Stamford

Giulio Cesare Martinengo

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Giulio Cesare Martinengo (; – 10 July 1613) was an Italian composer and teacher of the late Renaissance and early Baroque Venetian School. He was the predecessor to Claudio Monteverdi at San Marco. He probably came from Verona, and was the son of composer Gabriele Martinengo. Accounts giving his birthdate are conflicting: one from his mother claims he was born in 1564, but a document from the “house of the Accoliti” in Verona gives his age in 1583 as 15. He studied with his father in Verona, and in the 1590s he served at Verona Cathedral as a singer as well as a priest. Martinengo is principally famous as the successor to Giovanni Croce, and predecessor to Claudio Monteverdi, to the post of maestro di cappella at San Marco in Venice, which was by far the most prestigious post in northern Italy. He was hired on 22 August 1609, at a pay of 200 ducats, after an audition, and on the recommendation of the Veronese. Martinengo’s tenure was a failure; he was sick most of the time, and the standards of the choir and instrumentalists slipped badly, according to contemporary accounts. In addition, the establishment took on considerable debt and became disorganized and demoralized. Martinengo

Giulio Confalonieri

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Giulio Confalonieri (23 May 1896 - 29 June 1972) was an Italian musician, musicologist, composer and musical critic. Born in Milan, Confalonieri graduated in letters at the and in piano at the Bologna Conservatory. Between 1919 and 1920 he composed his first opera, “Rosaspina”, which was eventually staged only in 1939. In 1921 he moved to Paris, where he became friends with Paul Dukas, and then to London, where he stayed until 1927 teaching piano, performing as a concert pianist, and composing incidental music. Returned to Italy, after a long period of isolation and study, in the late 1930s Confalonieri resumed his activity as a composer, and in 1940, he started collaborating with the magazine Settegiorni as a musical critic. In 1944 he lost the use of a leg because of an accident, and then focused on writing, collaborating with a large number of publications, notably Il Giorno, Oggi and Epoca. References External links

Giuseppe Becce

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Giuseppe Becce (3 February 1877 – 5 October 1973) was an Italian-born film score composer who enriched the German cinema. Biography Becce was born in Lonigo, province of Vicenza, Italy. He showed his musical talents early and was named the director of the student musical orchestra at the Pollini Conservatoire in Padua where he studied ‘cello and flute, along with geography and philology. In 1906 he moved to Germany and studied musical composition with Arthur Nikisch and Ferruccio Busoni in Berlin. In the 1913 silent movie Richard Wagner, directed by Carl Froelich, Becce played the title role and wrote the accompanying music (see also List of films about Richard Wagner.) He continued to write such music for a series of subsequent movies. A collection of these pieces, the so-called “Kinothek” was published between 1919 and 1933 by the Verlag Schlesinger’sche Buchhandlung in Berlin. From 1915 to 1923, Becce was the director of the little orchestra of the Berlin Mozartsaal cinema, located upstairs at the Neues Schauspielhaus in the Nollendorfplatz. After World War I, he was named to direct the music department of the Decla-Bioscop AG and chief director of its movie orchestra, later to

Giuseppe Bellenghi

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Giuseppe Bellenghi (1847 in Bologna – 17 October 1902 in Florence) was a virtuoso violoncellist and mandolinist, and composer. He was remembered in 1914 as “a devoted champion of the mandolin.” Bellinghi studied violoncello under “several well-known Italian masters,” including Teodulo and Jefte Sbolci. He gained a reputation as a cello virtuoso in Florence, and worked in important concerts in Bologna and Florence, and as first violoncellist in the theatres. He began to write for the mandolin, creating “light selections.” He first published with Ricordi in Milan, but later founded Forlivesi & Company Publishing in Florence, which was a major music publisher when he died in 1902, publishing more than 7000 musical compositions. Bellenghi’s own compositions were very numerous, and he published many lighter works under the name of G. B. Pirani. He wrote the comprehensive Method for the mandolin in three parts, which is published in four languages, French, English, Italian and German. He also wrote a series of daily exercises for the mandolin, entitled La ginnastica del mandolino, with the object of strengthening the fourth finger, and a volume of Ascending and descending major and minor

Giuseppe Branzoli

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Giuseppe Branzoli (1835 in Cento – 21 January 1909, in Rome) was a violinist, mandolinist, composer, author, educator at the Liceo Musicale di St. Cecilia in Rome, and the founder of the periodical IL mandolin Romano. His compositions were for violin, mandolin, flute and cello, as well as church music. He taught at Cento and Bologna and played first violin at the Theatre of Apollo Orchestra in Rome. Also played in the Theatre of Massimo in Rome. After his son died and he used music as a way to “stifle and conquer his grief”. He taught as a professor of stringed instruments at the college level and worked as a conductor of the Philharmonic Society. He also helped found the Liceo Musicale di St. Cecilia in Rome and taught as a professor of harmony there and worked as a librarian. Compositions He composed for the mandolin band. He also did operas, Torquato Tasso and Sorrento which were successful. Wrote an elegy for orchestra, A tear over the tome of Meyerbeer. *Une Larme sur la tombe de Gaetano Donizdth. Elegie pour violon avec accompagnement de piano par Giuseppe Branzole. Op. 51 (A Tear at the tomb of Gaetano Donizdth. Elegie for violin with piano accompaniment by Giuseppe Branzole

Giuseppe Buonamici

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Giuseppe Buonamici (19 February 1846 – 18 March 1914) was an Italian composer, pianist and musicologist. Life Grandson of the opera singer Ferdinando Ceccherini, Buonamici was born in Florence. He started very early his musical studies, and already at the age of 14 was an appreciated pianist, known by the stage name “Niccolini”. and in 1893 he was appointed by royal decree professor of piano at the musical institute of the city. He continued to give occasional concerts in Italy, Germany and England, where he performed for the Queen Victoria and had the privilege of being appointed honorary member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. References External links * *

Giuseppe Cambini

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Giuseppe Maria Gioacchino Cambini (Montelupo Fiorentino, 8 april 1746Netherlands? 1810s? or Paris? 1825?) was an Italian composer and violinist. Life Unconfirmed information Information about his life is scarcely traceable. Louis-Gabriel Michaud, French scholar and François-Joseph Fétis, Belgian musicologist, drafted his biography, and Cambini himself speaks about his past in an article published in Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1804. However, all of these documents are full of errors and, therefore, need to be verified. It is not possible to confirm his personal data (only Fétis indicates his date of birth and, more possibly to Filippo Manfredi, who was almost certainly his violin teacher. Fétis wrote about his unfortunate operatic debut in Naples in 1766, after which, during his return to Livorno by the sea, Cambini was kidnapped by pirates, who treated him terribly until his liberation by a Venetian aristocrat. a fact that reduces its reliability. this quartet would represent the first formation of this emerging genre in Italy, if not in all of Europe. For many years, this information fostered a gigantic legend about the importance of the role of Cambini in defining the str

Giuseppe Ceccherini

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Giuseppe Ceccherini (24 November 1829 – 2 November 1899) was an Italian composer and singing teacher. He was born in Florence, the son of Ferdinando Ceccherini (1792–1858), a noted tenor, composer, and the maestro di cappella of Florence’s principal cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore. Like his father, Ceccherini served as the maestro di cappella of Santa Maria del Fiore for which he composed numerous pieces of sacred music. His compositions, long forgotten, were found in the cathedral’s archives, transcribed by the musicologist Gabriele Giacomelli and performed in a concert at the Cathedral in June 2004. Their style reflect his passion for Italian opera and sometimes had musical quotations from operatic scores such as his Verbum caro which contains melodies from Bellini’s opera Norma. For many years, Ceccherini was the professor of singing at the Regio Istituto Musicale di Firenze (now known as the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini) where his pupils included the sopranos Ida Isori, Zaira Zelli and Abigaille Bruschi-Chiatti. He also taught music and singing at the Istituto della Santissima Annunziata and the Conservatorio delle Mantellate in Florence. Ceccherini died in Florence at the ag

Giuseppe Concone

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Giuseppe Concone (September 12, 1801 - June 1, 1861 Turin) was an Italian voice teacher and composer. Life and career Giuseppe Concone was born in Turin, Italy on September 12, 1801. He had a brief career as singer before devoting himself almost entirely to working as a voice teacher; beginning that work in Turin. He composed the opera Un episodio del San Michele which premiered in Turin on 8 June 1836. He composed a second opera, Graziella, which was never performed. While in Paris he wrote three ‘oratorios.’ One commentator (named Smither) wrote: “These are quite brief, and include no orchestra but only piano accompaniment. They are evidently intended for performance in a private soiree rather than a theatre. No performance of any of the three is known.” Concone returned to Italy in 1848, probably due to events resulting from the Revolutions of 1848. He was appointed both organist and maestro di cappella of the Sardinian court in Turn; a position he remained in until his death in Turin on September 12, 1861. Concone also composed some etudes for piano in 25 Melodic Studies, Op. 24., and concert arias and duets. List of works by Concone * Fifteen Vocalises for Soprano * Twenty-Fiv

Giuseppe Creatore

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Giuseppe Creatore (), called the Great Creatore, was an Italian bandmaster in Italy and the United States. He was born in Naples, Italy, on June 21, 1871, and died in New York City on August 15, 1952. Creatore’s fame rivaled that of John Philip Sousa, and he was known for performances that were engaging for both their showmanship and musicianship. The music critic of the Kansas City Journal provides a colorful description of Creatore’s stage presence: “Creatore starts the band in a mild, entreating way. A simple uplifting of the arms. Then suddenly, with a wild shake of his shaggy head, he springs across the stage with the ferocity of a wounded lion. Crash! Bang! And a grand volume of sound chocks the hall from pit to dome.” Career Creatore studied trombone and conducting with Nicola D’Arienzo and Camillo de Nardis at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella. In 1887, at the young age of 17, he accepted a position to direct the Naples Military Band. but also for Edison Records, Paramount Records, and Columbia Records. In 1931, he conducted a series of open air concerts for a symphony orchestra, and in 1937 conducted the New York State Symphonic Band and the New York Symphonic Orch

Giuseppe Di Bianco

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Giuseppe Di Bianco (born 17 October 1969) is an Italian composer, conductor, arranger, mainly of choral music. Biography Education Giuseppe Di Bianco holds degrees in Piano, Composition, Choral conducting and Music Didactics from the Conservatories of Salerno and San Pietro a Majella of Naples, graduating Summa cum Laude and Honorable Mention in Foreign Languages and Modern Literature. Enrico Buondonno, direct heir of the didactic tradition of Licinio Refice, Raffaele Casimiri, Achille Longo, started him to study the composition. His training also includes advanced courses and workshops at Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and Scuola di Musica of Fiesole (Florence) with Giacomo Manzoni, Salvatore Sciarrino, Louis Andriessen, Peter Maxwell Davies, Luis de Pablo; analysis seminars with Jean - Jacques Nattiez, Janet Schmalfeldt (Tufts University, MA). Artistic activity Active as a pianist, teacher, and composer, with the main interest in choral composition, published by Feniarco Ed. (IT), Federcoritrentino e «Композитор • Санкт-Петербург» Publishing House and performed in Italy, the Vatican City, Europe, Russia, Japan, the Philippines, he has received numerous awards in composition

Giuseppe Ferrata

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Giuseppe Ferrata (1865–1928) was an Italian-American pianist, composer, and university professor. He was a student of Giovanni Sgambati and Franz Liszt at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (English: National Academy of Saint Cecilia) in Rome, Italy. Ferrata was knighted by the Royal Court of Portugal, the Royal Court of Belgium, and the King of Italy. Ferrata composed for two different audiences. Some of his works were composed for their popular appeal. Other compositions were intended to advance orchestral music as a musical art form, for audiences that were musicians, other composers, and people with deep appreciation of orchestral music. Ferrata was also an inventor, having obtained three United States Patents. Early life and education Ferrata was born in Gradoli, Italy, to a family of small landowners. Ferrata played the clarinet. Later in his childhood, he served as assistant conductor for the local municipal band. Ferrata initially studied piano with Giovanni Sgambati and musical composition with Antonio Terziani at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and then later while still at the academy with Franz Liszt. Ferrata had auditioned for Liszt who then invited Ferr

Giuseppe Gazzaniga

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Giuseppe Gazzaniga (5 October 1743 – 1 February 1818) was a member of the Neapolitan school of opera composers. He composed fifty-one operas, particularly opera buffa. Biography Born in Verona, Gazzaniga was initially intended for the priesthood at the urging of his devout parents. He eventually convinced his father to allow him to pursue a career in music and began studies first in Venice and then at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in Naples. While there, he was a pupil of Niccolò Piccinni and Nicola Porpora. Gazzaniga presented his first opera, Il barone di Trocchia, at the Teatro di San Carlo in 1768. He would spend the next several decades writing mostly operas in Italy with the exception of a few trips to Dresden, Vienna, and Prague. His most successful opera was his Don Giovanni Tenorio written in 1787 to a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, possibly an inspiration for the libretto of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. His last opera, Martino Carbonaro, was performed at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice in 1801. He also wrote a symphony and three piano concertos. In 1791, he became musical director of Crema Cathedral in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, where he composed n

Giuseppe Lillo

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Giuseppe Lillo (26 February 1814 - 4 February 1863) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his operas which followed in the same vein of Gioachino Rossini. He also produced works for solo piano, a small amount of sacred music, and some chamber music. Life and career Born in Galatina in the Province of Lecce, Lillo was the son of conductor Giosuè Lillo. He received his earliest musical training from his father before entering the Naples Conservatory where he studied harmony and counterpoint with Giovanni Furno, piano with Francesco Lanza, and composition with Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. His first composition, a mass for four voices and orchestra, premiered to a warm reception in 1834. As a composer Lillo primarily composed music for the stage. His first opera, La moglie per 24 ore, ossia L’ammalato di buona salute, premiered successfully at the Real Collegio di Musica during Carnival of 1834. He quickly gained a great deal of popularity with the Naples public with opera serias like Il gioiello (1835), Odda di Bernaver (1837), and Il conte di Chalais (1839). The pinnacle of his success came with his only opera comica, L’osteria di Andujar, which premiered in Fondo on 30 Septem

Giuseppe Maria Orlandini

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Giuseppe Maria Orlandini (4 April 167624 October 1760) was an Italian baroque composer particularly known for his more than 40 operas and intermezzos. Highly regarded by music historians of his day like Francesco Saverio Quadrio, Jean-Benjamin de La Borde and Charles Burney, Orlandini, along with Vivaldi, is considered one of the major creators of the new style of opera that dominated the second decade of the 18th century. Life Born in Florence, Orlandini began working as an opera composer in his late twenties for Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici. His first opera, Artaserse, premiered in Livorno in 1706. A moderate success, the work was revived in Naples in 1708. Beginning in 1711, he was the maestro di cappella to Prince Gian Gastone (later the Duke of Tuscany). In 1717 he moved to Bologna, where he met and married opera singer Maria Maddalena Buonavia. He continued to live and work in that city for the next fifteen years. Orlandini’s first major critical success was the opera Antigona which premiered in Venice during carnival of 1718. The work was highly popular and enjoyed performances throughout Europe. In 1719 he became a member of the Accademia Filarmonica. That same year his int

Giuseppe Martucci

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Giuseppe Martucci (; 6 January 1856, in Capua – 1 June 1909, in Naples) was an Italian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. Sometimes called “the Italian Brahms”, Martucci was notable among Italian composers of the era in that he dedicated his entire career to absolute music, and wrote no operas. As a composer and teacher he was influential in reviving Italian interest in non-operatic music. Nevertheless, as a conductor, he did help to introduce Wagner’s operas to Italy and also gave important early concerts of British music there. Career Martucci was born at Capua, in Campania. He learned the basics of music from his father, Gaetano, who played the trumpet. A child prodigy, he played in public on the piano when only eight years old. From the age of 11, he was a student at the Naples Conservatory, on the recommendation of professor Beniamino Cesi, the latter being a former student of Sigismond Thalberg. From Paolo Serrao, Martucci acquired his initial training in composition; his own composition students later on, when he worked and taught at Bologna, included Ottorino Respighi. He died in Naples in 1909. His son Paolo, born in Naples in 1883, also became a pianist of note, br

Giuseppe Mulè

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Giuseppe Mulè (28 June 1885, Termini Imerese - 10 September 1951, Rome) was an Italian composer and conductor. His output includes numerous symphonic works and chamber works, incidental music for the stage, 7 operas, 5 film scores, and an oratorio. His work is characterized by its use of Italian folk melodies, verismo, and a tritone-inflected melodic style. Life and career Mulè studied at the Vincenzo Bellini Conservatory in Palermo. In 1903, even before completing his academic studies, he composed a Largo for cello and piano that was used as an opening song in national radio broadcasts in Italy for RAI. After graduating from the conservatory he pursued a career as a conductor in Italy, working with many of that nation’s leading orchestras. He became the director of the Palermo Conservatory in 1922. He left there in 1925 to become the director of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, a post he held for 20 years. During the fascist era he was recognized for his talent for organization. He was made national secretary of the Sindicato del Musicisti, which he represented in parliament alongside composer Adriano Lualdi from 1929 on. He retired in 1945 and lived in Rome until his dea

Giuseppe Persiani

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Giuseppe Persiani (11 September 1799 – 13 August 1869) was an Italian opera composer. Persiani was born in Recanati. He wrote his first opera - one of 11 - in 1826 but, after his marriage to the soprano Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani, who was to become a significant singer in her time, he devoted much of his efforts to supporting her career. He worked in a variety of opera genres including opera buffa and wrote an oratorio named Abigaille and featuring the same character as in the popular Verdi opera, Nabucco. He was noted for his ability to effectively combine music and drama as well as florid decoration. His best-known opera, Inês de Castro, from a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano (who also wrote the libretto for Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor the same year), was created in 1835 for the celebrated soprano Maria Malibran, who sang the role of the 14th-century Portuguese queen of the same name. The opera was first presented at La Scala in January 1837 but by that time, Malibran had died. After some revisions to tailor the role for his wife, the opera was presented in Paris in 1839. While it was given about 60 productions over a period of 16 years, after 1851 it was rarely, if ever, pre

Giuseppe Pietri

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Giuseppe Pietri (Sant’Ilario, frazione of Marina di Campo, comune of Campo nell’Elba, 6 May 1886 – Milan, 11 August 1946) was an Italian composer, known primarily for his work in operetta. Excerpts from one of his works, the opera Maristella, were widely recorded and continue to be so on CD. The aria “Io conosco un giardino” from that work has been popular with tenors, and has been frequently recorded separately; among the singers to record it are Luciano Pavarotti, Beniamino Gigli, Joseph Calleja and more recently, Rolando Villazón. Pietri studied composition at the Milan Conservatory with Gaetano Coronaro. He studied harmony and counterpoint with Amintore Galli. He composed operas in versistical tradition, but it was his operettas that made him a popular success. He developed an independent Italian idiom for the operetta. The most famous was L’acqua cheta, which premiered in Rome in 1920. The text was from a 1908 Tuscan dialect piece by Augusto Novelli, a romantic comedy in the Florentine petty bourgeois style. Rompicollo was premiered in 1928 in Milan, and was translated into German as Das große Rennen (“The Big Race”). Works Operas * Calendimaggio, libretto by Pietro Gori, Flor

Giuseppe Sammartini

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Giuseppe Francesco Gaspare Melchiorre Baldassare Sammartini (also Gioseffo, S Martini, St Martini, San Martini, San Martino, Martini, Martino; 6 January 1695 – between 17 and 23 November 1750) was an Italian composer and oboist during the late Baroque and early Classical era. Although he was from Milan, most of his professional life was spent in London and with Frederick, the Prince of Wales. He also had a younger brother, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, who likewise became a renowned composer. Personal life Giuseppe Sammartini was born in Milan, Italy. Giuseppe took oboe lessons from his French father Alexis Saint-Martin. Although born in Milan, Giuseppe found his success in other parts of Europe. His first trip was to Brussels, and from there he made his way to London where he would go on to spend the rest of his life. Giuseppe did return to Milan for his sister Madalena’s marriage on 13 February 1728. In July 1728 Giuseppe also travelled to Brussels with his pupil Gaetano Parenti. Performer Sammartini was an exceptionally skilled oboist. He could play the flute and recorder, as was customary at the time. Before moving to London, he was the oboist at in Milan around 1717. He then b

Giuseppe Tartini

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Giuseppe Tartini (8 April 1692 – 26 February 1770) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era born in Pirano in the Republic of Venice (now Piran, Slovenia). Tartini was a prolific composer, composing over a hundred pieces for the violin, the majority of them violin concertos. He is best remembered for his Violin Sonata in G Minor (the Devil’s Trill Sonata). Early life Tartini was born on 8 April 1692 in Pirano (today Piran in Slovenia), a town on the peninsula of Istria, in the Republic of Venice to Gianantonio – native of Florence – and Caterina Zangrando, a descendant of one of the oldest aristocratic Piranese families. It appears Tartini’s parents intended him to become a Franciscan friar and, in this way, he received basic musical training. Tartini studied violin first at the collegio delle Scuole Pie in Capodistria (today Koper). Tartini’s skill improved tremendously and, in 1721, he was appointed Maestro di Cappella at the Basilica di Sant’Antonio in Padua, with a contract that allowed him to play for other institutions if he wished. In Padua, he met and befriended fellow composer and theorist Francesco Antonio Vallotti. Between 1723 and 1725 he was in Prague,

Giuseppe Torelli

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Giuseppe Torelli (22 April 1658 Verona – 8 February 1709) was an Italian violinist, teacher and composer of the middle Baroque era. Brother of the painter Felice Torelli, he is most remembered for contributing to the development of the concerto, especially the solo concerto, and for his music for string instruments and trumpet. Life Torelli was born in Verona. It is not known with whom he studied violin, although it has been speculated that he was a pupil of Leonardo Brugnoli or Bartolomeo Laurenti, but it is certain that he studied composition with Giacomo Antonio Perti. On 27 June 1684, at the age of 26, he became a member of the Accademia Filarmonica as suonatore di violino. He was employed as a viola player at the San Petronio basilica beginning in 1686, where he stayed until 1695 or January 1696, when the orchestra was discontinued because of financial constraints. In 1687 Giuseppe Corsi da Celano played Torelli’s music, from Op. 3, in Parma at the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata. By 1698 Torelli was maestro di concerto at the court of Georg Friedrich II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, where he conducted the orchestra for Le pazzie d’amore e dell’interesse, an idea d

Giuseppe Verdi

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Childhood and education#

Verdi, the first child of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini, was born at their home in Le Roncole, a village near Busseto, then in the Taro department within the borders of the First French Empire. The baptismal register, prepared on 11 October 1813, lists his parents Carlo and Luigia as “innkeeper” and “spinner” respectively. Additionally, it lists Verdi as being “born yesterday”, but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. Following his mother, Verdi always celebrated his birthday on 9 October, the day he himself believed he was born. Verdi had a younger sister, Giuseppa, who died aged 17 in 1833. She is said to have been his closest friend during childhood. From age four Verdi was given private lessons in Latin and Italian by the village schoolmaster, Baistrocchi, and at six he attended the local school. After learning to play the organ, he showed so much interest in music that his parents finally provided him with a spinet. Verdi’s gift for music was already apparent by 1820–21 when he began his association with the local church, serving in the choir, acting as an altar boy for a while, and taking organ lessons. After Baistrocchi’s death, Verdi, at the age of eight, became the official paid organist. Despite this early immersion in church life, Verdi developed a lifelong anticlericalism; in later years he reportedly warned his grandson, “Sta lontan dai pret” (‘Stay away from the priests.’). The music historian Roger Parker points out that both of Verdi’s parents belonged to families of small landowners and traders, certainly not the illiterate peasants from which Verdi later liked to present himself as having emerged… Carlo Verdi was energetic in furthering his son’s education…something which Verdi tended to hide in later life… T he picture emerges of youthful precocity eagerly nurtured by an ambitious father and of a sustained, sophisticated and elaborate formal education. In 1823, when he was 10, Verdi’s parents arranged for the boy to attend school in Busseto, enrolling him in a Ginnasio—an upper school for boys—run by Don Pietro Seletti, while they continued to run their inn at Le Roncole. Verdi returned to Busseto regularly to play the organ on Sundays, covering the distance of several kilometres on foot. At age 11, Verdi received schooling in Italian, Latin, the humanities, and rhetoric. By the time he was 12, he began lessons with Ferdinando Provesi, maestro di cappella at San Bartolomeo, director of the municipal music school and co-director of the local Società Filarmonica (Philharmonic Society). Verdi later stated: “From the ages of 13 to 18 I wrote a motley assortment of pieces: marches for band by the hundred, perhaps as many little sinfonie that were used in church, in the theatre and at concerts, five or six concertos and sets of variations for pianoforte, which I played myself at concerts, many serenades, cantatas (arias, duets, very many trios) and various pieces of church music, of which I remember only a Stabat Mater.” This information comes from the Autobiographical Sketch which Verdi dictated to the publisher Giulio Ricordi late in life, in 1879, and remains the leading source for his early life and career. Written, understandably, with the benefit of hindsight, it is not always reliable when dealing with issues more contentious than those of his childhood. The other director of the Philharmonic Society was , a wholesale grocer and distiller, who was described by a contemporary as a “manic dilettante” of music. The young Verdi did not immediately become involved with the Philharmonic. By June 1827, he had graduated with honours from the Ginnasio and was able to focus solely on music under Provesi. By chance, when he was 13, Verdi was asked to step in as a replacement to play in what became his first public event in his home town; he was an immediate success mostly playing his own music to the surprise of many and receiving strong local recognition. By 1829–30, Verdi had established himself as a leader of the Philharmonic: “none of us could rival him” reported the secretary of the organisation, Giuseppe Demaldè. An eight-movement cantata, I deliri di Saul, based on a drama by Vittorio Alfieri, was written by Verdi when he was 15 and performed in Bergamo. It was acclaimed by both Demaldè and Barezzi, who commented: “He shows a vivid imagination, a philosophical outlook, and sound judgment in the arrangement of instrumental parts.” In late 1829, Verdi had completed his studies with Provesi, who declared that he had no more to teach Verdi. At the time, Verdi had been giving singing and piano lessons to Barezzi’s daughter Margherita; by 1831, they were unofficially engaged. Verdi set his sights on Milan, then the cultural capital of northern Italy, where he applied unsuccessfully to study at the Conservatory. Barezzi made arrangements for him to become a private pupil of , who had been maestro concertatore at La Scala, and who described Verdi’s compositions as “very promising”. Lavigna encouraged Verdi to take out a subscription to La Scala, where he heard Maria Malibran in operas by Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini. Verdi began making connections in the Milanese world of music that were to stand him in good stead. These included an introduction by Lavigna to an amateur choral group, the Società Filarmonica, led by Pietro Massini. Attending the Società frequently in 1834, Verdi soon found himself functioning as rehearsal director (for Rossini’s La Cenerentola) and continuo player. It was Massini who encouraged him to write his first opera, originally titled Rocester, to a libretto by the journalist Antonio Piazza.

Goffredo Petrassi

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Goffredo Petrassi (16 July 1904 – 3 March 2003) was an Italian composer of modern classical music, conductor, and teacher. He is considered one of the most influential Italian composers of the twentieth century. Life Petrassi was born at Zagarolo, near Rome. At the age of 15 he began to work at a music shop to supply his family’s financial needs, and became fascinated by music. In 1928, he entered the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome to study organ and composition for five years under Vincenzo di Donato. In 1933, composer Alfredo Casella conducted Petrassi’s Partita for orchestra at the ISCM festival in Amsterdam. From 1940 to 1960 Petrassi was professor of composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory; later, he also became musical director of the opera house La Fenice, and from 1960 to 1978 he taught in the master courses in composition at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He was also a teacher at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Petrassi had many famous students, including Franco Donatoni, Aldo Clementi, Cornelius Cardew, Ennio Morricone, Karl Korte, Boris Porena, Norma Beecroft, Mario Bertoncini, Ernesto Rubin de Cervin, Eric Salzman, Kenneth Leighton, Peter Maxwell Davies, Michael Dell

Graziella Concas

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Graziella Concas (born 7 January 1970) is an Italian pianist and composer. Biography and career She started studying piano at the age of five. Later she studied piano under Franca Zinghinì-Spinnicchia at the Catania Musical Institute ‘Vincenzo Bellini’, and composition under Angela Giuffrida. She later studied with Sergio Perticaroli, Agatella Catania, Aldo Ciccolini, Vera Gornostayeva and Boris Petrushansky. She is noted especially for her recordings of 20th century works and world premiere by composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, Olivier Messiaen, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Aldo Clementi, Giovanni Sollima, Francesco Pennisi, Alfredo Sangiorgi, Alexis Koustoulidis, Thomas Lawrence Toscano, Marco Betta, Roberto Carnevale, Alessandro Solbiati, Giovanni Ferrauto, Marina Leonardi, Sergio Pallante. She won several awards: first prize at the ‘Avagliano’ Piano Competition; first prize at the ‘Ennio Porrino’ Piano Competition in Cagliari; first prize at the ‘A.M.A. Calabria’ Piano Competition; first prize at the ‘Castello Normanno’ Piano Competition; first prize at the ‘Città di Barletta’ Piano Competition; second prize at the ‘Città di Valentino’ Piano Competition; second prize at the ‘Ci

Gregorio Allegri

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Gregorio Allegri (c. 14 January 158217 February 1652) was an Italian Catholic priest and composer of the Roman School and brother of Domenico Allegri; he was also a singer. He was born and died in Rome. He is chiefly known for his Miserere for two choirs. Life He studied music as a puer (boy chorister) at San Luigi dei Francesi, under the maestro di cappella Giovanni Bernardino Nanino, brother of Giovanni Maria Nanino. Being intended for the Church, he obtained a benefice in the cathedral of Fermo. Here he composed a large number of motets and other sacred music, which, being brought to the notice of Pope Urban VIII, obtained for him an appointment in the choir of the Sistine Chapel at Rome as a contralto. He held this from 6 December 1629 until his death. Allegri is said to have been a virtuous man, as well as good-natured and generous to the poor and to prisoners. Among Allegri’s musical compositions were two volumes of concerti for five voices published in 1618 and 1619; two volumes of motets for six voices published in 1621; an edition of a four-part sinfonia; five masses; two settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah; and numerous motets which were not published in his lifetime

Guido Alberto Fano

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Guido Alberto Fano (18 May 1875 in Padua – 14 August 1961 at Tauriano di Spilimbergo) was an Italian pianist and composer. From 1894 he was the favoured pupil of Giuseppe Martucci. In 1905 he was appointed director of the Parma Conservatory, and in 1916 he became director of the Palermo Conservatory. From 1922 he was professor of piano at the Milan Conservatory. Fano, who was of Jewish origin, was removed from this position by the Italian Fascist racial laws in 1938. He moved to Fossombrone and Assisi to survive the holocaust from 1943 to 1945. He returned to teaching 1945–47, then retired. Works, editions and recordings * Canzoni. Sara Mingardo. 2011 References

Guido Chigi Saracini

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Count Guido Chigi Saracini (Siena, 8 March 1880 – Siena, 18 November 1965), full name Guido Chigi degli Useppi Saracini Lucherini, was an Italian patrician, a musical patron and composer, and a public administrator. Having inherited the Palazzo Chigi-Saracini in the centre of the city of Siena, Tuscany, he applied his musical instincts to his new opportunities, restored the Palazzo in 1923, and established a concert society and later (1932) a musical academy there. The Accademia Chigiana, which flourishes today, grew under his supervision into a famous institution for higher instruction, research and performance in chamber music, playing an important role in the revival of Italian baroque instrumental music, and in the advocacy and performance of contemporary Italian classical music. Chigi Saracini, who lent his authority to various cultural projects and public forums in Siena, through his academy and through the September music festival “Settimane musicali” which he established in 1939, gave to Siena an international musical reputation: leading world musicians brought their experience and example to its work and performances, while the international tours of the Quintetto Chigiano

Guido Guerrini (composer)

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Guido Guerrini (September 12, 1890 – June 14, 1965) was an Italian composer, violinist, violist, conductor, music educator, academic administrator, and music critic. He began his career as a violinist, violist, and conductor in Bologona in the 1910s. After serving in the Italian Army during World War I, he taught on the faculties of several music conservatories in Italy and was the longtime director of the Florence Conservatory from 1928 to 1947. His work in Florence was interrupted during World War II when he was imprisoned in an Italian fascist concentration camp in 1944–1945. While there he composed his opera Enea which was later staged at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in 1953. He also served as director of the Bologna Conservatory (1947–1949) and the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia (1950–1960). At the time of his death in 1965 he was president of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. As a composer, Guerrini’s early music was inspired heavily was by Maurice Ravel and Richard Strauss, but he later mitigated his penchant for romantic music with a more architectural and intellectual approach to composing. His most successful pieces were his requiem Missa pro defunctis and his mass

Guido Morini

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Guido Morini (born in Milan in 1959) is an Italian pianist, organist, harpsichordist, musicologist and composer. In the ensemble Accordone he performs early baroque works with singer Marco Beasley. Beasley is also the librettist for his Una Odissea, composed in 2001. His cycle Vivifice Spiritus Vitae Vis 2005, is composed on texts from the Vulgate Latin Bible. Discography :Own compositions or arrangements * Improvisando - Il jazz del Cinquecento. Paolo Pandolfo, Guido Morini, Thomas Boysen et al. GCD P30409 (Glossa) * Una Odissea (Marco Beasley, Guido Morini - Accordone & Netherlands Wind Ensemble) (2002, NBELive) * Vivifice spiritus vitae vis (“Servabo”) (Marco Beasley, Guido Morini - Accordone) (2004, Cypres) * Una Iliade (Marco Beasley, Guido Morini - Netherlands Wind Ensemble & Hilliard Ensemble) (2009, NBELive) :Performance of early music * Accordone - “Via Toledo” – Tarantelle e Canzoni alla Napolitana. ORF * Accordone I Vox clamans ORF * Accordone II L’Amore Ostinato ORF * Accordone III Il sogno ORF * Accordone IV Surprise ORF * Trigonale 2003. Accordone (Alfio Antico, Marco Beasley, Guido Morini). ORF Edition Alte Musik, ORF-CD 364. * Il salotto Napolitane Accordone ORF * S

Guido Pannain

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Guido Pannain (17 November 1891 – 6 September 1977) was an Italian musicologist, critic and classical composer. Life and career Born in Naples, Pannain was the son of the composer and pianist Eduardo Pannain and the nephew of the composer and music theorist Antonio Pannain. He got a degree in counterpoint and composition at the conservatory of San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory, and graduated in letters at the Federico II University. Between 1915 and 1947, he served as professor at the Naples Conservatory, and between 1952 and 1955 he was professor of music history at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D’Amico. Pannain was author of numerous studies and essays, often focusing on the history of the Neapolitan music; among his most important works, Modern composers (in Italian Musicisti dei tempi nuovi, 1932), a collection of profiles of the leading contemporary composers, La vita del linguaggio musicale: saggio di estetica (“The Life of Musical Language: An Essay on Aesthetics”, 1947), an essay in which he applied the Benedetto Croce’s neo-idealistic theories over music, and Storia della musica (1936-1964), a history of the music he co-wrote with Andrea Della Corte. He

Guido Papini

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Guido Papini (1 August 1847 – 3 October 1912) was an Italian violinist, composer and teacher. During his career he lived in London and Dublin. Life Papini was born in Camaiore in 1847. He studied with Ferdinando Giorgetti in Florence, and gave his first concert there in 1860, playing Louis Spohr’s third violin concerto. For several years he was leader of the Società del quartetto in the city; in 1872 and 1874 he took part in concerts of the . From 1874 he lived in London; he took part in the Musical Union concerts of John Ella, playing in string quartets. He was a soloist at concerts of the Philharmonic Society in 1875, 1877, and 1878. In 1876, he appeared in Paris with an orchestra directed by Jules Pasdeloup. Compositions Papini’s published works include: * A violin concerto (Milan, 1876) and two cello concertos (Milan, 1874 and London, 1877) * Transcriptions for violin and piano * Violin tutors including Il Metodo per violino, reissued as Le Mécanisme du jeune violoniste Op.57 (London, 1883) * L’Argentine, Op.88 * 6 Characteristic Pieces, Op.100 * Adieux à Naples, Op.27 * 8 morceaux faciles, Op.57 * 3 Pieces, Op.102 * 2 Pieces, Op.205 * Theme and Variations, Op.37 References Ext

Igor Markevitch

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Igor Borisovich Markevitch (27 July 1912 – 7 March 1983) was a Russian composer and conductor who studied and worked in Paris and became a naturalized Italian and French citizen in 1947 and 1982 respectively. He was commissioned in 1929 for a piano concerto by impresario Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes. Markevitch settled in Italy during World War II. After the war, he moved to Switzerland. He had an international conducting career from there. He was married twice and had three sons and two daughters. Early life He was born in Kiev in the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv, Ukraine) into a family of Ukrainian Cossack starshiny, who were ennobled in the 18th century. His great-grandfather, Andrey Markevitch, was a state secretary during the reign of Alexander II of Russia, actual privy councilor in St. Petersburg, and co-founder of the Russian Musical Society. Igor was the son of pianist Boris Markevitch and Zoia Pokhitonova (daughter of painter Ivan Pokhitonov). The family moved to France in 1914 when he was two years old. They moved again to Switzerland in 1916, during World War I, because of his father’s failing health (he later died of tuberculosis). The French pianist Alfr

Ildebrando Pizzetti

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Ildebrando Pizzetti (20 September 1880 – 13 February 1968) was an Italian composer of classical music, as well as a musicologist and a music critic. Biography Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the “Generation of 1880” along with Ottorino Respighi, Gian Francesco Malipiero, and Alfredo Casella. They were among the first Italian composers in some time whose primary contributions were not in opera. The instrumental and a cappella traditions had never died in Italian music and had produced, for instance, the string quartets of Antonio Scontrino (1850–1922) and the works of Respighi’s teacher Giuseppe Martucci; but with the “Generation of 1880” these traditions became stronger. Ildebrando Pizzetti was the son of Odoardo Pizzetti, a pianist and piano teacher who was his son’s first teacher. At first Pizzetti seemed headed for a career as a playwright—he had written several plays, two of which had been produced—before he decided in 1895 on a career in music and entered the Parma Conservatory. There he was taught from 1897 by Giovanni Tebaldini and gained the beginnings of his lifelong interest in the early music of Italy, reflected in his own music and his writings. He ta

Irma Ravinale

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Irma Ravinale (1 October 19377 April 2013) was an Italian composer and music educator. She taught at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome. Ravinale has received many awards for her compositions, and was awarded the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, the silver medal for merit from the School of Art and Culture in Rome, and a Gold Medal for culture and the arts. Biography Irma Ravinale was born in Naples, Italy in 1937. She studied composition at the Rome Conservatory of Santa Cecilia with Goffredo Petrassi, and continued her studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne, also studying piano, conducting and choral music. Ravinale became director of San Pietro a Maijella Conservatory in Naples where she served until 1989 and then Director of the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia where she served until 1999. She is member of the International Honour Committee of the Fondazione Donne in Musica. Her compositions have been performed by leading musicians in Italy and overseas. She was the only woman to win the composition prize at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia, which she was awarded in 1966. Ravinale died in Rome, Italy, at the age o

Italo Montemezzi

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Italo Montemezzi (August 4, 1875 – May 15, 1952) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his opera L’amore dei tre re (The Love of the Three Kings), once part of the standard repertoire. It is now seldom performed. Biography Montemezzi was born in Vigasio, near Verona. He studied music at the Milan Conservatory and subsequently taught harmony there for one year. His opera L’amore dei tre re, written in 1913, launched his career and enabled him to devote himself to composition. His opera La nave had its world premiere in Milan in 1918. In 1919 he visited the United States, conducting the American premiere of La nave at the Chicago Opera Association on November 18. He lived in California from 1939 and commemorated Italy’s surrender with Italia mia (1944), but later made frequent trips to Italy. He returned permanently in 1949 and died in Vigasio three years later. Other non-operatic works include the symphonic poem Paolo e Virginia (after Paul et Virginie) and the cantata The Song of Songs. As a composer, Montemezzi was admired for combining traditional Italian lyricism with a Wagnerian approach to the use of the orchestra in opera, with instrumental color influenced by the wor

Ivan Fedele

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Ivan Fedele (born 6 May 1953 in Lecce) is an Italian composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory. Fedele’s compositions are published by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, and many of his works are recorded on Stradivarius Records. Selected works ;Stage * Oltre Narciso, Cantata profana for una azione scenica Secular Cantata for a Scenic Action for mezzo-soprano, baritone, 2 dancers, male chorus and small orchestra (1982); libretto by the composer * Antigone, opera in 7 scenes (2005–2006); libretto after Sophocles by Giuliano Corti and the composer; premiere 24 April 2007, Teatro Comunale, Florence. ;Orchestra * Chiari (1981) * Epos (1989) * Carme for chamber orchestra (1992) * Carme Secondo (1993) * Allegoria dell’indaco for small orchestra (1994); original version for 11 instruments * Scena (1997–1998) * Codex for chamber orchestra (1999); arrangement of music by Johann Sebastian Bach * Accord for chamber orchestra (2003) * Ali di Cantor for 4 orchestral groups (2003) * Artéteka, Folk Dance I (2009) * Pentàlogon Quintet for string orchestra (1987, revised 2009); original version String Quartet No. 2 Pentàlogon Quartet * Syntax 0.1 (if@hay.dn) for chamber orchestra (2009) * Lexikon (2010)

Ivan Iusco

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Ivan Iusco (born September 4, 1970) is an Italian American award-winning composer and record producer based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Background As a youth in the 1970s, Ivan was inspired by Ennio Morricone’s film scores, Japanese animation and science fiction film soundtracks. By age 7, Ivan began taking piano lessons. At 15 he bought his first synthesizer and started building a home studio. Career Music In 1987, he founded the pioneering Italian music label Minus Habens Records In 1987, Iusco also founded the dark ambient and industrial music group, , whose music was primarily released through Minus Habens. Film soundtracks and scoring He debuted in the film industry in 1999, having composed the music for the Apulian cult movie LaCapaGira directed by Alessandro Piva, and went on to win Best Soundtrack at the 2000 Valencia Film Festival (Spain). In 2003 he composed the music for Mio Cognato, a movie by the same director, for which he received the 2004 Nastro d’Argento nomination for Best Soundtrack. Iusco has partnered often with the well-known Italian director, Sergio Rubini, composing the main theme for the movie L’Anima Gemella (2002), the soundtrack of L’Amore

Jacopo Corsi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jacopo Corsi (17 July 1561 – 29 December 1602) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque and one of Florence’s leading patrons of the arts, after only the Medicis. His best-known work is Dafne (1597/98), whose score he wrote in collaboration with Jacopo Peri. Six fragments of the score have survived, two by Corsi and four by Peri. The libretto, by Ottavio Rinuccini, has survived intact. Despite priority quibbles at the time, Dafne is generally accepted as the first opera. TOC Life Born into a Florentine noble family on 17 July 1561, he was the son of Giovanni Corsi (1519–1571) and Alessandra Della Gherardesca (d. 1615). His father was an important merchant who expanded the family activities in Palermo and was also in charge of Cardinal Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1569, Giovanni provided important services to the Cardinal but died early in 1571, leaving Jacopo, who was only 10 years old, to be raised by his uncle Antonio with a great inheritance of 90,000 ducats. Jacopo and his brothers Bardo and Giulio had good investments in mercantile education, which allowed them to continue managing the legacy left by their father. The private

Jacopo da Bologna

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jacopo da Bologna () was an Italian composer of the Trecento, the period sometimes known as the Italian ars nova. He was one of the first composers of this group, making him a contemporary of Gherardello da Firenze and Giovanni da Firenze. He concentrated mainly on madrigals, including both canonic (caccia-madrigal) and non-canonic types, but also composed a single example each of a caccia, lauda-ballata, and motet. Life and career His setting of Non al suo amante, written about 1350, is the only known contemporaneous setting of Petrarch’s poetry. Jacopo’s ideal was “suave dolce melodia” (sweet, gentle melody). His style is marked by fully texted voice parts that never cross. The untexted passages which connect the textual lines in many of his madrigals are also noteworthy. He is well represented in the Squarcialupi Codex, the large collection of 14th-century music long owned by the Medici family; twenty-nine compositions of his are found in that source, the principal source for music of the Italian ars nova, alongside music by Francesco Landini and others. A portrait of Jacopo is found in this manuscript, and another possible portrait is found in a north-Italian manuscript, Fulda,

Jacopo Ettorre

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jacopo Ettorre (born in 1990), also known as Jacopo Èt, is an Italian lyricist, composer and singer-songwriter. Life and career Born in Forlì into a family of musicians, at young age Ettore studied classical music. In 2015, he wrote his first hit, “Lunedì”, for the duo . In 2019, he made his debut at the Sanremo Music Festival with the song “Senza farlo apposta”, performed by Shade and Federica Carta. In 2025, he released his second album, Sammy, Cabiria, etc. etc. Ettore’s songwriting collaborations include Mahmood, Laura Pausini, Elodie, Annalisa, Fedez, Giusy Ferreri, Emma Marrone, Alessandra Amoroso, Max Pezzali, Paola & Chiara, Baby K, Ghali, Boomdabash, Rkomi, Coma_Cose, Emis Killa, Madame, Gaia, Clara, Fred De Palma, Sarah Toscano. He has named the singer-songwriters Lucio Battisti, Vasco Rossi, and Rino Gaetano as his principal inspirations. Discography Album * Siamo sicuri di essere giovani? (2021) * Sammy, Cabiria, etc. etc. (2025) Songwriting credits References External links * * *

Jacopo Peri

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jacopo Peri (; 20 August 156112 August 1633) was an Italian composer, singer, and instrumentalist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. He wrote what is considered the first opera, the mostly lost Dafne (c. 1597), and also the earliest extant opera, Euridice (1600). He is sometimes known by the byname ll Zazzerino (). Life and career Jacopo di Antoni di Franceso Peri was born in either Rome or Florence to a middle-class family. Peri himself claimed to be from Rome, but considering the pro-Roman sentiments of the reigning Fernando de’Medici, grand duke of Tuscany, it was considered a disadvantage to be known as a Florentine. This may have motivated Peri to lie about his true birthplace. Nonetheless, he was employed to sing at the Servite monastery of Santissima Annunziata in the city of Florence. He likely received an education from the monastery school as well. Due to its size and favour with the Medici court, which attended mass there each week, Santissima Annunziata was seen as pipeline for musical students to develop their careers and acquire patronage. Because of his talent and education, Peri was able to study in Florence with Cristofano Malvezzi, and went on to w

Jacques Arcadelt

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jacques Arcadelt (also Jacob Arcadelt; 10 August 150714 October 1568 In addition to his work as a madrigalist, and distinguishing him from the other prominent early composers of madrigals – Philippe Verdelot and Costanzo Festa – he was equally prolific and adept at composing chansons, particularly late in his career when he lived in Paris. Arcadelt was the most influential member of the early phase of madrigal composition, the “classic” phase; it was through Arcadelt’s publications, more than those of any other composer, that the madrigal became known outside of Italy. Later composers considered Arcadelt’s style to represent an ideal; later reprints of his first madrigal book were often used for teaching, with reprints appearing more than a century after its original publication. Life Arcadelt was born in Namur in the Habsburg Netherlands on 10 August 1507. He moved to Italy as a young man, and was present in Florence by the late 1520s, thereby gaining an opportunity to meet or work with Philippe Verdelot, who wrote the earliest named madrigals. Still in Rome, in January 1539, he was probably made a member of the Julian Chapel (the records give his name as “Jacobus flandrus”, sugge

Javier Torres Maldonado

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Javier Torres Maldonado (born 1968) is a Mexican composer internationally recognized for, mostly, his orchestral, chamber, vocal and electro-acoustic works. Biography Born in Chetumal (Mexico), José Javier Torres Maldonado studied violin and composition at the Mexico City Conservatory and later, invited by Franco Donatoni, composition at the “G. Verdi” Milan Conservatory, under the supervision of Sandro Gorli and Alessandro Solbiati; he completed his postgraduate studies under Franco Donatoni, Azio Corghi (Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Accademia Musicale Chigiana) and Ivan Fedele (Conservatoire de Strasbourg). In 2003, he earned a diploma from the G. Verdi Conservatory for his work in electronic music, and in 2004 he was one of ten composers asked to participate in the Stage de Composition et Informatique Musicale at the Parisian center IRCAM. In most of his works, Torres Maldonado explores innovative ways of organizing time, timbre and space. For example, in his piece for ensemble and electro-acoustic support, De Ignoto Cantu (2004), the composer presents several melody lines which, despite their complexity, actually derive from a single simple source consisting in a few n

Jean Ven Robert Hal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jean Ven Robert Hal (born 11 May 1970), known as his stage name Roberto D’Agostino Vendola, is an Italian musician and composer of krautrock, progressive rock, ambient, jazz, synthpop, electronic, space and orchestral music. Biography As a graduate of geometry, Hal also studied architecture and design. His first exposure to music was when he was given his first keyboard at the age of six. He then later started to compose music. Hal specializes on both the analog sound and digital electronic devices and the use of “vintage” synths with prestigious brands such as Moog, ARP Instruments Inc., EMS (Electronic Music Studios), Elka, Oberheim, Synclavier, Fairlight CMI, Mellotron, a precursor of today’s samplers, the legendary Theremin and many others, all musical instruments that have marked the history of modern music. Jean Ven Robert Hal is one of the few representatives in Italy and belongs to the current musical wave of the Kosmische Musik genre with many “cultural” pieces. Kosmische Musik (or krautrock) originated in Germany from various musical influences that are substantially known as the “minimalism”. The psychedelic music and cultured electronic music is a consequence of post-we

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Biography#

Lully was born on November 28 or 29, 1632, in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to Lorenzo Lulli and Caterina Del Sera, a Tuscan family of millers. His general education and his musical training during his youth in Florence remain uncertain, but his adult handwriting suggests that he manipulated a quill pen with ease. He used to say that a Franciscan friar gave him his first music lessons and taught him guitar. He also learned to play the violin. In 1646, dressed as Harlequin during Mardi Gras and amusing bystanders with his clowning and his violin, the boy attracted the attention of Roger de Lorraine, chevalier de Guise, son of Charles, Duke of Guise, who was returning to France and was looking for someone to converse in Italian with his niece, Mademoiselle de Montpensier (la Grande Mademoiselle). Guise took the boy to Paris, where the fourteen-year-old entered Mademoiselle’s service; from 1647 to 1652 he served as her “chamber boy” (garçon de chambre). He probably honed his musical skills by working with Mademoiselle’s household musicians and with composers Nicolas Métru, François Roberday and Nicolas Gigault. The teenager’s talents as a guitarist, violinist, and dancer quickly won him the nicknames “Baptiste”, and “le grand baladin” (great street-artist). When Mademoiselle was exiled to the provinces in 1652 after the rebellion known as the Fronde, Lully “begged his leave … because he did not want to live in the country.” The princess granted his request. By February 1653, Lully had attracted the attention of young Louis XIV, dancing with him in the Ballet royal de la nuit. By March 16, 1653, Lully had been made royal composer for instrumental music. His vocal and instrumental music for court ballets gradually made him indispensable. In 1660 and 1662 he collaborated on court performances of Francesco Cavalli’s Xerse and Ercole amante. When Louis XIV took over the reins of government in 1661, he named Lully superintendent of the royal music and music master of the royal family. In December 1661, the Florentine was granted letters of naturalization. Thus, when he married Madeleine Lambert (1643–1720), the daughter of the renowned singer and composer Michel Lambert in 1662, Giovanni Battista Lulli declared himself to be “Jean-Baptiste Lully, escuyer squire , son of Laurent de Lully, gentilhomme Florentin Florentine gentleman “. The latter assertion of high birth was an untruth. The couple had six children who survived past childhood: Catherine-Madeleine, Louis, Jean-Baptiste, Gabrielle-Hilarie, Jean-Louis and Louis-Marie. From 1661 on, the trios and dances he wrote for the court were promptly published. As early as 1653, Louis XIV made him director of his personal violin orchestra, known as the Petits Violons (“Little Violins”), which was proving to be open to Lully’s innovations, as contrasted with the Twenty-Four Violins or Grands Violons (“Great Violins”), who only slowly were abandoning the polyphony and divisions of past decades. When he became surintendant de la musique de la chambre du roi in 1661, the Great Violins also came under Lully’s control. He relied mainly on the Little Violins for court ballets. Lully’s collaboration with the playwright Molière began with in 1661, when Lully provided a single sung courante, added after the work’s premiere at Nicolas Fouquet’s sumptuous chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte. Their collaboration began in earnest in 1664 with Le Mariage forcé. More collaborations followed, some of them conceived for fetes at the royal court, and others taking the form of incidental music (intermèdes) for plays performed at command performances at court and also in Molière’s Parisian theater. In 1672, Lully broke with Molière, who turned to Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Having acquired Pierre Perrin’s opera privilege, Lully became the director of the Académie Royale de Musique, that is, the royal opera, which performed in the Palais-Royal. Between 1673 and 1687, he produced a new opera almost yearly and fiercely protected his monopoly over that new genre. After Queen Marie-Thérèse’s death in 1683 and the king’s secret marriage to Mme de Maintenon, devotion came to the fore at court. The king’s enthusiasm for opera dissipated; he was annoyed by Lully’s dissolute life and homosexual encounters. Lully had avoided getting too close to the secret homosexual grouping that had gathered in the court around the Duc de Vendôme, the Comte de Tallard and the Duc de Gramont. But in 1685 he was accused of improper relations with a page boy living in his household called Brunet. Brunet was removed after a police raid, and Lully escaped punishment. However, to show his general displeasure, Louis XIV made a point of not inviting Lully to perform Armide at Versailles the following year. Lully died from gangrene, having struck his foot with his long conducting staff during a performance of his Te Deum to celebrate Louis XIV’s recovery from surgery. He refused to have his toe amputated. This resulted in gangrene propagating through his body and ultimately infecting the greater part of his brain, causing his death. He died in Paris and was buried in the church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, where his tomb with its marble bust can still be seen. All three of his sons (Louis Lully, Jean-Baptiste Lully fils, and Jean-Louis Lully) had musical careers as successive surintendants of the King’s Music. Lully himself was posthumously given a conspicuous place on Titon du Tillet’s Parnasse François (“the French Mount Parnassus”). In the engraving, he stands to the left, on the lowest level, his right arm extended and holding a scroll of paper with which to beat time. (The bronze ensemble has survived and is part of the collections of the Museum of Versailles.) Titon honored Lully as:

Jimmy Fontana

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Enrico Sbriccoli (13 November 1934 – 11 September 2013), known professionally as Jimmy Fontana, was an Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter. Two of his most famous songs are “Che sarà”, performed also by José Feliciano with Ricchi e Poveri, and “Il mondo”. Biography Enrico Sbriccoli was born in Camerino, Marche. After graduating from high school, he moved to Rome to study Economics. In his spare time, Fontana taught himself bass and attended local jazz venues. and other countries in Europe and charted in Latin America as well. After “Che sarà”, Fontana stopped writing songs, but continued to tour around Italy for another decade. In 1982 his son Luigi wrote the first part of the music for a new song and this fact brought Jimmy back to compose and create again: he completed the song “Beguine” and sang it at 1982 Sanremo Music Festival, joining the 6th place; Luigi was on stage with his father in Sanremo and from that moment on they were performing together around Italy and abroad until Jimmy died. They were joined in 1992 by Andrea (Jimmy’s 3rd son), creating some beautiful and emotional “family shows”. Fontana also continued appearing on TV shows until his old age. He died

Johannes de Quadris

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Johannes de Quadris (Quatris) (before 1410 – 1457?) was an Italian composer of the early Renaissance. He was one of the first composers of polyphony associated with the basilica of St. Mark’s in Venice, and the earliest known composer to write a polyphonic setting of the Magnificat for four voices. Life He was a priest, and originally from the diocese of Valva-Sulmona, in the vicinity of L’Aquila, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. Sometime before 1436 he began to work as a singer at San Marco in Venice, which was then at the very beginning of its rise to fame; the first mention of a choir there is found in a document of 1403 (by the end of the 16th century, it was one of the most renowned musical institutions in Europe). Quadris worked at San Marco from at least 1436, the date given on his Magnificat, to the time that a Vatican document listed him as “deceased”, in 1457. He made repeated requests (1450, 1452, 1454) to Pope Nicholas V to obtain a prebend in Aquileia. Quadris’s music remained popular for more than half a century, as shown by the many copies made of his hymn Iste confessor, as well as the printing of his music for the Passion by Ottaviano Petrucci in 1506 (the o

Josef Mysliveček

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer. He contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant compositional models in the genres of symphony, Italian serious opera, and violin concerto; both Wolfgang and his father Leopold Mozart considered him an intimate friend from the time of their first meetings in Bologna in 1770 until he betrayed their trust over the promise of an operatic commission for Wolfgang to be arranged with the management of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. His closeness to the Mozart family resulted in frequent references to him in the Mozart correspondence. Biography Mysliveček was born in Prague, one of twin sons of a prosperous mill owner, and studied philosophy at Charles-Ferdinand University before following in the footsteps of his father. No documentation exists to support claims that he was actually born in Horní Šárka, a rural district to the north and west of Prague in the early eighteenth century. He achieved the rank of master miller in 1761 but gave up the family profession in order to pursue musical studies. In Prague

Juan Aberle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Giovanni Enrico Aberle Sforza, better known as Juan Aberle, (11 December 1846 – 28 February 1930) was an Italian conductor and composer who lived in Guatemala and El Salvador. Biography Born in Naples, at eleven years of age, his obvious affinity for music led him to be enrolled in the Neapolitan Conservatory against the wishes of his parents, Heinrich Aberle and Angela Sforza. After completing his studies he went to New York City, where he was an opera director for five years. Later, he undertook a musical tour of Latin America. Upon arriving in Guatemala City, he paused to establish a philharmonic society and music conservatory, which he directed from 1873 to 1879. He then went to El Salvador and established a music school. While there, he composed the music for the Himno Nacional de El Salvador. Later, the Salvadoran government named him director of “La Banda de los Altos Poderes”. Because of his advanced age, he retired from public life in 1922. He died in El Salvador in 1930. His preferred instrument was the piano. He composed a large quantity of chamber music and made transcriptions of opera arias for the piano. His march in honor of Francisco Morazán was declared the “Nation

Juri Camisasca

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Roberto Camisasca (born 9 August 1951), best known as Juri Camisasca, is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. Life and career Born in Melegnano, a self-taught musician, Camisasca debuted in 1974 with the progressive rock album La finestra dentro, produced by Pino Massara and Franco Battiato, which received large critical acclaim. In the following years he collaborated as a vocalist and as a songwriter with Battiato and with other singers, and he took part in the musical project Telaio Magnetico. In 1987 he left the monastic life to embrace an eremitical life at the slopes of Mount Etna. After participating in the Battiato’s opera Genesi as a singer and as the narrating voice, he reprised his record activity in 1988 with the album Te Deum. Camisasca is also active as an icon painter, an activity he gradually focused on in later years. Discography ;Album * 1974 – La finestra dentro (Bla Bla, BBXL 10005) * 1988 – Te Deum (EMI, 66 791529 1) * 1991 – Il carmelo di Echt (EMI, 66 797202 1) * 1999 – Arcano Enigma (Mercury, 546 082–2) * 2016 – Spirituality (Warner Music, in couple with Rosario Di Bella) * 2019 – Laudes (Paoline, 8019118024619) References External links * * * *

Kekko Fornarelli

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kekko Fornarelli, pseudonym of Francesco Fornarelli (born 10 January 1978 in Bari, Italy) is an Italian jazz pianist and composer of crossover jazz music and soundtracks. Biography Kekko Fornarelli began playing the piano at just three years old. He has recorded eight albums as leader, Circular Thought in 2005, A French Man in New York (2008), inspired by French pianist Michel Petrucciani in the three years he spent in France, Room of Mirrors (2011), Outrush (2014), Abaton (2018), Anthropocene (2021), and Naked (2023). He also recorded 3 albums as co-author, Mar Endins (2013, with Catalan singer-songwriter Ruso Sala), Matter of Time (2018, with Roberto Cherillo and their band Shine), L’Ospite - The Original Soundtrack (2022, with Giuseppe Bassi). Kekko Fornarelli has performed in numerous international jazz festivals and clubs, playing in more than 60 countries. In addition to his work as a musician, Kekko Fornarelli is also a composer of film soundtracks. Other notes: Room of mirrors was released in 2011 by Auand Records. Alison Bentley writes “I can’t stop listening to the CD: a fusion of Romantic classical music, modern jazz and 21st century dance rhythms, played with Italian br

Kurken Alemshah

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kurken M. Alemshah (; 22 May 1907 – 14 December 1947) was an Armenian composer and conductor. Biography Alemshah was born in Bardizag (now , near İzmit, Turkey). He began schooling in his hometown, but during the Armenian Genocide his parents sent him to Italy to continue his education at the Moorat-Raphael College in Venice. In 1923, when his teachers there became aware of his musical gifts, they enrolled him at the Milan Conservatory to study music. Following his graduation, Alemshah joined the faculty of the Paris branch of the Murat-Raphaelian school, where he organized the Giligia choir, performing not only in Paris, but also traveling to Venice, directing the choir in an all-Komitas program at St. Mark’s Square. Alemshah presented Tchouhadjian’s popular comic opera Leblebidji Hor-Hor Agha (The Chickpea Vendor), and Haygagan harsanik (The Armenian Wedding), a composition put together by combining Alemshah’s own melodies with popular songs. In 1937, Haygagan harsanik received second prize in an international competition in which twenty nations participated. Concurrently, Alemshah conducted the Alakyaz Choir on a number of occasions, initially to mark the establishment of the So

L. Scinti Roger

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Luigi Scinti Roger (15 January 1885 – 10 February 1964) was an Italian composer, who emigrated to New York in 1910, and composed music mainly for Italian immigrants in United States. Sometimes known as Louis Roger, he was a talented organist, pianist and orchestra leader. He played in several theaters in United States and Canada including La Sirena Theater, the Verdi Theater and the Naples Garden Theater in Rhode Island and the Columbia Theater in New York. He wrote music for several songs including , and he composed marches, symphonies and musical dramas, among them, , , , . Biography Born on 16 January 1885 in Santa Maria a Vico, Italy, Luigi Scinti Roger was the son of Baron Tommaso Scinti Roger and Lady Vincenza Petrucci. He studied music at the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory in Naples. But he said to be a composer already when he was eleven years old, when he used to be up early on Sundays, singing and playing in several Churches. He was a friend of the famous Italian musician E.A. Mario (real name Giovanni Ermete Gaeta), and also of the famous inventor of the wireless, Guglielmo Marconi. Luigi earned a Certificate of Radio Operator signed by the inventor of wireless, one o

Lallo Gori

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lallo Gori (7 March 1927 – 1 December 1982) was an Italian composer and musician. Life and career Born in Cervia, Ravenna as Coriolano Gori, Gori graduated in piano, harmony and composition at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin. He entered RAI as a member of its orchestra, then he became the musical director of its office in Rome. He also composed several pop songs, and three of them entered the competition at the Sanremo Music Festival. *Il lungo, il corto, il gatto (1967) *Poker with Pistols (1967) *Death Rides Along (1967) *Pecos Cleans Up (1967) *The Handsome, the Ugly, and the Stupid (1967) *The Two Crusaders (1968) *Execution (1968) *Black Jack (1968) *Don Chisciotte and Sancio Panza (1968) *Buckaroo: The Winchester Does Not Forgive (1968) *The Avenger, Zorro (1969) *Dead Men Don’t Make Shadows (1970) *Django and Sartana Are Coming… It’s the End (1970) *Scusi, Ma Lei Le Paga Le Tasse? (1971) *A Barrel Full of Dollars (1971) *Savage Guns (1971) *A Fistful of Death (1971) *Il clan dei due Borsalini (1971) *A.A.A. Massaggiatrice Bella Presenza Offresi… (1972) *Death Falls Lightly (1972) * Tequila! (1973) *The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine (1974) *King Dick (1975) *Cal

Lauro Rossi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lauro Rossi (19 February 1810 in Macerata – 5 May 1885 in Cremona), was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. There is no known connection with Luigi Rossi (1597–1653). Life and career Rossi studied in Naples and produced his first opera there. His greatest success was with the comic opera originally entitled La casa disabitata, which was performed for many years in its revised form under the title I falsi monetari. However, Rossi suffered a fiasco in 1835, after which he left Naples for Mexico, then Cuba. There he set up his own opera company, and married its prima donna, Isabella Obermayer. He returned to Italy in 1843 and continued composing, but, thereafter, he was mainly known as an academic figure as director of the Conservatory, first at Milan (1850–1870) and then at Naples (1870–1878). He was commissioned by Giuseppe Verdi to compose a portion of the Messa per Rossini; specifically, Number V. Agnus Dei, for solo Alto. Two of his late operas were also highly successful: La Contessa di Mons and Cleopatra. Operas * Le contesse villane (1829, revised as La villana contessa and also as Le principesse villane, 1830) * Costanza e Oringaldo (1830, in collaboration with P. Ra

Leandro Campanari

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Leandro Campanari (October 20, 1859 – April 22, 1939) was an Italian violinist, conductor, composer and music teacher, At 15, he entered the Conservatory of Music in Milan and studied the violin, harmony, counterpoint and conducting with the most eminent teachers of that institution. He graduated at 19 to go to England with an orchestra, where he had a very successful season. He then toured Italy and France as a virtuoso before establishing his role as a conductor. They married in 1880. Boston Symphony Orchestra In 1881, he moved to America as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and featured in many concerts throughout the United States. He returned to Europe, but then back to America, where he remained for three years as the head of the Violin School at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He also assumed the direction of the music at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and brought out many important sacred works for the first time in that city. Campanari String Quartet After his service in Boston, Campanari returned to Italy in 1886 and formed the Campanari String Quartet, which toured with great success for two years. During that time many notable compo

Lelio Luttazzi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lelio Luttazzi (27 April 1923 – 8 July 2010) was an Italian composer, musician, actor, singer, conductor, writer, and television and radio presenter. Born in Trieste, Luttazzi began playing the piano at Radio Trieste and composing his first songs when he was student in law at the University of Trieste during the Second World War. After the war, he had from SIAE a gain of 350,000 lire, a considerable sum for the time, so he decided to become a full-time composer and in 1948 he moved to Milan where he began working with fellow Teddy Reno at the record company CGD. Selected filmography References External links * * * *

Leonardo De Lorenzo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Leonardo De Lorenzo (29 August 1875 – 29 July 1962) was an Italian virtuoso flautist and music educator. He served as the principal flautist at the New York Philharmonic under Gustav Mahler. Included among his pupils at the Eastman School of Music was the flautist Julius Baker. Biography Born at Viggiano, in the province of Potenza, De Lorenzo started playing the flute at the age of 8 and went to Naples to attend the Music conservatory “San Pietro a Majella”. At 16, he moved to the United States, working at a hotel in Cerulean, Kentucky, but in 1896 he returned to Italy for military service in Alessandria, becoming a member of a military band directed by Giovanni Moranzoni. Subsequently, he began his own career and toured in Italy, Germany, England and South Africa. He joined an orchestra in Cape Town at 25. In 1907, he returned to Naples to complete his studies, then he went to America again, becoming the first flautist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Gustav Mahler, and played with the New York Symphony Orchestra, in substitution of Georges Barrère. He was also a flautist of the orchestras of Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Rochester. In 1914, during his collabora

Leonardo Vinci

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Leonardo Vinci (1690 – 27 May 1730) was an Italian Baroque composer known chiefly for his 40 or so operas. Comparatively little of his work in other genres survives. A central proponent of the Neapolitan School of opera, his influence on subsequent opera composers such as Johann Adolph Hasse and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi was considerable. Life and career He was born at Strongoli and educated at Naples under Gaetano Greco in the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo. He first became known for his opere buffe (comic operas) in the Neapolitan language in 1719; he also composed many opere serie (dramatic operas). He was received into the Congregation of the Rosary, a lay religious and burial fraternity, at Formiello in 1728. He died in May 1730. Vinci is rumoured to have been poisoned by a jealous husband in the wake of an ill-advised affair, a story which is given by several reliable authorities without evident contradictions. Music Vinci’s opere buffe, of which Li zite ’ngalera (1722) is generally regarded as the best, are full of life and spirit; his opere serie, of which Didone Abbandonata (Rome, 1726) and Artaserse (Rome, 1730) are the most notable, have an incisive vigour and

Leone Sinigaglia

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Leone Sinigaglia (14 August 1868 – 16 May 1944) was an Italian composer and mountaineer. Biography Born in Turin in 1868 to upper-middle-class Jewish parents, Sinigaglia studied music at its conservatory of music with Giovanni Bolzoni. Sinigaglia knew the leading figures of thought, arts and science in the city, such as Galileo Ferraris, Cesare Lombroso, and Leonardo Bistolfi. A lover of literature and mountaineering from an early age, the young Sinigaglia spent many holidays in or near Cavoretto, just outside the city, which would provide him with much inspiration. Among the works composed in these years are the Romanza opus 3 for horn and string quartet. This has been recorded in an arrangement for horn and string orchestra. In 1888 Sinigaglia began to travel: after spells in several European cities, he lived from 1894 in Vienna, where he associated with Johannes Brahms from whom he developed a taste for so-called absolute music, studying with Eusebius Mandyczewski. In these years, he wrote several Lieder and the Concerto for violin and orchestra, opus 20. From 1900 he worked in Prague with Antonín Dvořák (whom he possibly met through his friendship with the Bohemian Quartet in V

Leonora Baroni

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Leonora Baroni (December 1611 – 6 April 1670) was an Italian singer, theorbist, lutenist, viol player, and composer of the Baroque period. Biography Life and career Leonora Baroni was the daughter of Adriana Basile, a virtuosa singer, and Mutio Baroni. She was born at the Gonzaga court in Mantua. From 1624 to 1633. Baroni sang alongside her mother and sister Caterina at court and across Italy, including cities such as Naples, Genoa, and Florence. She was admired not only for her skill as a musician, in which she almost overshadowed her mother, but also for her learning and refined manners. She was even known to speak many different languages. Baroni was a gifted singer as well as a gifted instrumentalist on both the theorbo and viol. Baroni’s mother performed on the lira, while her sister played the harp. Baroni was honored by poets such as Fulvio Testi and Francesco Bracciolini, who addressed poems to her, as did some nobles, such as Annibale Bentivoglio and then-cardinal Pope Clement IX. These poems were collected and published as Applausi poetici alle glorie della Signora Leonora Baroni in 1639 and reprinted in 1641. John Milton later wrote a series of epigrams to her, entitled

Leopoldo Mugnone

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Leopoldo Mugnone (29 September 1858 in Naples – 22 December 1941 in Capodichino, Naples) was an Italian conductor, especially of opera, whose most famous work was done in the period 1890–1920, both in Europe and South America. He conducted various operatic premieres, and was also a composer of operas. Training The son of Antonio Mugnone, principal double-bass in the orchestra of the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, Mugnone studied from an early age at the Royal Conservatorio of San Pietro a Maiella under Paolo Serrao and Beniamino Cesi. He composed his first theatre work, a little opera buffa Il Dottor Bartolo Salsapariglia, at the age of 12, in which he wished to take part in the basso comico role, though he had then only an alto voice. At 16 he began conducting. A year later he was recruited as a chorus director for an operetta troupe at the Teatro Nuovo, run by F. Sadowsky. From there he went on to the Garibaldi Theatre, first as chorus master and later as concertatore. Two other early operettas by him, Don Bizzarro e le sue figlie (1 act), and Mamma Angot al serraglio di Costantinopoli (3 acts) were produced during the later 1870s at Naples. Mugnone was himself the teacher of the c

Licinio Refice

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Licinio Refice (Patrica, February 12, 1883 – Rio de Janeiro, September 11, 1954) was an Italian composer and priest. With Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi he represented the new direction taken by Italian church music in the twentieth century, and he left the popular song Ombra di nube (1935) as well as two completed operas. His first opera Cecilia, about the legend of Saint Cecilia, created a sensation with its premiere in 1934 in Rome at the Teatro Reale dell’Opera, with Marcello Govoni as Opera Director; Claudia Muzio took the title role. His second opera, Margherita da Cortona, appeared in 1938. A third opera, Il Mago (1954), was left incomplete (within the first act). Refice died in 1954 during morning rehearsals of Cecilia in Rio de Janeiro; Renata Tebaldi was singing the title role. Selected filmography * Cardinal Messias (1939) Recordings of Cecilia At least five recordings exist of Cecilia (role key: conductor/Cecilia/Cieca/Valeriano/Amachio/Tiburzio/Urbano). * Refice/Tebaldi/Ulisse/Misciano/Meletti/Panerai/Neri - 1953, live in Naples – House of Opera (casting inaccurate on their site) * de Fabritiis/Pedrini/Marini/Misciano/Meletti/Dadò/Clabassi - 1954, live in Milan – Melodram (t

Lino Liviabella

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Lino Liviabella (7 April 1902 – 21 October 1960) was an Italian composer. Liviabella was born in Macerata. In 1936 he won a silver medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his “La vittoria” (“The Victor”). He died, aged 58, in Bologna. Selected works ;Chamber music * Sonata No. 1 in A minor for violin and piano (1920–1928) * Natale, Suite for violin and piano (1923) * Sonatina per l’Elevazione for violin and harmonium (1924) * Canzonetta for violin and piano (1925) * Aria for violin and organ or harmonium (1925) * String Quartet No. 1 (1926) * Danza for violin solo (1926) * Adagio for oboe and piano (1926) * S. Francesco, Meditazione for viola, 2 violins, double bass and organ (1926) * Due espressioni liriche (2 Lyric Expressions) for string quartet (1927) * Preludio in modo minore for 2 violins, cello and harmonium (1928) * String Quartet No. 2 (1929) * Bululù, Marionetta meccanica del romanzo “Eva ultima” di Massimo Bontempelli for violin and piano (1930) * Canto andaluso for violin and piano (1930) * Sonata ciclica for cello and piano (1931) * Sonata No. 2 in One Movement for violin and piano (1932) * Lento for flute, 2 violins, piano and harp * Sonata No. 3 in One

Lojze Bratuž

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Lojze Bratuž (February 17, 1902 – February 16, 1937) was a Slovene choirmaster and composer from Gorizia who was killed by Italian Fascist squads. He is regarded as a martyr of the anti-Fascist struggle of the Slovene population in the Slovene Littoral region during Italian rule. Biography Bratuž was born in a Slovene-speaking family in the town of Gorizia, then the center of the Austro-Hungarian County of Gorizia and Gradisca. He was educated in the town’s Slovene schools and chose a career in music. After the Slovene Littoral and the adjacent regions of Inner Carniola were annexed to the Kingdom of Italy under the Treaty of Rapallo in 1920, Bratuž remained loyal to his Slovene origins and resisted the forced Italianization of the region, which was populated by a Slovene majority. Initially, he taught singing and was a choirmaster in the village of Šmartno in the Gorizia Hills north of Gorizia, and later in a small seminary in Gorizia. In 1929, he was imprisoned for a short time by the Fascist authorities due to his Slovene patriotism. In 1930, he was appointed coordinator of church choirs in the Gorizia region by the archbishop of Gorizia, Frančišek Borgia Sedej. He led the only

Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari

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LEF (born Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari; 20 November 1977) is an Italian vocalist, record producer and film score composer. He has worked with Bill Laswell, Lisa Gerrard, Serj Tankian from System of a Down, Elisa, Ben Harper, Hamid Drake, Nils Petter Molvær, Eivind Aarset, Jamie Saft, Pat Mastelotto from King Crimson, Eraldo Bernocchi, Colin Edwin from Porcupine Tree, Markus Stockhausen, Kenneth Kapstad from Motorpsycho, Tony Wakeford, Trevor Dunn, Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Raiz, Ambrogio Sparagna, Faraualla, Enrico Gabrielli, Sigillum S, Ephel Duath, Gianluca Petrella, Fabrizio Puglisi, Ståle Storlokken and Carmelo Pipitone. History Singer-composer Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari has made his mark as a singer and producer through a series of releases, including Obake’s Draugr, Seven Mutations and their 2011 self-titled debut, Owls’ The Night Stays, O.R.k.’s Inflamed Rides, Soul of an Octopus and Ramagehead, Somma’s 23 Wheels of Dharma and Berserk’s 2013 self-titled debut. Fornasari’s vocals are astonishing powerful, morphing between an urbane Sylvian-like drawl to a cracked-gravel growl oozing with a creeping malevolence. That theatrically evokes the dystopian pronouncements interleaving B

Lorenzo Ferrero

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lorenzo Ferrero (; born 1951) is an Italian composer, librettist, author, and book editor. He started composing at an early age and has written over a hundred compositions thus far, including twelve operas, three ballets, and numerous orchestral, chamber music, solo instrumental, and vocal works. His musical idiom is characterized by eclecticism, stylistic versatility, and a neo-tonal language. Biography Born in Turin, he studied composition from 1969 to 1973 with Massimo Bruni and Enore Zaffiri at Turin Music Conservatory, and philosophy with Gianni Vattimo and Massimo Mila at the University of Turin, earning a degree in aesthetics with a thesis on John Cage in 1974. His early interest in the psychology of perception and psychoacoustics led him to IMEB, the International Electroacoustic Music Institute of Bourges, where he did research on electronic music between 1972 and 1973, IRCAM in Paris, and to the Musik/Dia/Licht/Film Galerie in Munich in 1974. Lorenzo Ferrero has received commissions from numerous festivals and institutions, his works being constantly performed throughout Europe and North America, particularly in Italy, Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, Finland, Russi

Lorenzo Perosi

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Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi (21 December 1872 – 12 October 1956) was an Italian composer of sacred music and the only member of the Giovane Scuola who did not write opera. In the late 1890s, while he was still only in his twenties, Perosi was an internationally celebrated composer of sacred music, especially large-scale oratorios. Nobel Prize winner Romain Rolland wrote, “It’s not easy to give you an exact idea of how popular Lorenzo Perosi is in his native country.” Perosi’s fame was not restricted to Europe. A 19 March 1899 New York Times article entitled “The Genius of Don Perosi” began, “The great and ever-increasing success which has greeted the four new oratorios of Don Lorenzo Perosi has placed this young priest-composer on a pedestal of fame which can only be compared with that which has been accorded of late years to the idolized Pietro Mascagni by his fellow-countrymen.” Gianandrea Gavazzeni made the same comparison: “The sudden clamors of applause, at the end of the 19th century, were just like those a decade earlier for Mascagni.” Perosi worked for five Popes, including Pope Pius X who greatly fostered his rise. Biography Early years and education Lorenzo Perosi was born a

Lorenzo Pilat

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Lorenzo Pilat (born 24 June 1938), also known as Pilade, is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer, mainly active between the second half of the 1960s and the 1970s. Life and career Born in Trieste, Pilat started his career performing in clubs of his hometown. In 1963 he entered the Clan Celentano label, making his record debut with “Ciao ragazzi ciao”. In the following years he entered the Festivalbar and took part in the Sanremo Music Festival three times, in 1966 as part of the supergroup “Trio del Clan” together with Gino Santercole and with “Il ragazzo della via Gluck”, in 1968 with “Il re d’Inghilterra” and in 1975 with “Madonna d’amore”. His main hits were “Shenandoah” (a cover of traditional song “The Legend of Shenandoah”) and “La legge del menga”. In the 1970s Pilat focused his activities on composing song for other artists, often collaborating with Daniele Pace and Mario Panzeri; among the best known songs he penned, were Tom Jones’ “Love Me Tonight”, Adriano Celentano’s “L’attore”, Gigliola Cinquetti’s “Sì” and “Alle porte del sole”, Gianni Nazzaro’s “Quanto è bella lei” and Orietta Berti’s “Non illuderti mai” and “Fin che la barca va”. As a singer, starting from the

Luca Antignani

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Luca Antignani (born 1976 in Italy) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. He also teaches various theory music classes in Switzerland, and France. Life Luca Antignani graduated in piano, orchestral conducting, electronic music and composition at the Scuola Civica “Claudio Abbado” in Milan, at the Accademia Nazionale of Santa Cecilia in Rome and at the IRCAM in Paris. His compositions have been committed by prestigious institutions and performed in several international music festivals such as the Biennale (Venice), Teatro dell’Opera, MiTo, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Montréal), Opéra Comique, Radio France, Présences, Résonances and Agora (Paris), Orchestra della RAI (Turin), Orchestre des Pays de Savoie (Annecy), Opéra, Orchestre National, Société de Musique de Chambre, Festival Biennale en Musiques, Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain and Chœur Britten (Lyon), Musica (Strasbourg), Les Musiques, Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée (Marseille), Dresdner Musikfestspiele (Dresde), and numerous other cities such as San Francisco, Philadelphia, Bloomington, Ithaca (USA), Tallinn (Estonia) and Rostock (Germany). Several works b

Luca Belcastro

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Luca Belcastro (born 18 September 1964 in Como, Italy) is an Italian composer of classical music. Education Belcastro graduated in Classical guitar and in Composition, with the highest grade. He attended specialization courses with Azio Corghi at the Accademia G. Petrassi in Parma and at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Roma, where he graduated with top marks and “Premio SIAE”. Career Belcastro’s orchestral works have been awarded in important International Competitions, among those “Ciutat de Tarragona” International Award for Musical Composition (E),“Valentino Bucchi” - Roma, “2 Agosto” - Bologna, “Concours Européen du Jeune Compositeur” - Strasbourg (F), and executed by Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Orchestra of Colours - Athens, OSER Toscanini - Parma, Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, Orchestra Milano-Classica. His Opera “1896 - Pheidippides… corri ancora!” has been awarded at the “Dimitris Mitropoulos - World Opera Project” - Athens 2001. His chamber music works won the First Prize in numerous International Competitions, among those “Edvard Grieg” - Oslo (N), “Biennale Neue Musik - Hannover” (D) (performed by The Hilliard

Luca D'Alberto

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Luca D’Alberto (born 6 May 1983) is an Italian composer, musician, producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist hails from Teramo, Abruzzo. Early life and background D’Alberto was born and brought up in Teramo, Abruzzo. He completed his graduation in violin and viola summa cum laude with a Ministerial Mention in Italy. He studied with Clara Campi, Rocco De Massis (First Violist of “San Carlo Napoli”), Antonio Anselmi (First Violinist of “Musici Di Roma”) Reiner Schmidt. As a winner of international selection, he attended the Music academy in Cremona and Milano studying with Bruno Giuranna and Simonide Braconi (First Viola in Scala, Milan). During his classical studies, he became interested by other musical genres such as electronic music, rock, and experimental music. Career In 2004, D’Alberto collaborated with Xabier Iriondo, a former guitarist and founder of Italian rock band Afterhours, creating with him the experimental music project Choral Funis Dualitas. In the same year, D’Alberto became a Violectra Official Player, testimonial of this particular instrument alongside the likes of Jean-Luc Ponty and Nigel Kennedy. During 2012 and 2015, he continued his artistic career as a so

Luca Flores

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Luca Flores (October 20, 1956 - March 29, 1995) was an Italian pianist and composer. He is considered one of the most interesting exponents of the Italian jazz scene. Biography Born in Palermo, the youngest of four siblings, he moved with his family to Mozambique in 1959. There he began playing piano at the age of 5. When he returned to Italy in 1966, he spent some time in Rome and then in Portugal, before arriving in Florence in 1972. He studied at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory where he graduated in piano with honours in 1981. Later on he studied jazz with Roberto Pichini, Marco Vavolo, Enrico Pieranunzi and Franco D’Andrea. His encounter with jazz took place in the early 1970s: he frequented Florentine clubs such as the Andrea del Sarto, where he met the nascent community of Italian jazz musicians. He made his national debut in the “Tiziana Ghiglioni Sextet” (with Tiziana Ghiglioni, Maurizio Caldura Nuñez, Luca Bonvini, Franco Nesti, Alessandro Fabbri) with which he recorded his first LP, Streams (1984). Together with Gianni Cazzola he formed the “Matt Jazz Quintet” (with Maurizio Caldura Nuñez, Alessandro Di Puccio, Marco Vaggi). With these groups he took part in major Italia

Luca Francesconi

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Luca Francesconi (born 17 March 1956) is an Italian composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, later with Karlheinz Stockhausen and then Luciano Berio. Early years Luca Francesconi was born in Milan. His father was a painter who edited Il Corriere dei piccoli and conceived Il Corriere dei ragazzi, while his mother was an advertiser. Francesconi spent his early years in QT8, a working-class quarter in Milan. At the age of five he began to learn the piano. Although he was accepted into the junior high school section of the city’s conservatory six years later, he pulled out. Instead, Francesconi opted to attend the junior high school in QT8. Education Francesconi returned to the Conservatory of Milan in 1974, while he was still attending the Berchet Classical Languages High School, and explored the musical landscape, taking an interest in different sounds. He played in jazz and rock groups as well as in classical concerts. Francesconi worked as a session man in recording studios, and composed music for theatre, cinema, advertising, and television. Francesconi attended the Milan Conservatory and enrolled in the composition course conducted by Azio Corghi. “From him I learnt the tr

Luca Gianquitto

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Luca Gianquitto (; born 29 September 1978 in Naples, Italy) is an Italian guitarist and music composer living in Amstelveen, Netherlands. Biography Gianquitto’s mediterranean style is mainly influenced by jazz, blues and rock. In 2005 he was recognised among the “New Italian Jazz talents” by Chicco Bettinardi commission and in the same year he signed off a contract with Wide Sound releasing the instrumental album My Big Room. A track of the CD, “Floriana” was represented in Italian Jazz, Vol.3 (2010), a compilation featuring some of the most influential Italian jazz musicians of the year. In 2016 Luca released a second instrumental album Nibiru (LG Music). The CD was presented with a sold-out concert at The Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. During his career he travels and plays as professional musician on venues and events such as Montreal Jazz Festival, Eurojazz in Mexico City, Istanbul Jazz Festival. Besides the live performances Luca’s guitar has recorded music for movies, big bands, rock projects, and other countless collaborations with jazz and pop artists. Luca has a master’s degree in Jazz Music at the Conservatory of Naples, specializing in Big Band arrangement and Jazz Im

Luca Lombardi (composer)

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Luca Lombardi (born 24 December 1945) is an Italian composer. Biography Lombardi was born in Rome. He studied composition initially with Armando Renzi and Roberto Lupi, later enrolling at the Pesaro Conservatory where he studied with Boris Porena, receiving his diploma in 1970. He then studied musicology at the University of Rome, graduating with a thesis on Hanns Eisler. From 1968 to 1972 he lived in Cologne where he studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Henri Pousseur, Mauricio Kagel, Dieter Schnebel, and Frederic Rzewski at the Cologne Courses for New Music, and with Bernd Alois Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik. He also studied for a time in Berlin with Paul Dessau in 1973 at the DDR Academy of Arts, Berlin. From 1973–1994 he was a professor of composition at the Conservatories of Pesaro and Milan, since then he is a freelance composer. Lombardi composed around 180 works, including 5 operas, 3 symphonies, as well as numerous orchestral works and chamber music. His vocal-symphonic composition “Italia mia” was first performed at Milan’s La Scala in February 2012. He is a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin and of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts (Munich). Personal life He

Luca Luciano

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Luca Luciano (born 12 August 1975) is a solo artist and a thinker, a clarinet virtuoso and a composer with a strong interest in philosophy, who has made his career in Great Britain, lived in London for more than twenty years and now lives between the UK and Italy. Early life and education Luciano was born in Naples, Italy. and his interpretations are praised as “bold and unique”. Introduced as “the new voice of the clarinet” by De Klarinet magazine, a keen promoter of new music, he has been described by Musician Magazine as “a noted Italian clarinettist and composer who now makes his home in London, having developed an enviable reputation as an instrumental virtuoso around the UK and overseas via recordings and concert hall appearances”. Praised by the International Clarinet Association for “the full range of his abilities”, Luciano was introduced by the BBC as “one of Europe’s leading exponents of jazz clarinet”. He has “established himself as the friendly face of contemporary clarinet” according to the Clarinet & Saxophone Magazine. He has held several recitals, master-classes, lecture-recitals and workshops in the UK, Europe and South America including the South Bank Centre in L

Luca Marenzio

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Luca Marenzio (also Marentio; October 18, 1553 or 1554 – August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most renowned composers of madrigals, and wrote some of the most famous examples of the form in its late stage of development, prior to its early Baroque transformation by Monteverdi. In all, Marenzio wrote around 500 madrigals, ranging from the lightest to the most serious styles, packed with word-painting, chromaticism, and other characteristics of the late madrigal style. Marenzio was influential as far away as England, where his earlier, lighter work appeared in 1588 in the Musica Transalpina, the collection that initiated the madrigal craze in that country. Marenzio worked in the service of several aristocratic Italian families, including the Gonzaga, Este, and Medici, and spent most of his career in Rome. Early years According to biographer Leonardo Cozzando, writing in the late 17th century, Marenzio was born at Coccaglio, a small town near Brescia, as one of seven children to a poor family. His father was a notary clerk in Brescia. A birthdate of October 18, 1553 has been proposed, based his father’s stating in 1588 that his

Lucia Contini Anselmi

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Lucia Contini Anselmi (15 October 1876 – after 1913) was an Italian pianist and composer. Life She was born on 15 October 1876 in Vercelli, Piedmont. was an Italian pianist and composer. She studied piano with Giovanni Sgambati and composition with Alessandro Parisotti at the Conservatory in Rome. Contini Anselmi composed more than thirty works, mostly for piano but also eight for orchestra, three for violin and piano. She also composed a ballet, Driadi e satiri (Dryads and Satyrs), and an operetta, La Sponda Magica (The Magic Shore), a fairy opera in three acts. Her death date is unknown, although it is generally agree that she died after 1913. Some of her works were performed at the University of Melbourne in 2020. Works Anselmi’s works include compositions for orchestra, solo piano, violin and cello. Selected works include: *Prelude *Gavotte *Minuet *Sonata for Piano in C minor *Sibylla Cumaea *Ludentia *Inno guerresco References

Lucia Ronchetti

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Lucia Ronchetti (born 3 February 1963) is an Italian composer. Biography Ronchetti studied composition and computer music at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome and took part in composition seminars with Sylvano Bussotti at the Scuola di Musica of Fiesole (1981–85) and with Salvatore Sciarrino at the Corsi Internazionali of Città di Castello (1988–1989). She studied humanities at the Sapienza University of Rome, where she got her degree in 1987, presenting a dissertation on Bruno Maderna’s orchestral compositions. In 1991 she received a Diplôme d’Études Approfondies (D.E.A.) in aesthetics from the University of Paris I-Sorbonne. She subsequently studied musicology with François Lesure at the École pratique des hautes études, Sorbonne, and received a doctorate with her thesis on the orchestral style of Ernest Chausson and Wagnerian influence on late 19th-century French orchestral writing. In Paris she participated in composition seminars with Gérard Grisey (1993–1996) and took part in the annual computer music courses at IRCAM (1997) under the supervision of Tristan Murail. In 2005 she was a visiting scholar as a Fulbright Fellow at the Music Department of Columbia University

Luciano Berio

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Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular Sequenza, his series of solo pieces using extended techniques, and his 1968 orchestral composition Sinfonia) and for his pioneering work in electronic music. His early work was influenced by Igor Stravinsky and experiments with serial and electronic techniques, while his later works explore indeterminacy and the use of spoken texts as the basic material for composition. Life and career Berio was born in Oneglia (now part of Imperia), on the Ligurian coast of Italy on 24 October 1925. After the war, unable to continue studying the piano because of his injured hand, he instead focused on composition. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, counterpoint with Giulio Cesare Paribeni and from 1948 composition with Giorgio Federico Ghedini. from whom he gained an interest in serialism. From 1954 he attended the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik at Darmstadt, His students included Louis Andriessen, Noah Creshevsky, Steven Gellman, Dina Koston, Steve Reich, Luca Francesconi, Giulio Castagnoli, Flavio Emilio Scogna, William Schimmel and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead. Al

Luciano Chailly

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Luciano Chailly (Ferrara, 19 January 1920 – Milan, 24 December 2002) was an Italian composer and arts administrator of French descent. He was an eclectic and prolific composer in the post-war Italy, combining tonal, polytonal, and twelve-tone techniques. Grew up under fascism, Chailly remained apolitical and was a humanist. As he witnessed the brutality of war by serving in second World War, several compositions reflect his repudiation of war. from whom he drew his major musical influence. He met the writer Dino Buzzati in 1954. He wrote the opera libretti for five of his novels: Ferrovia soprelevata, Procedura penale, Il mantello, Era proibito, L’aumento. Chailly also wrote the music for some of his subjects: the ballet Fantasmi al Grand Hotel and the play Drammatica fine di un noto musicista. From 1962, following the launch of Rai 2, he was appointed director of music programs, composing music for television dramas, including those based on the novels The Idiot of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Mastro-don Gesualdo of Giuseppe Verga, for documentaries and for films, such as Madre ignota directed by Gian Vittorio Baldi. In this period, he also composed the Missa Papae Pauli in honour of Pop

Luciano Cilio

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Luciano Cilio (1950 – 21 May 1983) was an Italian composer and musician. Born in Naples, Cilio was trained in both architecture and music. In the early 1970s, he became involved with Italy’s progressive rock and experimental theater scenes. He collaborated with musicians such as Alan Sorrenti and Shawn Phillips. Cilio recorded and released an album of minimalist music, Dialoghi del presente, in 1977. The album is organized as a suite of four movements plus an interlude, and uses instruments such as acoustic guitar, mandolin, strings, piano, woodwinds, voice, and percussion. O’Rourke cites De Simone as responsible for rediscovering Cilio’s work, and draws comparisons to artists such as Nick Drake, Bill Fay, This Heat, Popol Vuh, and Arvo Pärt. References External links *Luciano Cilio: Dell’Universo Assente, review *Luciano Cilio Dell’Universo Assente official reissue at Die Schachtel

Luciano Sgrizzi

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Luciano Sgrizzi (30 October 1910 – 11 September 1994) was an Italian harpsichordist, organist, pianist and composer. Life and career Luciano Sgrizzi was born in Bologna on October 30, 1910. His father, Domenico Sgrizzi, was a postal worker who died when Luciano was six years old. At the age of 13 he began studies as a pianist at the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna. and by Alessandro Scarlatti. He made a number of recordings, of which seven were awarded the Grand Prix du Disque. These included the complete concertos of Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach for solo harpsichord, and many of the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. In 1980 he was named Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and in 1985 was named Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by French Cultural Minister Jack Lang. He died in Monte Carlo, (Monaco), where he had lived for the last few years of his life. Compositions * Dancing Song: Valzer (1933) * Concerto for piano and orchestra (1935) * String trio (1935) * Concerto per orchestra (1936) * Impressioni (1936) * Introduction and Scherzo, flute and piano (1937) * Paesaggi (1951) * Suite Napoletana (1951) * Englische Suite nach Werken der

Lucio Fabbri

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lucio Fabbri (born 25 March 1955) is an Italian composer, conductor, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Born in Crema, Lombardy, Fabbri graduated in violin and then in the early 1970s he was a member of the progressive rock groups Il Pacco and Piazza delle Erbe. After these experiences he worked as a session musician for several artists, including Roberto Vecchioni, Claudio Rocchi, and Eugenio Finardi, with whom he composed the hit “La radio”. In 1978 Fabbri made his solo debut with the instrumental album Amarena, and the same year he became a member of Premiata Forneria Marconi as violinist and keyboardist. Starting from the 1980s he devoted himself to arranging and conducting, notably collaborating with Matia Bazar, Paul Young, Umberto Tozzi, Mika, Paola & Chiara, Miguel Bosé, Milva, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Gianni Morandi, Enzo Jannacci, Fiorella Mannoia, Giorgio Faletti, Giusy Ferreri, Howard Jones, Ivan Graziani, Marco Mengoni, Massimo Ranieri, Max Pezzali, Chiara, Negrita, Nik Kershaw, Captain Sensible and Tony Hadley. Fabbri also composed the music for several videogames and commercials, and produced several artists, notably Dolcenera. References External links

Lucio Garau

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Lucio Garau (born 9 December 1959) is an Italian composer of contemporary music and pianist. Garau graduated in Piano and Composition at the Conservatorio di Cagliari, where he studied with Franco Oppo. His compositional aesthetics are influenced from acousmatic issues, but he also composes vocal and instrumental chamber music, sometimes with live electronics. In 1991, he founded MiniM Ensemble to investigate the techniques of minimal music. He is the artistic director of Amici della Musica di Cagliari. Discography *Musica presente 4 (AA.VV. Fonit Cetra) (1994) *Ricercare 1 (AA.VV. Ricercare) (1997) *Ricercare 2 (AA.V. Ricercare) (1998) *Electric Dream (AA.VV. Intersound) (1999) *Le Corde di Sicilo (AA.VV. Unda Maris) (2004) *Isole in musica (AA.VV. Agorà) (2007) *35-36 Bozen Festival of contemporary music (AA.VV. Bozen) (2011) Works *op. 1, EO’ (voice and delay) (1990) *op. 2, Hidden Music for 12 strings (1989–91) *op. 3, Hidden music for a percussionist (1991) *op. 4, Sacrum (5 male voices) (1992) *op. 5, Canoni (recorder and delay) (1992) *op. 6 n. 1, Epitaffio (3 Harps) (1991) *op. 6 n. 2, Epitaffio (voice and string trio) (1992) *op. 6 n. 3, Epitaffio (clarinet, violin, alto,

Lucio Gregoretti

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lucio Gregoretti (born 1961) is an Italian composer. He composed operas, symphonic and chamber music, electroacoustic music, as well as incidental music for theatre plays, musical comedies, and film scores. Biography He studied composition with Mauro Bortolotti and music history with Bruno Cagli at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in the city of his birth, Rome, and there obtained his diploma. He also attended seminars and courses in composition with Sylvano Bussotti and Ennio Morricone, and courses in conducting with Franco Ferrara and Giampiero Taverna. He has been composer-in-residence at a number of institutions, including Instituto Sacatar (Brazil, 2006), the MacDowell Colony (New Hampshire, 2005 and 2006), (Germany, 2005), Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen (Germany 2002–2003). His works have been commissioned and performed by a number of institution including Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, Solistes Européens (Luxembourg), Teatro Sociale di Rovigo, ISCM Bucharest, Festival Pergolesi-Spontini (Jesi), Nuova Orchestra Scarlatti (Naples), Progetto Sonora (Cologne), Todi Music Fest (To

Ludovico Einaudi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ludovico Maria Enrico Einaudi OMRI (; born 23 November 1955) is an Italian pianist and composer. Trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, Einaudi began his career as a classical composer, later incorporating other styles and genres such as pop, rock, folk, and world music. Einaudi has composed the scores for a number of films and television productions, including This Is England, The Intouchables, I’m Still Here, the TV series Doctor Zhivago, and Acquario (1996), for which he won the Grolla d’oro. His music was used as the score for the Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning films Nomadland and The Father. He has also released a number of solo albums for piano and other instruments, notably I Giorni in 2001, Nightbook in 2009, and In a Time Lapse in 2013. On 1 March 2019, Einaudi announced a seven-part project named Seven Days Walking, which was released over the course of seven months in 2019. In 2005, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Early life and education Einaudi was born in Turin, Piedmont. His father, Giulio Einaudi, was a publisher His paternal grandfather, Luigi Einaudi, was President of Italy between 1948 and 1955. His mother,

Luigi Arditi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Luigi Arditi (16 July 1822 – 1 May 1903) was an Italian violinist, composer and conductor whose career took him around Europe and the Americas, finally settling in London. Life Arditi was born in Crescentino, Piemonte, Kingdom of Sardinia. He began his musical career as a violinist, and studied music at the Milan Conservatory under Bernardo Ferrara (violin) and Nicola Vaccai (composition). He made his debut in 1843 as a director at Vercelli, and it was there that he was made an honorary member of the Philharmonic Academy. Arditi conducted opera throughout Italy and in 1846 travelled to Havana, Cuba to co-direct the opera orchestra there with the double bass player Giovanni Bottesini. Their company made long tours of America, and he subsequently moved there to conduct operas in New York, Philadelphia and other cities with the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company until 1856. Then, following a visit to Constantinople, he decided to settle in London, but made several trips again to America with the Royal Italian Opera Company. He also conducted in Germany, and in other major European cities such as St. Petersburg, Vienna and Madrid. After 1885, he was in England, conducting at Covent Gar

Luigi Bottazzo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Luigi Bottazzo (9 July 1845 – 29 December 1924) was an Italian organist and composer. Life Early years Bottazzo was born in Presina di Piazzola, Padua, Italy. At the age of nine he was permanently blinded in an accident. He received a musical education in counterpoint, organ and piano at Padua’s Institute for the Blind, where at the age of nineteen he joined the staff. * 7 Marce religiose, op. 204; * Piccola Suite, op. 207; * Messa VIII “Degli angeli”, op. 208 a * Sonata in Re minore, op. 210; * Messa S.Teresa del Bambin Gesù, op.229; * Messa S.Clara Vergine, op.262; * Laudate Eum in Chordis et Organo, op. 269 (sette entrate solenni); * XII Motecta Natalicia ad chorum unius vocis mediae, op. 278 * 4 Pastorali, op. 279; * Missa pro Defunctis, op. 281; * Messa S.Tarcisio, op.318; * Laus Tibi Christe, op. 339; * Messa nuziale, op. 368; * Missa in honorem S. Luciae ad duas voces aequales, op. 180 * Pange lingua, op 347 a * Ave Maris Stella, op. 347 b Writings * (n.d.) Brevi nozioni sulle forme musicali (Turin). * (n.d.) L’organista di chiesa. Breve metodo per organo (Milan, n.d.). * (n.d.) Studi sulla periodologia musicale (Padua). * (n.d.) e Metodo teorico-pratico di armonia (Padua).

Luigi Carlini

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Luigi Carlini was an Italian composer specializing in opera, with a career centered in Milan in the 19th century. Life and career Luigi Carlini was born in Naples, Campania, Italy in the late 18th century. Luigi Carlini’s Maria Stuarda, regina di Scozia, a cultural depiction of Mary, Queen of Scots, was his debut opera. The production was adapted from a 1802 drama by Camillo Federici, titled The Triumph of the Carbonari (). In September 1817, Carlini presented a two-act drama featuring Luigi Lablache, Giovanni David, and Luigi Sirletti. The composer premiered the opera The Youth of Henry V () in 1819 at the Teatro Nuovo sopra Toledo in Naples, featuring a libretto by Italian poet Felice Romani. He returned with a production of Solimano II, or The Three Sultanas () at Teatro San Carlo in 1820, collaborating with Andrea Leone Tottola and Charles-Simon Favart. Carlini premiered Adelaide di Baviera at Teatro San Carlo in 1821 with libretto provided by Andrea Leone Tottola. In collaboration with Austrian composer Robert Gallenberg, he contributed to the musical composition of Niobe by Italian choreographer Gaetano Gioja, later staged at Naples’ Teatro di San Carlo in January 1822. That

Luigi Ceccarelli

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Luigi Ceccarelli (born 20 April 1953 in Rimini, Italy) is an Italian composer. Biography Luigi Ceccarelli completed his musical studies in the ‘70s at the Gioachino Rossini Conservatory of Pesaro (Italy), where he studied Electronic Music and Composition with Walter Branchi, Giuliano Zosi and Guido Baggiani. His career as a composer began in 1975, and was strongly influenced by digital technology and research into Sound Spatialisation. In addition to his exclusively musical work, right from the start, he dedicated a significant part of his professional activity to experimental theatre, contemporary dance, cinema and visual arts. After moving to Rome in 1978, he began to collaborate with the Gruppo di lavoro intercodice - ALTRO (inter-codex work-group), an artistic association led by the painter Achille Perilli, and during this period, his contacts with artists in various other disciplines allowed him to develop forms of music that were closely related to the visual arts and the theatre. With ALTRO, he wrote and performed the music for the performance Abominable A, which was staged at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. In 1981, ALTRO became a dance company with the name of Altro

Luigi Cherubini

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Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 September 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest living composer of his era. Cherubini’s operas were heavily praised and interpreted by Rossini. Early years He was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence in 1760. There is uncertainty about his date of birth. Although 14 September is sometimes stated, evidence from baptismal records and Cherubini himself suggests 8 September is correct. Perhaps the strongest evidence is his first name, Maria, which is traditional for a child born on 8 September, the feast-day of the Nativity of the Virgin. From opera to church music After Les deux journées, Parisian audiences began to favour younger composers such as Boieldieu. Cherubini’s opera-ballet Anacréon was an outright failure and most stage works after it did not achieve success. Faniska, produced in 1806, was an exception, receiving an enthusiastic response, in particular by Haydn and Beethoven. Les Abencérages (1813), an heroic drama set in Spain during the last days of

Luigi Dallapiccola

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Luigi Dallapiccola (3 February 1904 – 19 February 1975) was an Italian composer and pianist known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions. Biography Dallapiccola was born in Pisino d’Istria, Austria-Hungary (current Pazin, Croatia), to Italian parents. Unlike many composers born into highly musical environments, his early musical career was irregular at best. Political disputes over his birth region of Istria led to instability and frequent moves. His father was headmaster of an Italian-language school – the only one in the city – which was shut down at the start of World War I. The family, considered politically subversive, was placed in internment at Graz, Austria, where the budding composer did not even have access to a piano, though he did attend performances at the local opera house which cemented his desire to pursue composition as a career. Once back in Pisino after the war, he travelled frequently. Dallapiccola took his piano degree at the Florence Conservatory in the 1920s. He also studied composition with Vito Frazzi. He became a professor at the conservatory in 1931; Dallapiccola’s early experiences under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini coloured his outlook and o

Luigi Denza

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Luigi Denza (24 February 1846 – 27 January 1922) was an Italian composer. When Denza was Professor of Music at the London Academy of Music, he was asked to judge the 1904 Feis Ceoil Irish Singing Contest, a prototype of today’s musical reality shows. On 16 May 1904, Denza attempted to mentor Joyce, and would have awarded him the Gold Medal, but Joyce could not sight read, missing a crucial part of the competition; Denza instead awarded Joyce the third-place Bronze medal. Disgusted, Joyce gave the medal to his Aunt Josephine; the medal ended up years later being bought by Michael Flatley at an auction. Notes References External links * * * Luigi Denza (composer) in Discography of American Historical Recordings at UC Santa Barbara * *

Luigi Ferdinando Casamorata

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Luigi Ferdinando Casamorata (15 May 1807 – 24 September 1881) was an Italian composer and music critic. Life Before 1849 Born in Würzburg in the Grand Duchy of Würzburg (now Bavaria), Casamorata was the son of the Grand Duke’s inspector Luigi Giacomo Casamorata, who stayed with the Grand Duke Ferdinando III in exile in Germany. Already when he was seven years old, he moved to Florence and studied piano. In 1825, while he was attending law school at the university, he tried a competition for composition at the Accademia di Belle Arti with Ferdinando Giorgetti. was gonfalonier in Fiesole, and town counselor/representative in Florence. Characteristics as a critic Casamorata was a very traditionalist critic, linked to formalist ideals. He was convinced that the main scope of music was to imitate nature, and that of the first representation in Italy, at the Pergola in 1843, of Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber, judged as unbalanced between the wind instruments and strings. The debate regarding sacred music He actively participated in the debate regarding the esthetics of sacred music, inaugurated by the Cecilian Movement (with which he actively collaborated in the writing of the Ma

Luigi Legnani

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Luigi Rinaldo Legnani (7 November 1790 – 5 August 1877) was an Italian virtuoso guitarist, singer, composer and luthier. Life Born in Ravenna, Legnani was trained as a string player while very young but dedicated himself to guitar and voice. His debut as an operatic tenor was in Ravenna in 1807; his singing career spanned 17 years. His career as a guitarist began with a concert in Milan in 1819, and continued with the 1822 concerts in Vienna and return visits in 1833 and 1839. He tried to continue the guitar tradition established there by Mauro Giuliani. Music Legnani is perhaps best known for his 36 Caprices op. 20 for the guitar, which cover all the major and minor keys, and which were probably inspired by Paganini’s 24 Caprices for the violin. He and Paganini were friends from the 1830s; while it was once thought that he and Paganini performed together in public (Powroźniak mentions a concert in Northern Italy in 1837), there is no evidence to support this claim. After the 1850s Legnani retired from active performance and became an instrument maker, concentrating on guitars and violins. The “Legnani model” guitar was popular in Central Europe through the middle of the nineteenth

Luigi Lopez

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Luigi Lopez (30 September 1947 – 6 May 2025) was an Italian composer, musician and singer-songwriter. Life and career Lopez started his career as songwriter in the late 1960s, and in 1970 he started a long professional association with lyricist Carla Vistarini, co-writing the ’s single “Mi sei entrata nel cuore”. In the second half of the 1970s, he was a member of the short-lived supergroup , with Vastarini, Tony Cicco and Viola Valentino, among others. In 1982, his composition “Where Did We Go Wrong” won the World Popular Song Festival. As a singer, he is better-known for “Pinocchio perchè no?”, the Italian theme song of the anime Pinocchio: The Series. References External links *

Luigi Mancinelli

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Luigi Mancinelli (; 5 February 1848 – 2 February 1921) was an Italian conductor, cellist and composer. His early career was in Italy, where he established a reputation in Perugia and then Bologna. After 1886 he worked mostly in other countries, as principal conductor at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London and at the “Old Metropolitan” Opera House in New York, and in other appointments in Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. Mancinelli was highly regarded not only in the Italian repertory, in which he first came to prominence, but also in German and French opera. Despite his high reputation as a conductor, his compositions met with limited success, and none of them entered the regular repertoire. Life and career Early years Mancinelli was born in Orvieto in central Italy. In Florence he studied composition with Teodulo Mabellini. In 1874 he moved to the Teatro Morlacchi in Perugia, as principal cellist and assistant maestro concertatore. He made his conducting debut there in Aida when the regular conductor was unable to appear, owing to temporary inebriety. In Italy he worked principally in Bologna, conducting opera at the Teatro Comunale, serving as maestro di cappel

Luigi Nono

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Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono began music lessons with Gian Francesco Malipiero at the Venice Conservatory in 1941, where he acquired knowledge of the Renaissance madrigal tradition, amongst other styles. After graduating with a degree in law from the University of Padua, he was given encouragement in composition by Bruno Maderna. Through Maderna, he became acquainted with Hermann Scherchen—then Maderna’s conducting teacher—who gave Nono further tutelage and was an early mentor and advocate of his music. Scherchen presented Nono’s first acknowledged work, the Variazioni canoniche sulla serie dell’op. 41 di A. Schönberg in 1950, at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. The Variazioni canoniche, based on the twelve-tone series of Arnold Schoenberg’s Op. 41, including the “Ode-to-Napoleon” hexachord, marked Nono as a committed composer of anti-fascist political orientation. (Variazioni canoniche also used a six-element row of rhythmic values.) Nono had been a member of the Italian Resistance duri

Luigi Russolo

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Luigi Carlo Filippo Russolo (30 April 1885 – 4 February 1947) was an Italian Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto The Art of Noises (1913). Russolo completed his secondary education at Seminary of Portogruaro in 1901, after which he moved to Milan and began gaining interest in the arts. He is often regarded as one of the first noise music experimental composers with his performances of noise music concerts in 1913–14 and then again after World War I, notably in Paris in 1921. He designed and constructed a number of noise-generating devices called Intonarumori. Biography Luigi Russolo was perhaps the first noise artist. His 1913 manifesto, L’Arte dei Rumori (The Art of Noises), stated that the industrial revolution had given modern men a greater capacity to appreciate more complex sounds. Russolo found traditional melodic music confining, and he envisioned noise music as its future replacement. Russolo designed and constructed a number of noise-generating devices called Intonarumori, and assembled a noise orchestra to perform with them. A performance of his Gran Concerto Futuristico (1917) was met with strong disapp

Maddalena Laura Sirmen

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Maddalena Laura Sirmen (; 9 December 1745 – 18 May 1818), commonly known as Madame Sirmen, was an Italian composer, violinist, and opera singer of the musical Classical period. Biography Birth and background Maddalena Laura Lombardini was born on 9 December 1745 in Venice. Her parents, Piero Lombardini and his wife, Gasparina (née Gambirasi), were poor, though they came from noble origins. At a young age, Maddalena showed musical talent and later began her studies at San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti. Whilst attending San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, Maddalena received violin lessons from Giuseppe Tartini, visiting him in Padua. By the age of fourteen, she was teaching violin. In 1785, in Paris, Maddalena delivered her last performance as a violinist. After she ended her solo career, Maddalena returned to Italy, where she died on 18 May 1818 at the age of 72. Notes References Citations Works cited * * * * * External links * *

Manuel De Sica

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Manuel De Sica (24 February 1949 – 5 December 2014) was an Italian composer. Born in Rome, the son of Vittorio De Sica and María Mercader, De Sica enrolled at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, in which he studied with Bruno Maderna. He debuted as a composer for his father’s film A Place for Lovers (1968). In 1969, he formed a band, The Ancients, with whom he appeared in the TV-show Studio Uno. In 1993, De Sica won the Nastro d’Argento for Best Score for Carlo Verdone’s Al lupo, al lupo. In 1996 he won the David di Donatello for Best Score for Carlo Lizzani’s Celluloide. De Sica died of a heart attack on 5 December 2014 at the age of 65. Selected filmography * The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) * Gang War (1971) * The Crimes of the Black Cat (1972) * Gang War in Naples (1972) * Lo chiameremo Andrea (1972) * A Brief Vacation (1973) * The Voyage (1974) * Cagliostro (1975) * Quel movimento che mi piace tanto (1976) * Sexycop (1976) * The Twist (1976) * La portiera nuda (1976) * Canne mozze (1977) * Dear Father (1979) * I’m Photogenic (1980) * Sunday Lovers (1980) * I’m Going to Live by Myself (1982) * A Boy and a Girl (1983) * Cuori nella tormenta (1984) * Lui è peggio di

Marc'Antonio Ingegneri

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marc’Antonio Ingegneri (also spelled Ingegnieri, Ingignieri, Ingignero, Inzegneri) (c. 1535 or 1536 – 1 July 1592) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance. He was born in Verona and died in Cremona. Even though he spent most of his life working in northern Italy, because of his stylistic similarity to Palestrina he is often considered to be a member of the Roman School of polyphonic church music. He is also famous as the teacher of Claudio Monteverdi. Not much is known about his early life, but he probably had family from Venice, and he likely studied with Cipriano de Rore at Parma, and Vincenzo Ruffo at Verona. Sometime around 1570 he moved to Cremona, and established a reputation there as a composer and instrumentalist. He may have been an organist, and is known to have been a string player. In 1581 he became maestro di cappella of the cathedral there, and he apparently remained in this position for the rest of his life. While at this position he is known to have taught Claudio Monteverdi, who became important to the transition into the Baroque period. Ingegneri was close friends with Bishop Nicolò Sfondrato, later Pope Gregory XIV, who was intimately involved with the re

Marcantonio Negri

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Marcantonio Negri (died October 1624) was an Italian composer, singer, and musical director of the early Baroque era. He was part of the musical establishment of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice during the same period as Monteverdi and was well known as a composer at the time. Life He was born in Verona, but little is known about his life before his appointment as assistant maestro di cappella at St. Mark’s on 22 December 1612. In this role, he supported Monteverdi, who was the primary maestro di cappella. His first publication, dating from 1608 in Venice, indicates that he had some experience as a composer and singer prior to his arrival at St. Mark’s; however, it is unclear whether he gained this experience in Verona, Venice, or elsewhere. After four years at St. Mark’s, Nehru became abbot of a monastery at Veglia (now Krk, Croatia), an island off the coast of Dalmatia. Despite this new position, he remained partially involved with St. Mark’s on a part-time basis. He resigned from St. Mark’s in 1619, and his position was filled by Alessandro Grandi. Negri died at Veglia. Music and influence Negri’s first book of affetti amorosi (1608) showcases the most modern canzonetta style, feat

Marcello Abbado

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marcello Abbado (7 October 19264 June 2020) was an Italian pianist, composer, conductor and academic teacher. His compositions include several orchestral works, two ballets, numerous pieces for solo piano, and chamber music. As a pianist, he played in major concert halls of the world. He taught composition at several conservatories, ultimately at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory. In 1989 he was awarded the gold medal for Meritorious Culture and Art (Medaglia d’oro ai benemeriti della cultura e dell’arte) by the Government of Italy. Early life and education Born in Milan into a family of famous musicians, External links * * Marcello Abbado (Composer, Arranger) Bach Cantatas Website *

Marcello Giombini

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Marcello Giombini (24 July 1928 in Rome, Italy – 12 December 2003 in Assisi, Italy) was an Italian composer, well known for scoring many Spaghetti Westerns, Italian horror and giallo movies, and 1960s peplum films. He is best remembered for his score to the original Sabata (1969), which starred Lee Van Cleef. His son Pierluigi Giombini is also an accomplished musician and composer. Additional biographical information, compositions, filmography, and discography may be found (in Italian) at Marcello Giombini. Music Selected filmography *Vulcan, Son of Giove (1962) *March on Rome (1962) *I sette gladiatori (1962) *The Seven Tasks of Ali Baba (1962) *The Magnificent Gladiator (1964) *James Tont operazione U.N.O. (1965) *Our Man in Jamaica (1965) *The Relentless Four (1965) *For a Few Dollars Less (1966) *Death Walks in Laredo (1966) *Ballad of a Gunman (1967) *Mission Stardust (1967) *Dead Men Don’t Count (1968) *Garringo (1969) *Battle of the Commandos (1969) *Sabata (1969) * Sartana Kills Them All (1970) *Return of Sabata (1971) *Holy Water Joe (1971) * Un gioco per Eveline (1971) *Knife of Ice (1972) * They Believed He Was No Saint (1972) *The Flower with the Petals of Steel (1973)

Marchetto Cara

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Marchetto Cara (c. 1465 – probably 1525) was an Italian composer, lutenist and singer of the Renaissance. He was mainly active in Mantua, was well-connected with the Gonzaga and Medici families, and, along with Bartolomeo Tromboncino, was well known as a composer of frottolas. Life Very little is known of his early life. By 1494, he was already employed by the Gonzaga court at Mantua, and he evidently stayed there, without interruption except for travel to sing in nearby cities, until his death. Among his duties were directing the singers both in the Cathedral of San Pietro (Mantua) and in the private estate of the Gonzaga family. As lovers and patrons of music, they employed numerous musicians, and Cara was chief among them: he wrote music for weddings, for state occasions, for intermedi, and for private entertainments, and in so doing created some of the most refined light music of the time. Along with Tromboncino, he was the most famous composer of frottole, and his compositions continued to be collected and published after his death. Most likely, he died in 1525, since his widow remarried in early 1526, and there was at the time a legal requirement for a widow to wait nine mont

Marco Ambrosini

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Ambrosini (born 1964) is an Italian musician, composer and arranger living in Germany. In 1982, he founded the international ensemble, Oni Wytars, together with Peter Rabanser. Studies Ambrosini was born in Forlì in 1964. From 1971 to 1981, Ambrosini studied violin and viola (with Adrio Casagrande) and composition with Mario Perrucci at the “Instituto Musicale G.B.Pergolesi” in Ancona and at the conservatory “G.Rossini” in Pesaro. Musician Ambrosini debuted as a soloist and nyckelharpa player in the theatre “Alla Scala” in Milan, in concerts for the Royal Swedish Concert Agency, in the Alte Oper Frankfurt, in the Philharmony in Cologne, Berlin, Moscow, in the Carnegie Hall of New York and also perform with different ensembles for early music, baroque music and contemporary music. Worldwide concert activity includes over 150 CDs, broadcast and television shots as a composer, soloist, or as member of the Katharco Early Music Consort and the ensemble Oni Wytars (Germany), Els Trobadors (Spain), ensemble Unicorn, ensemble Accentus, Clemencic Consort, Armonico Tributo Austria, Ensemble Kapsberger (Rolf Lislevand, Norway), L’Arpeggiata (Christina Pruhar, France), Giovanna Pessi Ens

Marco Antonio Cavazzoni

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Marco Antonio Cavazzoni (c. 1490 – c. 1560) was an Italian organist and composer. He was the father of composer Girolamo Cavazzoni. All of his extant music is contained in the print Recerchari, motetti, canzoni … libro primo, which was published in Venice in 1523. Included are the earliest known ricercars—they are not yet imitative, and are essentially written down improvisations, but there is a considerable amount of thematic development. The rest of the works in the collection are either arrangements of vocal pieces by Cavazzoni or other composers. Their style is firmly rooted in the Renaissance vocal chanson tradition. Published works *2 Ricercari *2 Mottetti: *4 Canzoni: A single piece for keyboard Recercada de maca in bologna, now kept in the parochial archives of Castell’Arquato (Piacenza) in Emilia-Romagna (ms. Musicale n. 2, cc. 5v-6v). References *Apel, Willi. 1972. The History of Keyboard Music to 1700. Translated by Hans Tischler. Indiana University Press. . Originally published as Geschichte der Orgel- und Klaviermusik bis 1700 by Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel. * * Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 23 (1979) Cavazzoni, Marc’Antonio by Oscar Mischiati (Italian

Marco Anzoletti

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Marco Anzoletti (Trento, 4 June 1867 – Mesiano, 23 January 1929) was an Italian violinist and composer. He wrote a vast amount of music and made significant contributions to musicological research. Biography Marco Anzoletti was born in Trento on 4 June 1867, into a musical family. His father Luigi, a cellist, laid the foundation for their musical pursuits. Other family members were also musicians: Francesco, a pianist, organist, and composer; Giovanni, a violinist; Giuseppe, a violinist and composer; and Luisa, a poet and writer who collaborated with him on piano. After receiving initial musical education at home, Anzoletti enrolled at the Milan Conservatory in 1879 to deepen his violin skills under Gerolamo de Angelis and study composition with Gaetano Coronaro. His career was dedicated to promoting chamber and symphonic music in Italy. Anzoletti’s compositions include the acclaimed “24 Variations for violin and piano on a theme by Brahms” (1894), which garnered praise from the German master. Two years later Anzoletti won first prize with a Sonata in C minor for violin and piano in Milan. Anzoletti composed numerous works for the violin, with piano or organ accompaniment: sonatas,

Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti

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Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti (23 December 1801 – November 1878) was an Italian classical guitarist and composer. Biography Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti was born in Bologna on 23 December 1801. He began on the violin, but switched to guitar at age 16. In 1820, he moved to Paris and later to Saint Petersburg, before settling in Belgium. He later toured in France, England, Italy, and the United States. His range of works for solo guitar are extensive, and include a set of innovative and demanding Exercices Op. 49, and also a group of twenty-four Caprices Op.11 (probably inspired by the earlier work of his compatriot Paganini). Sets of variations were composed on themes by Weber Op.9 and Rossini Op.7, and are formally inventive as well as challengingly virtuosic. His original work Nuit de Walpurgis indicates a reference to a Faust opera on the frontispiece, but was more probably an original piece inspired by a work by Mendelssohn, which was in turn based on a poem, De Erste Walpugisnacht, by Goethe (as detailed in a Wikipedia article on the subject). His oeuvre is a testament to his originality as inspired by his contemporaries, rather than simply creating stock sets of variations

Marco Betta

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Betta (born 25 July 1964) is an Italian composer. Biography Marco Betta, author of opera, film score, orchestral and chamber music, has studied composition at the Conservatorio di Palermo with Eliodoro Sollima. Afterwards, he improved his studies with Armando Gentilucci and Salvatore Sciarrino. He made his debut in 1982 at the Festival Spaziomusica of Cagliari, thenceforth his compositions are regularly performed in the main Italian and European institutions. His musical language merges old Sicilian cultures with the main techniques of the contemporary music, in particular the minimalism and the neotonality genres. Between 1994 and 2002, he was artistic director of the Teatro Massimo, working on the project for the reopening of the theatre, that happened after 23 years on 12 May 1997, with a concert of the theatre choir conducted by Franco Mannino and the Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado. Marco Betta teaches composition at the Conservatoire of Palermo. Works Opera * Bellini ultime luci, 1993. Publisher: Sonzogno. * Sabaoth e Sammael, 1994. Publisher: Sonzogno. * Averroè, 1999, three scenes from Averroè, Le mille e una notte, Il Cantare del Cid. Te

Marco Castello

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Castello (born 8 September 1993) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. Life and career Born in Syracuse, after high school, Castello studied jazz trumpet at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan. In 2016, he started touring and recording with Erlend Øye as a member of his supporting band La Comitiva. After some singles, in 2021, Castello released his first solo album Contenta tu, recorded at the Butterama Studio in Berlin and produced by The Whitest Boy Alive members Marcin Öz and Daniel Nentwig. In 2022, he released “Magari”, a single in collaboration with Fulminacci, which Rolling Stone Italia ranked third in its list of the 10 best Italian songs of the year. In 2023, Castello founded the record label Megghiu Suli, with whom he produced his second album, Pezzi della sera. In 2024, he recorded with Calibro 35 a cover version of Lucio Dalla’s song “Lunedì Cinema”, which served as the lead single of the band’s EP Jazzploitation and was later included in their album Exploration. In December 2025, he released his third album, Quaglia sovversiva. Discography Album * 2021 – Contenta tu * 2023 – Pezzi della sera * 2025 – Quaglia sovver

Marco Dall'Aquila

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Dall’Aquila (c.1480 – after 1538) was a Venetian lutenist and composer known for musical forms called polyphonic ricercars. He was born in L’Aquila but lived and worked in Venice. He often performed at concerts in the houses of nobles in the city, and in 1505 he published Tabullatura et rasone de metter ogni canto in liuto. On 11 March 1505, Dall’Aquila also received a grant for a petition where he claimed to have developed a method of printing tablature which he could use to score any lute composition into tablature. In the petition for the grant, he also asked for a ban on other printing methods and imports of music scored by other methods, and for a portion of penalties paid for infringement. However, no printed editions demonstrating his method survive. Works Dall’Aquila’s music is widely available as recordings by contemporary lutenists. Selected works include: *Ricercar No.16, for lute *Ricercar No.33, for lute *Ricercar *Il est Bel et Bon *Ricervar Lautre Jour, No 101 *Nous Bergiers *La Traditora, No 3 *La Traditora, No 2 *La Battaglia (after Janequin) *La cara cosa, for lute (No 36f) *Ricercar/Fantasia for lute *Ricercar for lute (No 24) *Ricercar for lute (No 16) *La

Marco Enrico Bossi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Enrico Bossi (25 April 1861 – 20 February 1925) was an Italian organist, composer, improviser and teacher. Life Bossi was born in Salò, a town in the province of Brescia, Lombardy, into a family of musicians. His father, Pietro, was organist at Salò Cathedral, which has a one-manual organ built by Fratelli Serassi from 1865 (opus 684), which was restored in 2000/2001. He had two brothers, Costante Adolfo Bossi and Pietro Bossi. He received his musical training at the Liceo Musicale in Bologna and the Milan Conservatory, where his teachers included Amintore Galli (counterpoint and musical aesthetics), Francesco Sangalli (piano), Amilcare Ponchielli (composition) and Polibio Fumagalli (organ). In 1881, Bossi became director of music and organist at Como Cathedral. Nine years later, he was appointed professor of organ and harmony at the Naples Conservatory. In addition, he held directorships at conservatories in Venice (1895–1901), Bologna (1902–1911) and Rome (1916–1923), where he established and implemented the standards of organ studies that are still used in Italy today. His notable pupils included Giulio Bas, Giacomo Benvenuti, Giorgio Federico Ghedini, and Gian Francesco M

Marco Frisina

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Frisina (born 16 December 1954, in Rome) is an Italian Roman Catholic priest and composer. He is director of the Pastoral Worship Center at the Vatican. Biography After the Liceo classico, Frisina graduated in Letters at the Sapienza University of Rome and subsequently in composition at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia. After having joined the Pontifical Major Seminary of Rome in 1978, Frisina studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and got the license in Holy Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute of Rome. In 1982 he was ordained a priest and was assigned to the Diocese of Rome. A member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, he was promoted as the chairman of the Diocesan Commission of Holy Arts for the Diocese of Rome and since 2009 rector of the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. He is professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. In 1984 he founded the choir of the Diocese of Rome that he directed continuously for over four decades. Formed by 250 elements, the choir got involved in various international events and Holy Masses celebrated by the Pope. Since 1985

Marco Fusi (clarinetist)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Fusi (born 1972) is an Italian clarinetist and composer. Career In 2002, he founded the group Yesh Gvul, with whom he recorded two albums, Moon Waltz and Addio a Lugano, distributed all over the world, with the collaboration of Moni Ovadia and Vladimir Denissenkov. With his ensemble cast has worked with institutions such as the Club Tenco Sanremo, Jeunesses musicales International and Fondazione Collegio San Carlo Marco Fusi has also worked as a solo artist in tandem with Vladimir Denissenkov. As composer Fusi has collaborated with journalist and presenter Antonio Lubrano, for which he wrote the music for the show Il Favoliere, Fusi was greatly appreciated by the Undersecretary of Education Nando dalla Chiesa which in 2010 named him to perform in the new year celebrations in Genoa. He also collaborated with Lidia Ravera writing with her Comprami!, show of civic engagement on violence against women In 2012 he wrote with Vittorio Agnoletto , which gets very positive feedback, so that Agnoletto and Fusi are invited to represent it at the European Parliament in Brussels. Also in 2012 he was invited to perform on National Television of Serbia. In 2014 he was given the Internationa

Marco Lo Muscio

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Lo Muscio (born 1971) is an Italian organist, pianist and composer, who lives and works in Italy, Europe, Russian Federation and America. Biography Marco Lo Muscio was born in Rome, Italy. Marco Lo Muscio studied Piano at the Licinio Refice Conservatory in Italy. He earned a degree in Piano with Professor Tonino Maiorani and a degree in Musical Pedagogy with Professor Giulio Sforza at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica in Frosinone (Italy) and at the Roma Tre University (Italy). He also obtained a degree of Advanced Studies in Piano at the Academy Bartolomeo Cristofori with the pianist Sergio Fiorentino, and a specialization in Pipe Organ with James Edward Goettsche. Since 2004, he has been the art director of the International Organ Summer Festival in Rome, Italy, where internationally acclaimed organists and musicians performed such as Jean Guillou, Thomas Trotter, Stephen Tharp, Roger Sayer, Roger Fisher, Martin Baker, Pauli Pietiläinen, Aivars Kalējs, John Hackett, Pär Lindh, Jakob Lorentzen, Kevin Bowyer, David Briggs, Christopher Herrick, David Jackson, John Scott, Colin Walsh, Carson Cooman, Andrew Nethsingha, Martin Setchell, Alessandro Bianchi, Jean-Paul Imbert, Gai

Marco Marazzoli

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Marazzoli (1602? – 26 January 1662) was an Italian priest and Baroque music composer. Early life Born at Parma, Marazzoli received early training as a priest, and was ordained around 1625. He moved to Rome in 1626, and entered the service of Cardinal Antonio Barberini. In 1631, he and other musicians such as Filippo Vitali and Landi accompanied the cardinal on a trip to Urbino and may have accompanied him on other official travels. In 1637, Marazzoli was appointed Barberini’s aiutante di camera, and became a tenor in the papal chapel that same year; in 1639 he was awarded the position of musico under Barberini. Barberini patronage About this time, it becomes possible to trace some of Marazzoli’s compositions to specific places and functions. In 1638, he composed the music for a ballet La piazza d’Orlando for the Carnival of Venice and the intermedi for Chi soffre, speri for the Carnival of 1639. These two pieces were performed at the Palazzo Barberini. After 1640, he began composing more for patrons in Ferrara and Venice, including an opera, L’Amore trionfante dello Sdegno (or L’Armida), for a Ferrarese wedding in 1641. Also in 1641, the Barberini were embroiled in the Wars o

Marco Stroppa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Stroppa (born 8 December 1959, in Verona) is an Italian composer who writes computer music as well as music for instruments with live electronics. Biography Marco Stroppa studied piano, composition, choral direction and electronic music at the conservatoires of Verona, Milan and Venice. From 1980 to 1984, Stroppa collaborated with the Centro di Sonologia Computazionale of the University of Padua, before moving to the United States, where he continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology supported by a grant from the Fulbright Foundation until 1986. At MIT he took courses in cognitive psychology, computer science and artificial intelligence. At the invitation of Pierre Boulez, Stroppa moved to Paris where he led the department for musical research at IRCAM from 1987 until 1990. In 1987, Stroppa founded the composition and computer music course at the International Bartók Festival in Szombathely, Hungary. Following teaching posts at the conservatoires of Lyon and Paris, Stroppa currently is professor of composition at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, where he succeeded Helmut Lachenmann in 1999. Awards * 1985 ASCAP Prize * 1990 Ce

Marco Tutino

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Tutino (born 30 May 1954) is an Italian composer. His emergence during the late 1970s was as the spearhead of an Italian Neo-Romantico group, founded with two other composers, Lorenzo Ferrero and Carlo Galante. He graduated from the Milan Conservatory, where he had studied flute and composition (with Giacomo Manzoni), in 1982. He has composed operas, chamber music and symphonic works which have been performed by important Italian orchestras and concert societies. Some have been performed by music institutions in other countries, notably the BBC Philharmonic, The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Radio Symphony Orchestra, and The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. Career During the first part of his career, he showed a fixation with themes involving children. His first opera, performed in 1985 at the Genoa Opera, was a morbid, melancholic version of Pinocchio. In 1987, his second opera, Cyrano, was composed for an Opera Workshop in Alessandria (Piedmont, Italy). It was loosely based on Rostand’s drama, and intended as a showcase for Laura Cherici, a soprano who would become his inspiration and long-time partner. In September 1990 he presented a new opera in Livorno, La

Marco Uccellini

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marco Uccellini (Forlimpopoli, Forlì 1603 or 1610 - 10 December 1680) was an Italian Baroque violinist and composer. His output of mainly secular music for solo violin is considered to have been important in the rise of independent instrumental classical music, and in development of violin technique. Life Uccellini’s life, like many composers of the 17th century, is not well documented; however, enough information exists to create a rough biography. He was born into a reasonably affluent noble family in Forlimpopoli, Forlì, who had owned land in the area since the early 14th century. Many members of the family held ecclesiastical posts locally, including Uccellini’s father Pietro Maria, and it is likely that Marco went to study at the seminary in Assisi sometime in the early 1630s. Evidence from his will suggests that Uccellini began his formal musical education there, possibly under another notable early violinist-composer, Giovanni Battista Buonamente, who was then serving as music director (maestro di cappella) at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. He became Capo degl’instrumentisti of the Este court in Modena from 1641 to 1662, and was the maestro di cappella of the Moden

Mariano Garau

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mariano Garau (1952) is an Italian contemporary composer. Early life He was born in Iglesias, a medieval city of Sardinia, Italy. He devoted himself to music under the guidance of composer Pietro Allori and studied harmony and counterpoint with Rodolfo Cicionesi in Florence. Music He wrote romances for soprano and tenor, children songs, masses and motets for choir. Across forty years of artistic activity he directed many choirs. His recordings include “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” by Thomas Tallis and the “Missa Pange lingua” by Josquin des Prez. For the Jubilee Year, he recorded the “Responsorii della Settimana Santa” by Tomás Luis de Victoria. He collaborated with the Banda Sinfonica Stanislaus Silesu for performance and recording (national premiere) of the Requiem by Frigyes Hidas at the Teatro Comunale in Cagliari. In February 1999 he recorded twenty-four of his compositions in collaboration with Centro Universitario Musicale di Cagliari. In 2000 he won important awards in Rome. His works became part of the repertoire of numerous Italian and foreign choirs. He often collaborated with writer and music critic Natalia Di Bartolo. As a composer and choir conductor Garau worked to

Mario Castelnuovo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mario Castelnuovo (born 25 January 1955) is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. Life and career Born in Rome, after the diploma in surveying Castelnuovo studied French literature at the university, specializing in Provençal and Troubadour aesthetics. In the same period he started to play guitar and to attend the Folkstudio, a well-known Roman musical club. In the following years Castelnuovo gradually moved away from the spotlight, still keeping to record critically acclaimed works. Castelnuovo’s style has been described as “characterized by an elegant mastery of melody, by an intimate and elegant atmosphere created by minimalist and refined lyrics and by a delicate and theatrical singing style”. According to Enrico Deregibus’ Dizionario completo della Canzone Italiana, his songs are “enchanting”, especially because of their “fascinating and delicate writing, rich in literary references”. Discography ;Album * 1982 - Sette fili di canapa ( IT / RCA Italiana ) * 1982 - Q Concert ( RCA Italiana ) (EP with Marco Ferradini and Goran Kuzminac) * 1984 - Mario Castelnuovo ( RCA Italiana ) * 1985 - È piazza del Campo ( RCA Italiana ) * 1987 - Venere ( RCA Italiana ) * 1988 - Sul nido

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In 1939 he emigrated to the United States and became a film composer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for some 200 Hollywood movies for the next fifteen years. He also wrote concertos for Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky. Biography Born in Florence, he was descended from a prominent banking family that had lived in Tuscany, specifically in Siena, until the latter half of the 19th century. His father was Amedeo and his elder brothers Ugo (born in 1890, lawyer) and Guido (born in 1891, engineer). Castelnuovo-Tedesco was first introduced to the piano by his mother, Noemi Senigaglia, and he composed his first pieces when he was just nine years old. After completing a degree in piano in 1914 under Edgardo Del Valle de Paz (1861–1920), well-known composer and pianist pupil of Beniamino Cesi, he began studying composition under renowned Italian composer Ildebrando Pizzetti, and received a diploma in composition in 1918. He soon came to the attention of compos

Mario Lavezzi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bruno Mario Lavezzi (born 8 May 1948) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and guitarist. Life and career Born in Milan, he studied piano and guitar at the Scuola Civica di Milano. He started his career in 1963, as the singer and guitarist for the band The Trappers. In 1966, following the dissolution of the band, he replaced Riki Maiocchi in the I Camaleonti until 1968, when he had to leave the band after being drafted into the Italian army. he also started collaborating as a composer and a record producer for several albums of Loredana Bertè. and scored the 1984 Carlo Vanzina comedy film Amarsi un po, which starred Tahnee Welch. Lavezzi is the uncle of Italo-disco one hit wonder Diana Est. Discography ; Albums * 1974 - Il Volo * 1976 - Iaia * 1978 - Filobus * 1979 - Cartolina * 1983 - Agrodolce * 1984 - Guardandoti, sfiorandoti * 1991 - Voci * 1993 - Voci 2 * 1997 - Voci e chitarre * 1999 - Senza catene * 2004 - Passionalità * 2009 - A più voci * 2011 - L’amore è quando c’è References External links * * Mario Lavezzi at Discogs *

Mario Nascimbene

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mario Nascimbene (28 November 1913 – 6 January 2002) was one of the best known Italian film soundtrack composers of the 20th century. His career spanned six decades, during which time he earned several awards for the innovative contents of his composing style. During his career he composed soundtracks for more than 150 films. Biography Nascimbene studied composition and orchestral conducting at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory of Music in Milan under the guidance of Ildebrando Pizzetti, Following graduation he wrote several pieces for chamber music and ballet. He was commissioned to write the soundtrack for the film “L’amore canta” (Love Song), directed in 1941 by Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, and the success of this film opened the doors of an entirely new career for him. He was one of the few composers in Italy whose career was based on his work in the cinema. He was particularly appreciated for the revolutionary innovation of incorporating the sounds of non-orchestral instruments like that of a jaw harp or a harmonica, everyday noises (like the tick-tock of a clock, the ring of a bicycle bell or the ticking sound of typewriters in Rome 11:00) in a musical score, with the purpose t

Mario Pasquale Costa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mario Pasquale Costa (24 July 1858 –27 September 1933) was a prolific Italian composer primarily known for his art songs, Neapolitan songs, and operettas. Costa was born in Taranto to Angelo and Maria Giuseppa née Malagisi. His father was a customs official, but the Costa family numbered several notable composers and musicians, including Costa’s uncle Michael Costa and his great-grandfather Giacomo Tritto. Costa studied composition, piano and singing at the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory in Naples under another uncle Carlo Costa, Paolo Serrao, and Giuseppe Martucci. By the age of 17, Costa had already published numerous art songs. Possessed of an attractive tenor voice, he often performed them himself for the first time. Between 1881 and 1884 he lived and worked in London where Italian songs were very much in vogue. On his return to Naples, he became very active in the revival of the Neapolitan musical tradition. After 1920 he concentrated on composing operettas, pantomimes, and ballets. Costa died in Monte Carlo in 1933. The following year his remains were brought to Taranto and placed in a monumental tomb erected by the city. References External links *Scores by Mario Pasquale

Mario Zafred

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mario Zafred (2 March 1922 Trieste – 22 May 1987 Rome) was an Italian composer, music critic, and opera director. He also served as the president of various Italian music conservatories including the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Biography Zafred began his music studies in Venice under Gian Francesco Malipiero before attending the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. After graduating in 1944 with a diploma in music composition he continued to study further under Ildebrando Pizzetti. In 1947 he moved to Paris where he continued to study composition for two years. After returning to Italy in 1949, Zafred began a successful career as a music critic, working first for L’unità (1949–56) and La Giustizia (1956–63). In 1966 he became artistic director of the Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. He left that house in 1968 to become the artistic director of the Rome Opera where he stayed until he became the director of the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale, Spoleto in 1974. In 1973 he was appointed president of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, where he stayed until he became president of the Sindacato Nazionale Musicisti in 1983. In 1985 he was appointed honorary pr

Marjan Mozetich

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marjan Mozetich (born 1948) is a Canadian composer who has written music for theatre, film and dance, as well as symphonic works, chamber music, and solo pieces. He has written compulsory competition pieces for the 1992 Banff String Quartet Competition (Lament in the Trampled Garden) and the 1995 Montreal International Music Competition (L’esprit Chantant for violin and piano). Co-founder of Arraymusic in Toronto, Mozetich served as their artistic director from 1976 to 1978. After his work with Array, he worked for some time at the University of Toronto music library, and then became a freelance composer. Mozetich discovered classical music on CBC Radio, which inspired him to compose romantic music through listening to Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. He also first heard on the radio what was then considered “super-modern pieces”, which presented him with a totally different, almost science-fiction perspective. He then started improvising some of his own “super-modern pieces” rather than practicing the classics. At this point, he had not yet learned how to record his compositions. and a Bachelor of Music degree in 1972 in composition and piano. With the help of the Canada Cou

Massimiliano Quilici

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Massimiliano Quilici (3 April 1799 - 18 October 1889) was an Italian composer. Born in Lucca, Quilici began his studies under his uncle Domenico Quilici; later he attended the Liceo Musicale di Lucca, of which he would later become director. His opera Francesca da Rimini premiered at the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca in 1829, and his opera Batrolomeo della Cavalla was first seen at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice in 1838; the former is to a libretto by Felice Romani, while the latter is set to a text by Jacopo Ferretti. Francesca da Rimini is recorded as having been a fiasco at its premiere. A third opera, La penna del Diavolo of 1861, is also recorded as having been performed in Florence. He also wrote much sacred music, He died in the city of his birth, and is interred in the Cimiterio di Lucca. References

Massimo Di Gesu

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Massimo Di Gesu is an Italian composer, born in 1970. Academic studies At the Milan Conservatory Di Gesu attained the Diploma in Piano in 1992, and the Diploma in Composition in 1995. He studied composition with Bruno Bettinelli, Besides further piano studies with Valerio Premuroso, he attended post-graduate composition courses at the Petrassi Academy (Parma), at the University of Central England (Birmingham), and at the University of Leeds. Style «At first, his musical thought could be traced back to the expressionism of Schönberg and the mastery of Berg. Actually, what is here perceptible is the mighty shadow of J. S. Bach» (Flavio Emilio Scogna on Gradus ad responsum for piano). and based on a distinctly atonal harmonic idiom His compositional technique enables the construction of melodic, harmonic, and contrapuntal structures ) linking the elements of the musical narrative: a work which the ensemble had commissioned on the occasion of the bicentennial of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth. La Scala String Quartet had already played Di Gesu’s works such as Ansikte mot ansikte (for Serate Musicali - Milano, and Ente Concerti Pesaro ) and WOLFiliGrANG (at the Rovereto Mozart Festival ). In 20

Matilde Capuis

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Matilde Margherita Mary Capuis (1 January 1913 – 31 January 2017) was an Italian organist, pianist, music educator and composer. She was born in Naples and studied at the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia with Gabriele Bianchi and at the Florence Conservatory. After completing her studies, she took a position at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi of Turin where she became chair of theory and then composition. For many years she performed in a duo with cellist Hugh Attilio Scabia. Capuis died in 2017 at the age of 104. Works Capuis’ compositions include: *Symphony in G major *Concentus brevis (Concerto) for oboe and string orchestra (1975) *Overture for orchestra *Variations for orchestra *Corale for organ, string orchestra and two horns *Dialogue for string orchestra *Leggenda par la Notte di Natale for string orchestra *Three Moments for cello and string orchestra *Fantasia *Preludio e fughetta *Suite in Miniature for piano trio *Sonata No. 1 in C Minor for cello and piano *Sonata No. 2 in D Minor for cello and piano *Sonata No. 3 in F-sharp Minor for cello and piano (1966) *Sonata No. 4 in G major for cello and piano (1975) *Sonata No. 5 for cello and piano (198

Matteo Buzzanca

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Matteo Buzzanca, also known by the pseudonym Teodorf, (born 28 September 1973) is an Italian musician, composer and record producer. Biography His work revolves around the creation of songs and soundtracks. He has made arrangements and written songs for various albums and he has produced music for documentaries, exposures, theatrical events, commercials, short films and films, not only in Italy but also abroad. He has written songs for X Factor Italia, The Voice of Italy and artists such as Max Gazzè, Emma Marrone, Marco Mengoni, Luca Carboni, Malika Ayane, Patty Pravo, Raphael Gualazzi, Noemi, Giusy Ferreri, Francesca Michielin and Zero Assoluto. He graduated in Application of Music, from Rovigo’s Conservatorio F. Venezze, with the maximum of marks and distinction he has also graduated in Economy and Business from the Università degli Studi Cà Foscari, in Venice. Since 2015 he has been professor of Sound for Movies in Milan’s SAE Institute. He currently is an exclusive author for Sugar Music. Author and producer for other artists Between the years 2002 and 2007’ he collaborated with the singer songwriter Andrea Chimenti to create two albums, Il porto sepolto (as arranger) and Viet

Matteo Carcassi

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Matteo Carcassi (8 April 1792 – 16 January 1853) was an Italian guitarist, teacher and composer. Biography Carcassi was born in Florence, Italy, and first studied the piano, but learned guitar when still a child. He quickly gained a reputation as a virtuoso concert guitarist before the age of twenty. By 1815, he had settled in Paris, where he earned his living as a teacher of both the piano and the guitar. On a concert tour in Germany in 1819, he met his friend Jean-Antoine Meissonnier for the first time. Also a well-known guitarist, Meissonnier published many of Carcassi’s works in his Paris publishing house. For Meissonnier, he also arranged a number of popular songs for guitar that were originally written for piano, including works by Théodore Labarre and Loïsa Puget. From 1820 onward, Carcassi spent the majority of his time in Paris. In 1823, he performed an extremely successful series of concerts in London that earned him great fame, both as a performing artist and as a teacher. However, in Paris, a long time passed before his talents were truly recognized, partly because of the presence of Ferdinando Carulli. Carcassi was in Germany again during the autumn of 1824. Afterwards

Matteo Curallo

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Matteo Curallo (born 25 January 1976, in Asti) is an Italian musician and composer. Biography Curallo studied electronic music at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica Giuseppe Verdi in Turin. He holds a degree in sound design from the Brera Academy in Milan. He began his career in 2001 when he worked on the music and the artistic production of Modho’s album, Soluzioni. Music for theatre In the 2000s, Curallo worked as a theatrical composer for shows that were performed both in Italy and abroad. These include Il Deserto Dei Tartari, Polvere, Il Piccolo Principe, and La Gabbianella e Il Gatto. He also put various shows to music for the Teatro Piemonte Europa Foundation, which were played in Italy and France. These included: Bar Franco-Italien, written by Myriam Tanant, directed by Jean Claude Penchenat, and Remake with Giulia Lazzarini (actress in Strehler, Ronconi), also in Piccolo Theatre of Milan. In 2008, with the Nut Performance group, he won the Gran Premio della Giuria del Jongeren Performance Festival of Groeningen with the work Le 7 solitudini. It was chosen by the jury for its “high level of execution and for the innovative performance of the work, not excluding its original

Matteo Marangoni

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Matteo Marangoni (12 July 1876 – 1 June 1958) was an Italian art historian, art critic and composer. Marangoni’s art criticism aimed at identifying pure figurative values, in which an artwork’s poetic values are identified. His books are positively influenced by the school of Benedetto Croce and Heinrich Wölfflin, clarifying their concepts on the basis of observation and following logic as a science of pure concept. Life Born in Florence, Italy, to Maria Augusta Malvisi and her physics-teacher husband Carlo Marangoni, he took his secondary school diploma in 1896 but did not continue with his studies straight away, instead moving to London to indulge his passion for music. There he performed as a pianist and composed short pieces for voice and piano – Barcarola in 1897, Serenata in 1900, Le pastorelle montanine di Franco Sacchetti in 1901, Tre canti di Giacomo Leopardi in 1902 and Gavotta, also in 1902. He later returned to Florence and attended the Facoltà di scienze, graduating in 1905 in anthropology. He then moved to Paris and back to London as well as travelling in Germany, becoming interested in the figurative arts. On his second return to Italy in 1909 he took an art history

Matteo Salvi

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Matteo Salvi (24 November 1816 – 18 October 1887 ) was a composer of opera and classical music and a theatre director. Salvi was born in Botta di Sedrina (Provincia di Bergamo), Italy. A student of Gaetano Donizetti, he is best known for having completed the score of Donizetti’s unfinished opera Le duc d’Albe for its first public performance in 1882, some forty years after Donizetti’s death. (The libretto was translated into Italian, and the opera was performed as Il duca d’Alba.) Salvi is usually credited as the composer of the tenor aria “Angelo casto e bel” in Il duca d’Alba, although as he was helped in the reconstruction of Donizetti’s score by several composers, including Amilcare Ponchielli, there has been some dispute as to the degree to which he was the aria’s sole composer. He died in Rieti, Italy. Principal compositions *La prima donna 1843—opera to a libretto by Carlo Guaita *Lara 1843—opera to a libretto by Leopoldo Tarentini and dedicated to Johann Simon Mayr *I Burgravi 1845—opera to a libretto by Giacomo Sacchèro *Caterina Howard 1847—opera to a libretto by Giorgio Giachetti *Messa: a voci sole con accompagnamento d’organo *Cantata per soli e coro con orchestra: la

Matthew S

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Matthew S is the pseudonym of Matteo Scapin, an Italian electronic music producer, musician and composer. He is known for his diverse production style, which is influenced primarily by electronic music and ambient music, but also elements of tech house. Biography Matthew S began his career in 2009 with the release of his first EP Reiz Musik 014 and also teaches at Pantarhei in Vicenza. He collaborated as sound designer with Gruppo L’Espresso and Gruppo Magnolia, a TV production society leader in creating new entertainment formats that include different genres. In 2015, Matthew S produced his first album Call Me by Your Name with fashion designer Von Felthen. and won “Best New Generation Electro” by MTV New Generation (MTV Italy) He also received the prize “Città di Thiene 2015”. In 2016, he signed a contract for exclusive publishing with Il Nuovo Rumore Italiano (INRI) / Metatron, a well-known independent publisher in Italy which gives the producer access to his own Italian and international network. The music video for his single “Inside” was heavily played from September to October on MTV Music (Italy) . After publishing “Inside”, He created a remix of the song “Tokai” by Anti An

Maurizio Colasanti

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Maurizio Colasanti is an Italian conductor and composer. Biography At the age of 5 he began studying music with maestro Mimì De Renzis; just a year later he held his first solo concert with the band from his town, Pretoro. He graduated with top marks and honors from the L.D’Annunzio Conservatory of Music in Pescara. Subsequently he graduated “Cum Laude” in theoretical philosophy at the D’Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara University. His musical inclinations and interests led him to conduct the 20th century and contemporary repertoire of authors such as: Ottorino Respighi, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Luigi Dallapiccola, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Barbara Kaszuba, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sofija Asgatovna Gubajdulina, George Enescu, Bruno Maderna. Active in opera, he has directed major titles in both Italian, German and English, including: (Salome) by Richard Strauss, (The Rape of Lucretia) by Benjamin Britten, Les enfants terribles, by Philip Glass. He has collaborated with musicians such as: Uto Ughi, Aaron Rosand, Félix Ayo, Yamandu Costa, Anthony Braxton, Gunther Schuller, Georg Friedrich Haas, An

Maurizio Fabrizio

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Maurizio Fabrizio (born 16 March 1952) is an Italian composer, conductor, arranger, producer, musician and singer-songwriter. Life and career Born in Milan, after studying at the conservatory in 1969 Fabrizio became a member of the La Scala orchestra as a percussionist under the direction of Claudio Abbado. In 1970 he formed a musical duo with his brother Popi, Maurizio e Fabrizio, recording several singles and entering the main competition at the 21st edition of the Sanremo Music Festival. In 1972 he started a long and fruitful collaboration as arranger and producer with Angelo Branduardi, and also began collaborating as composer and arranger with other artists including Ornella Vanoni, Patty Pravo and Mia Martini. After recording some solo albums between 1975 and 1980, starting from the early 1980s Fabrizio devoted himself to composing, often teaming with lyricist Guido Morra. His collaborations include Eros Ramazzotti, Renato Zero, Riccardo Fogli, Miguel Bosé, Antonello Venditti, Mina, Giorgia, Toquinho, Albano Carrisi, Eduardo De Crescenzo, Donatella Rettore, Rossana Casale, Alexia and Mietta. Fabrizio also composed music for several stage musicals. Discography ;Albums * 1970 -

Maurizio Guarini

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Maurizio Guarini is a self-taught keyboardist, multi-instrumentalist and composer, best known as a member of the progressive rock band Goblin. Biography Born in Rome, Italy in 1955, Guarini started playing organ and guitar at the age of 10. He started playing live at high school concerts with some rock bands. Later, his music exploration moved on to progressive / jazz-rock. After graduating from high school in 1973, he attended the Math faculty at the University La Sapienza in Rome. In spring 1975 Massimo Morante from Goblin invited Guarini to join the band, just after Deep Red was released. Starting with the very first concert in September 1975, Goblin, that reached top of the charts at that time, kept touring Italy until the end of 1976. In March 1976 Goblin released the album Roller. Just after three days of recording of the score for the movie Suspiria, on November 23, 1976, Guarini temporarily left the band. Late in 1978, after two years of studio work mainly in studio at RCA Records in Rome, Guarini re-joined Goblin, with a different line-up. Production of the band in the following years includes scores for the movies Patrick (1978), Buio Omega (1979), Contamination (1980), S

Mauro Cardi

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Mauro Cardi (born July 22, 1955, in Rome, Italy) is an Italian composer. Biography Trained at the “Santa Cecilia” Conservatoire of Rome, under the guidance of Irma Ravinale, Gino Marinuzzi jr., Guido Turchi, he graduated in composition, instrumentation for wind orchestra and choral music. In 1982, he received his first international recognition, winning the “Valentino Bucchi Prize” with Melos, for soprano and orchestra. Crucial was the encounter with Franco Donatoni, with which he furthered his education at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana of Siena. In 1984, he attended the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. In 1987, he was selected to represent Italy at the International Rostrum of Composers by UNESCO. In 1988, he won the second prize at the International Competition Gian Francesco Malipiero with In Corde, for orchestra. Mauro Cardi soon developed his individual style, focusing his research on “musical forms moulded by timbre and sound intuitions, with unexpectedly expressive moments”. His poetics reflects his natural aptitude to contrapuntal writing and his fascination with logic and the symbolic value of numbers, attracted to the playful dimensi

Mauro Giuliani

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Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (27 July 1781 – 8 May 1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century. One of his best known works is his Grand Overture, which has become standard early Romantic classical guitar repertoire. Biography Although born in Bisceglie, Giuliani’s centre of study was in Barletta, where he moved with his brother Nicola in the first years of his life. His first instrumental training was on the cello—an instrument which he never completely abandoned—and he may have also studied the violin. Subsequently, he devoted himself to the guitar, becoming a skilled performer on it in a short time. The names of his teachers are unknown. He married Maria Giuseppe del Monaco, and they had a child, Michael, born in Barletta in 1801. After that, he was possibly in Bologna and Trieste for a brief stay. By the summer of 1806, fresh from his studies of counterpoint, cello and guitar in Italy, he had moved to Vienna without his family. There, he began a relationship with the Viennese Anna Wiesenberger (1784–1817), with whom he had four daughters, Maria Willmuth (born 1808), Aloisia Willmuth (born 1

Michael Costa (conductor)

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Sir Michael Andrew Angus Costa (14 February 180829 April 1884) was an Italian-born conductor and composer who achieved success in England. Biography He was born as Michele Andrea Agniello Costa in Naples, into a family of Sephardic Jewish descent. He studied there with his father, at the Real Collegio di Musica, and later with Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. In his youth, as throughout his life, he wrote a great quantity of music, including operas, symphonies and cantatas, all of which have long since passed into oblivion. In 1829, he visited the Birmingham Music Festival to conduct Zingarelli’s Cantata Sacra, a setting of some verses from Isaiah ch. xii. This was the occasion of his memorably inauspicious début. The intention was that Costa should rehearse and conduct the work, but J. B Cramer and Thomas Greatorex elbowed him out and was instead engaged as a tenor soloist in another concert. Unfortunately, both the work and Costa’s singing met with ferocious criticism: " This cantata is one of the most tame, insipid things we were ever doomed to hear: a heap of commonplace trash from the first to the last note. After twaddling in B flat for half an hour, he ventures for a few bars int

Michelagnolo Galilei

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Michelagnolo Galilei (sometimes spelled Michelangelo; 18 December 15753 January 1631) was an Italian composer and lutenist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, active mainly in Bavaria and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was the son of music theorist and lutenist Vincenzo Galilei, and the younger brother of the scientist Galileo Galilei. Life Galilei was born in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He learned to play the lute at an early age, like his father. Most likely he was destined for a career in Florence, but when his father died in 1591, the sixteen-year-old lutenist was put in the charge of his older brother Galileo Galilei, who was in Padua. Some other employment had to be found for Michelagnolo, so in 1593 he went to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where foreign musicians were much in demand. Most likely he went there with the powerful Lithuanian Radziwiłł family. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had several sophisticated musical establishments at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, especially at Kraków: Luca Marenzio, one of Italy’s most famous madrigal composers, went there for a time, as did lutenists Diomedes Cato and Valentin Ba

Michele Carafa

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Michele Enrico Francesco Vincenzo Aloisio Paolo Carafa di Colobrano (17 November 1787 – 26 July 1872) was an Italian opera composer. He was born in Naples and studied in Paris with Luigi Cherubini. He was professor of counterpoint at the Paris Conservatoire from 1840 to 1858. One of his notable pupils was Achille Peri. Life and work Michele Enrico was born the second son of Giovanni Carafa, prince of Colubrano and duke of Alvito, and princess Teresa Lembo. He was given a solid musical education. In 1802, he composed his first opera, Il Fantasma, which was staged at the theater of his father-in-law, prince of Caramanico, in 1805. He moved in 1806 to Paris, where he was taught composition by Luigi Cherubini and piano by Friedrich Kalkbrenner. However, pressured by his father to give up music for a military career, he became a lieutenant of the hussars in Napoleon’s army. Taken prisoner in the Battle of Campo Tenese in 1806, he was freed and participated in the war against Sicily, where he became captain. Returning to Naples in 1808, he married Antoinette d’Aubenton (or Daubenton) and studied music under Fedele Fenaroli. Again pressured by his father, he followed Joachim Murat in the

Michele Esposito

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Michele Esposito (29 September 1855 – 19 November 1929) was an Italian composer, conductor and pianist who spent most of his professional life in Dublin, Ireland. Training Esposito was born at Castellamare di Stabia, near Sorrento. As a boy, he entered the conservatory of Naples as a piano pupil of Beniamino Cesi (1845–1907, himself a favourite pupil of Thalberg), and studied composition there for 8 years under Paolo Serrao (1830–1907, teacher of Francesco Cilea and others). He was a near-contemporary of Giuseppe Martucci, and a few years the senior of Alessandro Longo, both taught by these teachers. In 1878, he went to Paris for several years. In 1879, he married Natalia Klebnikoff (1857–1944), who hailed from St Petersburg. They had four children, including the noted scholar Mario Esposito. Teacher, pianist and conductor Esposito became chief pianoforte professor at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 1882, and remained there for more than forty years, devoting himself to the encouragement of classical music in Dublin. He inaugurated the Royal Dublin Society chamber-music recitals, with great success, and gave piano recitals for the Society every year. He established the Dublin O

Michele Novaro

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Michele Novaro (; 23 December 1818 – 20 October 1885) was an Italian composer. Novaro was born on 23 December 1818 in Genoa, where he studied composition and singing at the Scuola Gratuita di Canto (now the Genoa Conservatory). Novaro is mostly known as the composer of the music of the Italian national anthem, Il Canto degli Italiani (lyrics by Goffredo Mameli), better known in Italy as Inno di Mameli (Mameli’s Hymn). Novaro was a convinced liberal and offered his compositional talents to the unification cause without deriving any personal benefits. He died poor on 20 October 1885, after a life riddled with financial and health difficulties. He was buried at the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa. References External links * *

Michele Stratico

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Giuseppe Michele Stratico (31 July 1728 – 31 January 1783) was a Venetian composer and violinist of Greek descent. Biography Stratico was born in Zara, Republic of Venice (today Zadar in Croatia). His father, the Cretan Greek Giuseppe Battista Stratico de Candia or Stratikos (ca. 1690-28 November 1770 ), left Crete shortly before 1718. The island of Crete was declared a province of the Ottoman Empire in 1646 after the occupation of the western part of the Ottomans during the Great Cretan War. The Venetians maintained control of the capital until 1669, when Francesco Morosini surrendered the keys of the city of Heraklion to the Ottomans. The fortresses of Souda, Gramvousa and Spinalonga, located on small islands near Crete, remained under Venetian control until 1715, when they also fell under Ottoman control. After spending a few years in Bari, Giovanni Battista found shelter in Zara in 1720 or 1721, where he married in 1725 Maria Castelli di Chio (ca. 1700 – 18 April 1796 ). Her brother, Ivan Antun II Castelli (1706–78), was bishop of Kotor (1744). On 5 November 1725 Giuseppe Battista confirmed his nobility from Crete at the civic municipality of the town Nin. Four of their twelve

Miguel Ablóniz

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Miguel Ablóniz, also known as Michelis Ablonitis (29 May 1917 – 19 July 2001) was a Greek-Italian guitarist and composer who composed and performed in diverse styles, including classical and Bossa Nova. Career Ablóniz began playing the guitar at the age of eight in self-study. He began his musical career as a teenager when he appeared on the radio and gave concerts in Cairo. Later he studied music theory, piano, violin and guitar at the Barcelona Conservatory. He was taught by Emilio Pujol, Juan Díaz del Moral, and Pujol’s wife Matilde Cuervas, from whom he learned to play flamenco. After he moved to Italy, he initially continued his career as a concertizing musician, but in 1953 he founded his own music school in Milan. He also taught the master class at the School of Music at Ithaca College in New York City for many years. He had great success as a teacher: his ideas on technique and performance aesthetics proved influential in the international guitar scene; he held renowned annual masterclasses in New York, and was the teacher of musicians such as Aldo Minella and Riccardo Zappa. As a composer, he collaborated mainly with the publishing houses Casa Ricordi and Bèrben. Among his

Mike Francis

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Francesco Puccioni (26 April 1961 – 30 January 2009), better known under his stage name Mike Francis, was an Italian singer and composer, born in Florence, Italy. Internationally, he was best known for his 1984 hit, “Survivor”, and his collaborations with American singer Amii Stewart. Career Puccioni formed his first band at age 14 with schoolmates from l’Istituto di Studi Americano in Rome. Under the stage name Mike Francis, he had his first hit with “Survivor” in 1984 and went on to record ten studio albums. Among his best known works is the song “Friends”, a collaboration with Amii Stewart released in 1984 which became a hit in the UK. Beginning in 2000, assisted by his brother Mario (Mari-One) and by the Maltese multi-instrumentalist Aidan Zammit, he founded the group Mystic Diversions. The group’s songs were featured on many high-profile chill-out and lounge compilations. In addition to new, original song material, they also performed covers of various 1970s and 1980s songs such as “Float On” (by the Floaters) and “A Warm Summer Night” (by Chic). Together with the trio, additional musicians for live sets consisted of Agostino Marangolo (drums), Fabio Pignatelli (bass), Marco R

Mikhail Ivanov (composer)

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Mikhail Mikhaylovich Ivanov (; 23 September 184920 October 1927) was a Russian composer, critic and writer of music. Biography Mikhail Mikhaylovich Ivanov was born in Moscow in 1849. He studied at the Technological Institute, Saint Petersburg, then at the Moscow Conservatory for a year, under Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (harmony) and Alexandre Dubuque (piano). He lived the next six years of his life in Rome, where he associated with Franz Liszt and his pupils and studied with Giovanni Sgambati. He returned to Russia and became a music critic with the Novoye Vremya. Many of his compositions were performed, but not published. Arias from his opera Zabava Puytatishna (1899) have been recorded by Olimpia Boronat, Eugenia Bronskaya and Leonid Sobinov. His liturgical piece The Lord’s Prayer has been recorded by Nicolai Gedda. He died in Rome in 1927. Musical works * Potemkin’s Feast (or Potemkin’s Holiday), opera (1888; 16 December 1902, St Petersburg) * Zabava Putyatishna, opera (1899; 15 January 1899, Moscow) * The Proud Woman, opera (not prod.) * Woe to the Wise, opera (19 April 1910, Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg) * La Vestale (a.k.a. Vyestalka), ballet (choreography by Marius Peti

Mimmo Cavallo

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Cosimo Cavallo (born 1 January 1951), best known as Mimmo Cavallo, is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. Life and career Born in Lizzano, Apulia, Cavallo spent his childhood in Turin, where his family had moved. At 17 years old he moved back in Apulia, where he started performing as a singer, and shortly later he moved to Rome, where he began his professional career. Active as a songwriter for other artists, his collaborations include work Mia Martini, Zucchero Fornaciari, Ornella Vanoni, Gianni Morandi, Loredana Bertè and Fiorella Mannoia. He composed “Ma che storia è questa”, the theme song of the RAI television program La storia d’Italia a fumetti by Enzo Biagi. Discography ;Albums * 1980 - Siamo meridionali (CGD, 20163) * 1981 - Uh, mammà! (CGD, 20256) * 1982 - Stancami, stancami musica (Fonit Cetra, LPX 112) * 1989 - Non voglio essere uno spirito (DDD, 209 993) * 1991 - L’incantautore (DDD, 262 893) * 2011 - Quando saremo fratelli uniti * 2014 - Dalla parte delle bestie * 2017 - Puesta del Sol Tango References External links * * * *

Mimmo Locasciulli

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Mimmo Locasciulli (born 7 July 1949) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, producer and musician. Life and career Born in Penne, Pescara, Locasciulli is the son of a vet who in his spare time used to perform as a crooner with the stage name Guido Lucas. In 1965 he formed a band with whom he performed in the music halls of the Adriatic coast. In 1985 he entered the competition at the Sanremo Music Festival, ranking nineteenth with the song “Buona fortuna”. Between 1985 and 1987 he toured with Enrico Ruggeri, then in 1988 Locasciulli started an acclaimed collaboration with the jazz bassist Greg Cohen. Starting from the 1990s, following the critically acclaimed album Tango dietro l’angolo, he mainly focused on his activity as a producer and on in his day job as a primary care physician. Discography ;Album * 1975 - Non rimanere là (Folkstudio, FK 5001) * 1977 - Quello che ci resta (RCA Italiana, PL 31316) * 1980 - Quattro canzoni di Mimmo Locasciulli (RCA Italiana, PG 33403) * 1982 - Intorno a trent’anni (RCA Italiana, PL 31625) * 1983 - Sognadoro (RCA Italiana, PL 31710) * 1985 - Mimmo Locasciulli (RCA Italiana, PL 70702) * 1985 - Confusi in un playback (RCA Italiana, PL 70942; l

Niccola Spinelli

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Niccola Spinelli (29 July 1865 – 17 October 1909) was an Italian composer of operas. Born in Turin, the son of a jurist, he studied composition at the Naples Conservatory under Paolo Serrao. His opera Labilia won the second-place prize in an 1890 opera competition organized by Milanese music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno, and premiered in Rome on 9 May 1890; A basso porto was first performed in England by the Carl Rosa Co. in March 1899 at Brighton, and by the Queen’s Hall Orchestra on 11 October 1900, under Henry Wood. The opera focuses on the slums of Naples, where Spinelli used mandolins and guitars in several places in his orchestral score. The mandolinists were Florimond and Cesare Costers. The mandolins were an important part of the opera, accompanying the tenor song of the second act, and the finale of the third act. More importantly, Spinelli composed an intermezzo for mandolins and orchestra, as a prelude to the third and last act, a departure from the customary instrumentation. Philip J. Bone said that the audience reaction to the intermezzo “was extraordinary”. Bone, a music historian, added more detail about the use of mandolins by Spinelli, saying, “Spinelli makes good us

Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli

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Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli (; 4 April 1752 – 5 May 1837) was an Italian composer, chiefly of opera during the classical period. Life Early career Zingarelli was born in Naples, where he studied (from the age of 7) at the Santa Maria di Loreto conservatory under Fenaroli and Speranza. In 1789–1790 Zingarelli went to Paris to compose Antigone. He left France hurriedly at the time of the revolution and eventually returned to Italy. He was appointed maestro di cappella at Milan Cathedral in 1793, and remained there until 1794, when he took up the prestigious post of maestro di cappella at the Basilica della Santa Casa, Loreto. Rome In 1804, Zingarelli was appointed choir master of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Seven years later he publicly refused, as an Italian patriot, to conduct a Te Deum for Napoleon’s new-born son, known as King of Rome, in St. Peter’s Basilica. As a result of this refusal he was captured and taken to Paris. Nevertheless, the Emperor was a great admirer of Zingarelli’s music and soon gave the composer his liberty. In addition, Zingarelli was awarded a state pension. Naples In 1813, Zingarelli moved to Naples, where he became director of the conservatory. Then in 181

Niccolò Castiglioni

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Niccolò Castiglioni (17 July 1932 – 7 September 1996) was an Italian composer, pianist, and writer on music. Castiglioni was born and raised in Milan, where he began studying piano at the age of 7. He received his performer’s diploma from the Milan Conservatory in 1952, and graduated there in composition in 1953. His student compositions were marked by Stravinsky’s neo-classicism, but after graduation his style changed under the influence of the Second Viennese School. His interest in twelve-tone technique was joined with musical-political engagement, though this was short-lived. The Impromptus I–IV, identified by the composer as his first true opus, abandoned these expressionistic tensions, and these four short pieces exhibit a close relationship to Webern’s aphoristic style, while also moving closer to the European avant garde. Personal contact with Luciano Berio at the RAI electronic music studio in Milan also influenced Castiglioni’s direction at that time, and his attendance at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse completed this development. During the years 1958 to 1965 he taught at the Darmstadt Summer Courses. From 1966 to 1970 he taught composition as composer-in-residence at SUNY

Niccolò Jommelli

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Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including reducing ornateness of style and the primacy of star singers somewhat. Biographical information Early life Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and Margarita Cristiano in Aversa, a town some 24 km north of Naples. He had one brother, Ignazio, who became a Dominican friar and was of some help to him in his elder years, and three sisters. His father was a prosperous linen merchant, who entrusted him for musical instruction to Canon Muzzillo, the director of the choir of Aversa Cathedral. When this proved successful, he was enrolled in 1725 at the Conservatorio di Santo Onofrio a Capuana in Naples, where he studied under Ignazio Prota alongside Tomaso Prota and Francesco Feo. Three years later he was transferred to the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, where he was trained under Niccolò Fago, with Don Giacomo Sarcuni and Andrea Basso, as second maestri (maestri di canto), or singing teachers. He was greatly influenced by Johann Adolf Has

Nico Fidenco

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Domenico Colarossi (24 January 1933 – 18 November 2022) known professionally as Nico Fidenco, was an Italian singer and film soundtrack composer who gained considerable popularity in 1960 with the release of the song “What a Sky” (Italian: “Su nel cielo”), taken from the film Silver Spoon Set by Francesco Maselli. Self-taught in music, Fidenco did a few cover versions of film title songs for the Italian market. With the song “Legata a un granello di sabbia”, he was the first Italian singer to sell one million copies of a single. This interest in cinema led him to be a prolific soundtrack composer, including scores for westerns and many Joe D’Amato films. Selected filmography Discography 45 rpm singles * 1960: What a Sky / Su nel cielo RCA Italiana 45N 1109 * 1961: Just that Same Old Line / Trust Me RCA Italiana 45N 1122 * 1961: Non è vero / Una voce d’angelo RCA Italiana 45N 1127 * 1961: Il mondo di Suzie Wong / Tornerai… Suzie RCA Italiana 45N 1144 * 1961: Ghinza Street / Ghinza Street (strumentale) RCA Italiana 45N 1155 * 1961: Legata a un granello di sabbia / Ridi, ridi RCA Italiana PM45-1166 * 1961: Exodus / Come nasce un amore RCA Serie Europa PM45-3000 * 1962: Little Grain

Nicola Campogrande

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Nicola Campogrande (born 9 October 1969 in Turin) is an Italian composer. His music is published exclusively by Breitkopf & Härtel. He’s also active as music journalist, writing for the newspaper Corriere della Sera, and as radio host for RAI Radio3. He published several popular books about music. Selected works Stage * Il ventre del mare, words by Alessandro Baricco (1994) * Macchinario, words by Dario Voltolini (1995) * Capelas imperfeitas, words by Dario Voltolini (1997) * Cronache animali, on lyrics by Toti Scialoja (1998) * Quando piovvero cappelli a Milano, words by Gianni Rodari (from Tante storie per giocare) (2000) * Lego, words by Dario Voltolini (2000) * Alianti, words by Dario Voltolini (2001) * Tempi burrascosi, words by Dario Voltolini (2009) * Opera italiana, libretto by Elio and Piero Bodrato (2010) * De bello gallico, libretto by Piero Bodrato (2016) * Folon, libretto by Piero Bodrato (2017) * La notte di San Nicola, libretto by Piero Bodrato (2020) * I due usignoli, libretto by Piero Bodrato (2023) Orchestral (with and without soloists) * Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra (2002) from the Concerto per cembalo e archi BWV 1052 (Bach) * Sinfonietta (2004) * Absolut

Nicola d'Arienzo

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Nicola d’Arienzo (24 December 1842 – 25 April 1915) was an Italian composer, music pedagogue, and writer on music. He spent his entire career in his native Naples where all but one of his nine of his operas were premiered. His other compositions included instrumental music, sacred music and art songs. From 1909 until 1911, d’Arienzo served as the director of the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella having taught there since 1875. He also wrote several books on the history and theory of music. Life and career Nicola d’Arienzo was born in Naples, the son of Maddalena (née Santelia) and Gaetano d’Arienzo. His father, a notary, was strongly opposed to him pursuing a career in music, and he initially studied piano secretly with Pietro Labriola and Michelangelo Russo. His uncle Marco d’Arienzo, a lawyer by profession and a prolific librettist by avocation, paid for the lessons and helped the young Nicola to overcome his father’s opposition. He went on to study harmony and counterpoint with Vincenzo Fioravanti and orchestration with Giovanni Moretti, both of whom were opera composers. From 1872, d’Arienzo had a parallel career as a music pedagogue and writer. He was appointed to the chair

Nicola De Giosa

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Nicola De Giosa (3 May 1819 – 7 July 1885) was an Italian composer and conductor active in Naples. He composed numerous operas, the most successful of which, Don Checco and Napoli di carnevale, were in the Neapolitan opera buffa genre. His other works included sacred music and art songs. His songs were particularly popular, bringing him fame as a salon composer both in Italy and abroad. De Giosa died in Bari, the city of his birth, at the age of 66. Life and career De Giosa was born in Bari to Angelantonio and Lucia (née Favia) De Giosa. He initially trained to be a flautist, first in Bari with his elder brother Giuseppe and then with Errico Daniele. Daniele recognized his talent and persuaded De Giosa’s father to enroll him at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella in Naples. He passed the entrance examination at age 14 with sufficient merit to be awarded free tuition at the conservatory and continued his flute studies there with Pasquale Bongiorno. He also studied composition with Francesco Ruggi, Niccolò Zingarelli, and later with Gaetano Donizetti. According to contemporary accounts, he was one of Donizetti’s favourite pupils. In 1839, while still a student, two of his compos

Nicola Francesco Haym

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Nicola Francesco Haym (6 July 1678 – 31 July 1729) was an Italian opera librettist, composer, theatre manager and performer, literary editor and numismatist. He is best remembered for adapting texts into libretti for the London operas of George Frideric Handel and Giovanni Bononcini. Libretti that he provided for Handel included those for Giulio Cesare, Ottone, Flavio, Tamerlano, Rodelinda, and several others; for Bononcini, he produced two, Calfurnia and Astianatte. Compositions Haym was born in Rome. His career began as a cellist in Italy, and he arrived in London in 1701: he swiftly became master of the 2nd Duke of Bedford’s chamber music. He wrote the libretto for Bononcini’s Camilla, a seminal work of enormous success that did much to establish Italian opera in London. Later, when operas in London came to be performed entirely in Italian, rather than in a bilingual blend of English and Italian, Haym spent much time adapting both libretti and music for the many pasticcios that were staged at this time. Haym became the teacher and manager of the already successful soprano Joanna Maria Lindehleim negotiating a 100 guinea contract for ten performances in 1706. They would live toge

Nicola Matteis

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Nicola Matteis (Matheis) (c. 1650 – after 1713 ) was the earliest notable Italian Baroque violinist in London, whom Roger North judged in retrospect “to have been a second to Corelli,” and a composer of significant popularity in his time, though he had been utterly forgotten until the later 20th century. Very little is known of his early life, although Matteis was probably born in Naples, describing himself as ‘Napolitano’ in several of his works. He came to London in the early 1670s and according to the diarist Roger North, had a city merchant as a sponsor, who schooled him in the ways of currying favor from the gentry (by allowing them to accompany him in parlor recitals and other minor performances). John Evelyn reports in his diary for 19 November 1674, the earliest notice of Matteis, “I heard that stupendious Violin Signor Nichola (with other rare Musitians) whom certainly never mortal man exceeded on that instrument, he had a stroak so sweete, made it speaking like the Voice of a man and when he pleased, like a Consort of severall Instruments: he did wonders upon a Note: was an excellent Composer also. Nothing approched the violin in Nichola’s hand: he seemed to be inspired a

Nicola Piovani

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Nicola Piovani (born 26 May 1946) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music and film, television, and theatrical scores. A graduate of the Verdi Conservatory and pupil of Manos Hatzidakis, he began his professional career in the 1960s, and has written over 190 film scores since 1968. He is known for his collaborations with eminent directors like Roberto Benigni, Giuseppe Tornatore, Mario Monicelli, Nanni Moretti, and the Taviani Brothers. Piovani succeeded Nino Rota as Federico Fellini’s go-to composer for his final three films. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful (1997). Aside from his film scores, Piovani also works in musical theatre and opera, and also writes concert and chamber music. Life and career After high school, Piovani enrolled at the Sapienza University of Rome, receiving his degree in piano from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1967, and later studied orchestration under the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. In 1971 and 1973 collaborated for the music of two albums of the songwriter Fabrizio De André: Storia di un impiegato and Non al denaro non all’amore né al cielo. In 2008, after De

Nicola Porpora

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Nicola (or Niccolò) Antonio Giacinto Porpora (17 August 16863 March 1768) was an Italian composer and teacher of singing of the Baroque era, whose most famous singing students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. Other students included composers Johann Adolph Hasse, Matteo Capranica and Joseph Haydn. Biography Porpora was born in Naples, Italy. He graduated from the music conservatory Poveri di Gesù Cristo of his native city, where the civic opera scene was dominated by Alessandro Scarlatti. Porpora’s first opera, Agrippina, was successfully performed at the Neapolitan court in 1708. His second, Berenice, was performed at Rome. In a long career, he followed these up by many further operas, supported as maestro di cappella in the households of aristocratic patrons, such as the commander of military forces at Naples, prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt, or of the Portuguese ambassador at Rome, for composing operas alone did not yet make a viable career. However, his enduring fame rests chiefly upon his unequalled power of teaching singing. At the Neapolitan Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio and with the Poveri di Gesù Cristo he trained Farinelli, Caffarelli, Salimbeni, and other cel

Nicola Samale

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Nicola Samale (born 14 September 1941) is an Italian composer and conductor. Biography Nicola Samale studied 1959–72 at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia, Rome, Flute (Diploma 1963) Conducting (with Franco Ferrara, Diploma 1970), Composition as well as Instrumentation (Diploma 1972). He refined his conducting in classes with John Barbirolli (1964) and Hermann Scherchen (1965). Still in his studies, he won several conducting competitions, in particular 1968 in Florence (1st prize), 1969 at La Scala, Milan (2nd prize), 1969 the Respighi Competition in Venice (1st prize) and 1970 the RAI Competition in Rome (1st prize). Samale works as a composer and conductor. He appeared with almost all Italian orchestras and at Italian opera houses, furthermore in Bucharest, Frankfurt, Grenoble, Johannesburg, Katowice, Ljubljana, London, Mannheim, Miami, Paris, Pretoria, and Stuttgart. Samale was Principal Guest Conductor of the Sinfonica Abruzzese (1984–88), Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Lecce (1993–94) and the Gran Orchestra Sinfonica di Montescaglioso in provincia di Matera (1997–2000) as well as Artistic Director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Catanzaro (20

Nicola van Westerhout

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Nicola van Westerhout (also Niccolò; 17 December 1857 – 21 August 1898) was an Italian composer. Biography Early life and education Of Flemish origin, the family van Westerhout settled in Apulia in the seventeenth century, first in Bari and then in Monopoli. Nicola van Westerhout, grandfather of Niccolò, moved to Mola di Bari, where the composer himself and his father, Onofrio Augustine, were both born. At the age of 13, van Westerhout composed an opera on the subject of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, showing remarkable musical talent. He was then helped, by the City Council of Mola di Bari, to move to Naples and attend the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, where he studied composition with Nicola De Giosa, Nicola D’Arienzo and Lauro Rossi. Career and musical style Westerhout spent the rest of his life in Naples, where he established himself as a pianist and composer. In 1897, one year before his death, he returned to the Naples Conservatory as harmony teacher. While the majority of Westerhout’s compositions are instrumental and vocal chamber music, he is perhaps best known for his operatic works. His operas include: Tilde, which has been lost; Cimbelino, which was first performe

Nicola Vicentino

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Nicola Vicentino (1511 – 1575 or 1576) was an Italian music theorist and composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most progressive musicians of the age, inventing, among other things, a microtonal keyboard. Life Little is known of his early life. Born in Vicenza, he may have studied with Adrian Willaert in Venice, which was close by, and he acquired an early interest in the contemporary humanistic revival, including the study of ancient Greek music theory and performance practice (about which little was known, but was then being uncovered, through the work of scholars such as Girolamo Mei and Giangiorgio Trissino). At some time in the 1530s or early 1540s, he went to Ferrara, which was to become the center for experimental secular music in Italy from the middle to the end of the 16th century. Apparently, he served as a music tutor to the Duke of Ferrara and some of his family members in the House of Este, and some of Vincentino’s music was sung at the court of Ferrara. During the late 1540s, his reputation as a music theorist grew. He established his reputation as a composer with his publication of a book of madrigals in Venice in 1546, and in 1551 he took part in one of the

Nicolaus Ricci de Nucella Campli

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Nicolaus Savini Mathei alias Ricci de Nucella Campli, (fl. 1401–1425; d. 1438 or after), also Niccolò Ricci and Nucella, was an Italian composer, singer, and scribe of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Only a single work by Nicolaus is known, the ballata De bon parole. Life Nothing was known of this composer until the discoveries of Giuliano Di Bacco and John Nádas, published in summary form in 1998 and more completely in 2004. From his name it seems he was born or active in Abruzzo, since “Nucella” or “Nocella” is a small località less than 2 km south-east of Campli. He is documented as a member of the papal chapels of Popes Boniface IX, Innocent VII, and Gregory XII of the Roman obedience from 1401–1410. He was listed as “cantor dnp” (singer for the lord, the pope) and “prepositus ecclesie S. Victorie de Nucella Campli Aprutin. dioc.” (“Provost of the church of Saint Victoria of Nocella, Campli in the diocese of Teramo “) in a document from November 10, 1401. He is later listed as also being a familiar of the pope (March 27, 1405), then a priest (July 15, 1407), then a scribe for the pope (May 5, 1410), while gaining affiliations with several other churches. On O

Nicolò Gabrielli

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Count Nicolò Gabrielli di Quercita (21 February 1814 – 14 June 1891) was an Italian opera composer. Biography Born in Naples, at the time when the city was the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Nicolò Gabrielli was the scion of a distinguished yet decayed aristocratic family originally from Gubbio and settled thereafter in Tropea and Palermo. He showed since his early childhood a talent for music that led him to enter the Naples conservatory where he studied under the supervision of Nicola Zingarelli and Gaetano Donizetti. He dedicated himself especially to musical composition, and debuted in August 1835 with a melodrama in Neapolitan dialect, I dotti per fanatismo. Nicolò Gabrielli was a very prolific composer, and from 1835 onwards worked at many melodramas, opera buffas, commedias and farsas, including La lettera perduta (1836), Il Cid (1836), La parola di matrimonio (1837), L’americano in fiera ossia Farvest Calelas (1837), Vinclinda (1837), L’affamato senza danaro (1839), Edwige o Il sogno (1839), Il padre della debuttante (1839), La marchesa e il ballerino (1839), Nadan o L’orgoglio punito (1839), L’assedio di Sciraz ossia L’amor materno (1840), Basilio III Demetrio

Nikolaos Mantzaros

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Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros ( ; ; 26 October 1795 – 12 April 1872) was a Greek-Italian composer, born in Corfu. He was a major representative and founder of the so-called Ionian school of music (Επτανησιακή Σχολή). Recent research and performances have led to a re-evaluation of Mantzaros as a significant composer and music theorist. Biography Mantzaros was of noble Greco-Italian descent, coming from one of the most important and wealthy Venetian families of the “Libro d’Oro” di Corfu and therefore he never considered himself a “professional composer”, The first and second stanzas were adopted initially in 1864 as the Royal Anthem of Greece and on 28 June 1865 as the Greek national anthem. However, recent research and performances have proved that Mantzaros had broader activities as a significant composer and music theorist, which go beyond the established perception of him as the mere composer of the National Anthem. Recordings * Mantzaros-Solomos: The Hymn to the Liberty (Lyra, CD0064, 1991) * Music of the Ionian School. N.Mantzaros, N.Lambelet, P.Carrer (Motivo, NM1049, 1996). The ‘Nikolaos Mantzaros Chamber Music Ensemble’ performing arrangements from piano Sinfonias by Ma

Nino Marcelli

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Nino Marcelli (about 1890 – August 4, 1967) was an Italian composer and conductor who revived the San Diego Symphony orchestra. Marcelli wrote compositions for musical theatre and oratorio including one for the Bohemian Club. After the war, Marcelli settled in San Francisco with a position as cellist in the San Francisco Symphony. Marcelli used four main themes for Philistine: the theme of Dagon, the God of the Philistines; the theme of Saph, the nobility of the race; the theme of Saph’s love for humanity and his belief in brotherhood; and the theme of the forest. In 1937, Marcelli published two instructional books, one for cellists and the other for bass players, and in 1939 he published an instructional book for orchestra and band. Marcelli spoke as a guest lecturer at University of Southern California, University of Idaho, Western State College of Colorado and the California Music Colony. In 1950, he joined with George A. Finder to create a multi-colored plastic ukulele that would aid instruction. At Marcelli’s death, aged 77, in August 1967, the San Diego Tribune memorialized him, saying: Works *1922 – The Rout of the Philistines, A Forest Play, a Grove Play *Song of Thanks, ch

Nino Rota

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Giovanni “Nino” Rota Rinaldi (; ; 3 December 1911 – 10 April 1979) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. He also composed the music for two of Franco Zeffirelli’s Shakespeare screen adaptations, and for the first two installments of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather trilogy, earning the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Godfather Part II (1974). During his long career, Rota was an extraordinarily prolific composer, especially of music for the cinema. He wrote more than 150 scores for Italian and international productions from the 1930s until his death in 1979 – an average of three scores each year over a 46-year period, and in his most productive period from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s he wrote as many as ten scores every year, and sometimes more, with a remarkable thirteen film scores to his credit in 1954. Alongside this great body of film work, he composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works, the best known being his string concerto. He also composed the music for many theatre productions by Vis

Orazio Benevoli

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Orazio Benevoli or Benevolo (19 April 1605 – 17 June 1672) was a Franco-Italian composer of large scaled polychoral sacred choral works (e.g., one work featured forty-eight vocal and instrumental lines) of the middle Baroque era. Biography He was born in Rome to a French baker and confectioner, Robert Venouot or Vénevot, whose name was Italianized to Benevolo. Benevoli was a choirboy at San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome (1617–23). He later assumed posts as maestro di cappella at Santa Maria in Trastevere (from 1624), Santo Spirito in Sassia (from 1630), and his old church San Luigi dei Francesi from 1638. Benevoli served as Kapellmeister in the court of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria from 1644 to 1646. Benevoli returned to Rome in 1646, where he remained for the rest of his life as choirmaster at both Santa Maria Maggiore and the Cappella Giulia of St. Peter’s Basilica. He was made Guardiano of the Vatican’s Congregazione di Santa Cecilia in the following three years of 1654, 1665 and 1667. His pupils included Ercole Bernabei, Antimo Liberati and Paolo Lorenzani. () Benevoli composed Masses, motets, Magnificats, and other sacred vocal works. Much of his fame as a composer has res

Oreste Ravanello

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Oreste Ravanello (25 August 1871 in Venice – 2 July 1938 in Padua) was an Italian composer and organist. Ravanello studied organ and composition at the Liceo Musicale in Venice before he was appointed organist of the San Marco Cathedral at the age of seventeen. He also taught at the (now Benedetto Marcello) Conservatory of Music in Venice, and then became director of Istituto Musicale in Padua (now the “Cesare Pollini” Conservatory of Music). Activity He became a well-known recitalist well known for his improvisations. He was above all remembered for his compositions which are especially intended for the church: ca. 30 Masses, Te Deums etc. but also numerous works for organ and piano. His language is late romantic and melodious. Works *CORALE FANTASIA, OP. 7 *QUATTRO PEZZI FACILI, OP. 12 ** 1. Preludio ** 2. Pastorale ** 3. Fughetta dorica ** 4. Elevazione *SETTE TRII, OP. 25 ** 1. O crux, ave ** 2. Qui odit animam suam ** 3. Lucis creator optime ** 4. Corale ** 5. Corale ** 6. Corale ** 7. Larghetto pastorale * SEI PEZZI, OP. 27 ** 1. Praeludium super Agnus Dei ** 2. Praeludium super Te Lucis ** 3. Meditazione super Ave Regina Cœlorum ** 4. Elevazione o Comunione super Alma Redemp

Oreste Sindici

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Oreste Sindici (May 31, 1828 – January 12, 1904) was an Italian-born Colombian musician and composer. He composed the music for the Colombian national anthem in 1887. He was born in Ceccano (Province of Frosinone) and studied in the Ospizio Apostolico di San Michele at Rome. A lifelong admirer and supporter of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Sindici joined his army of redshirts to defend the short-lived Roman Republic in 1849 , after which he began a career as a professional opera tenor. Between 1856 and 1860, Sindici performed as first tenor in theatres in Lanciano, Rome, L’Aquila, Chieti, Cosenza and Avellino, before embarking on a trip to the Americas in 1861 that included stops in Cuba, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Curaçao . In 1862, he arrived to Colombia, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1887 he was asked to compose the music to a poem written by Rafael Núñez. The song was released on November 11, 1887, in commemoration of the Independence of Cartagena de Indias. In 1920 this song officially became the Colombian national anthem. Oreste Sindici died in Bogotá on January 12, 1904, after suffering from political persecution by the conservative governments of Miguel Antonio Car

Oscar Prudente

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Oscar Prudente (born 9 January 1944) is an Italian pop-rock singer-songwriter, arranger, musician and composer. Career Born in Rossiglione, Genoa, at young age Prudente studied drums, piano and guitar. At fifteen, while attending the high school, he was chosen by Colin Hicks as the drummer for his European tour. The turning point of his career was the encounter with Ivano Fossati, with whom he composed several hits of the progressive rock group Delirium and with whom, after that Fossati left the group, he released the album Poco prima dell’aurora. References External links * * *

Osvaldo Coluccino

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Osvaldo Coluccino (born Domodossola, 22 April 1963) is an Italian composer and poet. Biography His music has been performed in some of the major festivals of classical and contemporary classical music, by prestigious soloistes, conductors, orchestras and ensembles such as Ensemble Recherche, Nieuw Ensemble, Stadler Quartett and Exaudi Vocal Ensemble, and has been broadcast by national radio stations such as SWR, Radio France France Musique, ORF, Rai Radio 3, BR-Klassik, Kulturradio RBB (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg), Concertzender, RTBF Musiq 3, Klara, Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep VRT, RTP Rádio e Televisão de Portugal Antena 2. He has received commissions by Gran Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Biennale di Venezia, Milano Musica – Teatro alla Scala, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Transit Festival Leuven, Muziekcentrum De Bijloke Gent, Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles and others. Some of the major labels for contemporary classical music (Kairos, Neos, Col legno, Stradivarius, Another Timbre…) have released some monographic discs, while some scores are published by RAI Trade editions. It was the music historian Luigi Pestalozza who discovered him as a composer, and the musicolo

Ottorino Respighi

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Ottorino Respighi ( , ; ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. His compositions range over operas, ballets, orchestral suites, choral songs, chamber music, and transcriptions of Italian compositions of the 16th–18th centuries, but his best known and most performed works are his three orchestral tone poems which brought him international fame: Fountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924), and Roman Festivals (1928). Respighi was born in Bologna to a musical and artistic family. He was encouraged by his father to pursue music at a young age, and took formal tuition in the violin and piano. In 1891, he enrolled at the Liceo Musicale di Bologna, where he studied the violin, viola, and composition, was principal violinist at the Russian Imperial Theatre, and studied briefly with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. He relocated to Rome in 1913 to become professor of composition at the Liceo Musicale di Santa Cecilia. During this period he married his pupil, singer Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo. In 1923, Respighi quit his professorship to dedicate time to tour and compose, but continue

Pablo Manavello

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Pablo Manavello (May 21, 1950 – January 18, 2016) was an Italian-born Venezuelan composer, guitarist, singer and songwriter. Career Manavello started his career in the early 1970s in Caracas and participated in more than 50 albums (including his own). He also worked for many Hispanic artists such as Ricardo Montaner, Yolandita Monge Chayanne, Carlos Vives, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Antonio De Carlo, Soraya, Melissa Paralamas, and many others, and scored films and TV shows. Manavello began his career in the mid-1960s with Los Memphis, a pop-rock band from Caracas influenced by The Beatles. Los Memphis released their first album in 1967 and another one in 1969 before disbanding. Later he founded Sangre, which released a self-titled album 1971. He worked as a session musician before collaborating with Juan Michelena in the protest album “Dicen que soy…” in 1977 and joining Vytas Brenner’s Venezuelan fusion band Ofrenda. In 1979 he released Cosas Sencillas, his first solo album and began a successful career as composer and producer of many Latin artists and bands. He then interrupted his career after receiving a scholarship from the Venezuelan Government to study film scoring in Berklee

Pacifico (singer)

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Luigi “Gino” De Crescenzo (born 5 March 1964), best known as Pacifico, is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer and musician. Background Born in Milan, the son of a Neapolitan father and mother from Salerno, at 16 years old De Crescenzo formed his first band, “La Goccia”. After graduating in political science and various experiences through rock, jazz, and fusion, in 1989 he formed together with Luca Gemma “Rossomaltese”, a group in whom De Crescenzo was composer and guitarist. After the group disbanded he collaborated with the director Roberta Torre, composing the score of the film South Side Story and the incidental music for the play Invece che all’una alle due. In 2000 De Crescenzo adopted the stage name Pacifico, making his solo record debut in 2001 with a critically acclaimed album with the same name. In 2004 he entered the main competition at the Sanremo Music Festival, with the song “Solo un sogno”. During the following years he alternated his activity as singer-songwriter (opening concerts for Kings of Convenience, Luca Carboni and Cousteau, among others) with the activity of composer, notably collaborating with Adriano Celentano, Andrea Bocelli, Gianna Nannini, Marco Men

Paola Prestini

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Paola Prestini (born ) is a composer of classical music. The New York Times referred to Prestini as “the enterprising composer and impresario” and a “human resources alchemist”. She studied there under Samuel Adler, Robert Beaser, and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. She was also a PD Soros Fellow. Most recently, in 2016, she was named by Musical America, one of 30 “Innovators” of the year. Career In 1999, while still a student, Prestini co-founded VisionIntoArt, an interdisciplinary arts company that established the annual 21c Liederabend festival, which went on to be performed at Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and at BAM’s 2013 Next Wave Festival (in collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects), the Colorado Project (for which the New York Times called her music “downright gorgeous”) premiered at Houston’s Da Camera Series, The Met Museum, Stanford University and the Kennedy Center, and a variety of other multimedia collaborations. Her Hubble Cantata was performed in the largest to date communal VR experience at Bric’s Celebrate Brooklyn; the New Yorker said of the event “six thousand of us together, in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, were floating around the Orion Nebula…Cresc

Paolo Castaldi

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Paolo Castaldi (9 September 1930 – 22 February 2021) was an Italian essayist and composer. Biography Castaldi attended the school of music at the Milan Conservatory, where he studied under Antonino Votto and Carlo Maria Giulini. He also studied engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan. He also studied at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana and the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, where he attended lectures by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, and Mauricio Kagel. Castaldi’s works were frequently broadcast on radio and played in public. He simultaneously taught at conservatories in Milan and Parma. His primary publishers were Casa Ricordi and Suvini Zerboni. His style often adopted artificial and grotesque mechanisms, as he used landscapes, buildings, and castles in the scenography of his notes. Musicologist wrote that “despite having attended the Ferienkurse he has always placed himself outside the constructivist tendency, indeed, he laughs at it; he takes materials taken from works of the past and subjects them to an ironic collage which de-subjectivizes the work; through the cyclical fixity of the iterations of these materials, the original meaning is emptied. Lead composer, Cas

Paolo Cavallone

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Paolo Cavallone (born in Sulmona in 1975) is an Italian composer, pianist, and poet. He is considered a major composer of today’s music scene especially for the aesthetics openness of his works. Biography Paolo Cavallone graduated in Piano (Master - 1999), Composition (Master - 2001), and Band Orchestration (Master - 1999) at the State Conservatory “Casella” of L’Aquila (Italy). Cavallone was then awarded a place at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena and at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome where, from 2002 to 2004, he studied Composition under Azio Corghi. Cavallone received also a Laurea Magistrale (Master) in Modern Literature (2001) from the Università degli Studi dell’Aquila and a Ph.D. (2009) from the State University of New York (USA). Cavallone’s compositions, published by Rai Com, have been broadcast by Radio Rai, Radio France, Radio New Zealand, Radio Capodistria, University Radio UFRGS (Brazil), and other radio stations. Cavallone’s works have been released on CDs by Da Vinci Classics, Albany Records, Tactus, GuitArt, Domani Musica, and Suono Sonda. Among the commissions received: Siemens Foundation (2011), Dilijan Music Series of Los Angeles (2006), Orchestr

Paolo Giorza

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Paolo Giorza (11 November 1832 – 4 March 1914) was an Italian-Australian composer of classical music and Romantic music. He was born in Milan, son of Luigi Giorza, a painter and singer. His father prompted his musical interest. He is revered in Milan, where he wrote the song "" in 1858, performed at the Milan Carcano Theatre. The song became symbolic of Italian culture. During his lifetime, he produced and wrote many scores including various waltzes. Giorza travelled much of the world working in Venice, Vienna, London and Paris. In the late 1860s he worked in America, directing the orchestra at the Academy of Music in New York City. He composed the music for the cancan dance, introduced to America by his friend and fellow Milanese artist, ballerina Giuseppina Morlacchi. In 1871 he went to Australia where he succeeded as a composer. In 1884, he became unwell and returned to Europe and success at La Scala. He died on 4 May 1914. Works * Olympia Valse * 1852 Cleopatra (dance) * 1856 Tarantella nel ballo La giocoliera * 1862 Ondina Polka, Op. 116 * Blumen aus Italien, Op. 217 * 1870 Messe Solennelle No.3 * 1871 Trickett Galop (celebrating Edward Trickett, a champion Australian rower) *

Paolo Longo (composer)

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Paolo Longo (born October 30, 1967, in Trieste, Italy) is an Italian composer and conductor. Life He studied composition, piano and conducting in Trieste, where he graduated in 1990 with highest honors. In 1998 he moved to France, where he lived until 2007. His works (mainly chamber, vocal and piano music) have been awarded in several International Competitions; he received First Prize in the Edvard Grieg Memorial Competition in Oslo in 2003, the ADNM Competition in Tarragona and the Ivan Spassov competition in Plovdiv in 2004, the Tokyo chamber music competition and the Renée B. Fisher Composer Awards in New Haven in 2005, the Onde Musicali competition in Taranto, the ISCM-Miami competition and the competition of the Académie Internationale de Lutèce in Paris in 2006. He has also earned second prizes and special mentions in Rome (Premio Valentino Bucchi), Piacenza (Egidio Carella Competition), Geneva (Prix Reine Marie José), Urbana-Champaign (Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award), Angoulême, Cuneo, Auckland and many others. His compositions (based on diverse processes as cellular proliferation and spectral synthesis) have been performed in festivals and in concert season

Paolo Renosto

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Paolo Renosto (10 October 1935 – 10 February 1988) was an Italian composer, conductor and pianist. Born in Florence, Renosto was educated at the conservatory of his hometown, where he studied piano and composition under Roberto Lupi, who influenced Renosto’s work. He later became a pupil, a collaborator, and friend of Bruno Maderna, who was the official conductor for the world premieres of two of the most important compositions of Renosto, “Forma op.7” (1968) and “Nacht” (1969). He taught on the faculty of the Bologna Conservatory where one of his pupils was Chiara Benati. References External links * *

Paolo Serrao

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Paolo Serrao (11 April 1830 – 17 March 1907) was a distinguished and influential Italian teacher of musical theory and composition at Naples. Serrao was born in Filadelfia, Calabria. He studied at the Naples Conservatory (then called the Real Collegio di Musica). He studied composition and counterpoint under Carlo Conti, piano with Francesco Lanza (a student of Clementi) and received instruction in harmony from Gennaro Parisi. His most significant teacher and mentor was Saverio Mercadante where their relationship lasted nearly 30 years and became almost filial. As professor of composition at the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatorio at Naples, over many years, he taught many famous Italian musicians, notably Giuseppe Martucci, Umberto Giordano, Leopoldo Mugnone, Michele Esposito, Francesco Cilea, Franco Alfano, Luigi Denza and Alessandro Longo. He wrote five operas, of which Pergolesi was the most successful. His other compositions include both concert and sacred music. He died in Naples, aged 76. Selected works ;Opera * L’impostore, Opera semiseria (1850) * Leonora dei Bardi, Opera seria (1853) * Pergolesi, Melodramma semiserio in 3 acts (1857); libretto by Federico Quercia * La Duch

Paolo Sperati

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Paolo Agostino Sperati (March 26, 1821 – May 20, 1884) was an Italian conductor, musician, and composer that was active in the theater and opera life of Christiania (now Oslo), Norway in the 19th century. Life and work Sperati grew up in a family of musicians, and he made his debut as an organist at the age of nine in 1830. who engaged him in the opera in Berlin and then in Copenhagen (1841–1850) as conductor of the Italian Society () at the Court Theater and the Royal Danish Theatre. They performed Danish premieres of works by Giuseppe Verdi and were commissioned by Christian VIII. He then led the Italian opera troupe that brought the impresario Vincenzo Galli (1798–1858) to Norway in 1849, after he had spent a year at the Royal Swedish Opera. In Norway, Sperati was engaged as a conductor for the Christiania Theater (1850–1866) In Italy he is still known today above all for his organ adaptations of works by Giuseppe Verdi, in particular a series of pieces for the mass taken from the operas Aida, Don Carlo, Rigoletto, Trovatore, Macbeth, Giovanna d’Arco, Un ballo in maschera, Attila, Ernani, and Giovanna di Guzman. His original production of organ music is less known, including the

Paolo Tosti

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Sir Francesco Paolo Tosti KCVO (9 April 1846, Ortona, Abruzzo2 December 1916, Rome) was an Italian composer and music teacher. Today, he is remembered mostly for his light-hearted songs, which are popular among vocal students. Biography Francesco Paolo Tosti received most of his music education in his native Ortona, Italy, as well as at the conservatory in Naples. Tosti began studying at the Royal College of San Pietro a Majella in Naples at the age of eleven. Once recovered from his illness, Tosti moved to Ancona, where his poverty was such that for weeks at a time he subsisted on nothing but oranges and stale bread. His travels brought him to Rome, where his fortunes turned. He met the pianist and composer Giovanni Sgambati, who became his patron. Sgambati arranged for Tosti to give a concert at the Sala Dante which the Princess Margherita of Savoy (who would become Queen of Italy in 1878) attended. Impressed with his performance, she appointed him as her singing professor. She later appointed him curator of the Musical Archives of Italy at the Court. A memorial plaque on his former home at 12 Mandeville Place, Marylebone (now the Mandeville Hotel) was unveiled on 12 June 1996. I

Peppe Barra

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Giuseppe “Peppe” Barra (born 24 July 1944) is an Italian folk singer, actor, playwright and composer. Life and career Born in Rome into a family of Procidan actors, when he was only six years old Barra enrolled in an acting school for children, the Teatrino di Zietta Liù. In 1976, he got his personal breakout as main actor in the De Simone’s stage musical La Gatta Cenerentola. In 1992, he made his solo discographic debut with Mo vene, for which he won the Targa Tenco for Best Performer. His variegated career also include films and television. Discography Solo albums * Mo vene (1992) * M’aggia curà (1995) * Il borghese gentiluomo (2001) * Guerra (2001) * Peppe Barra in concerto (2003) * La Cantata dei Pastori (2004) * Matina (2005) * Decamerone (2006) * N’attimo (2009) * Ci vediamo poco fa (2011) * E cammina cammina (2016) * Cipria e caffè (2024) With Concetta Barra * Peppe e Barra (1983) * Peppe e Concetta Barra N.1 (1988) With NCCP * Cicerenella (1972) * Lo Guarracino (1972) * La serpe a Carolina (1972) * NCCP (1973) * Li sarracini adorano lu sole (1974) * Tarantella ca nun va bbona (1975) * La gatta Cenerentola (1976) * 11 mesi e 29 giorni (1977) * La cantata dei pastori (1977) *

Pete Rugolo

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Pietro Rugolo (December 25, 1915 – October 16, 2011), known professionally as Pete Rugolo, where his father earned a living as a shoemaker. He began his career in music playing the baritone horn, like his father, but he quickly branched out into other instruments, notably the French horn and the piano. He received a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State College and then went on to study composition with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he earned a master’s degree. After he graduated, Rugolo was hired as an arranger and composer by guitarist and bandleader Johnny Richards. 1940s and 1950s Rugulo spent World War II playing with altoist Paul Desmond in an Army band (1942-1945). While Rugolo continued to work occasionally with Kenton in the 1950s, he spent more time creating arrangements for pop and jazz vocalists, most extensively with former Kenton singer June Christy on such albums as Something Cool, Among his albums were Adventures in Rhythm, Introducing Pete Rugolo, Rugolomania, An Adventure in Sound: Reeds in Hi-Fi, and Music for Hi-Fi Bugs. Rugolo’s arrangements for the album The Four Freshmen and Five Trombones propelled the group to recognitio

Philippus de Caserta

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Philippus de Caserta, (; also Philipoctus, Filipotto, or Filipoctus) was a medieval music theorist and composer associated with the style known as ars subtilior. Life and career Philippus’ name indicates that he came from Caserta. He is generally thought to have worked at the Papal court at Avignon in the 1370s as his ballade, Par les bons Gedeons, praises antipope Clement VII. However, it has been suggested that Philippus never left Italy, that he wrote the above ballade at Fondi near Caserta, where Clement was elected Pope, and that he worked at the francophile court of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. Music Most of his surviving works are ballades, although a Credo was recently discovered, and a rondeau has been attributed to him. His ballade En attendant souffrir was written for Bernabò Visconti, confirmed by the presence of Visconti’s motto in the upper voice. Two of Caserta’s pieces, En remirant and De ma dolour, use fragments of text from chansons by the most famous composer of the century, Guillaume de Machaut. Caserta’s own repute was significant enough for Johannes Ciconia to borrow portions of Caserta’s ballades for his own virelai, Sus une fontayne. Five theoretical treatises ha

Pierantonio Tasca

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Pierantonio Tasca (1858–1934) was an Italian opera composer. His first opera, Bianca, premiered in 1885, to a libretto by Enrico Golisciani. Eva Tetrazzini, elder sister of the famous Luisa Tetrazzini participated in the premiere. His next operas, A Santa Lucia (1892) and Pergolesi (1898), had successful premieres in Berlin. The score was published by Galletti e Cocci (Florence) in 1892. Pergolesi was based on a libretto by Eugenio Chécchi (Livorno 1838 - Roma 1932). In 1901, an operetta by Tasca called Studenti e sartine premiered in Tasca’s hometown of Noto, in Sicily. but had its premiere in Noto in 1932. Two additional operatic works composed by Tasca, La madre and Scongiuro, were never performed. Tasca also wrote a Messa da Requiem, a death elegy to Edmondo De Amicis, as well as symphonic and chamber music. References

Piergiorgio Farina

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Piergiorgio Farina (25 April 1933 – 28 July 2008) was an Italian jazz violinist, composer and singer. Career Born Piergiorgio Farinelli in Goro, Ferrara, Farina was the cousin of the singer Milva. He started his career performing in Emilia-Romagna’s ballrooms, and had his breakout in the second half of the 1960s thanks to his participation to the RAI musical variety Settevoci. His son Bruno is also a musician. * 1971: Piergiorgio Farina – Piccolo Cabotaggio * 1974: Il violino d’amore di Piergiorgio Farina * 1975: Violino d’amore * 1977: Tempo di rock * 1977: Piergiorgio Farina * 1978: …a tutto rock!!! * 1979: Trasloco * 1981: Amore * 1982: Musica * 1983: Immagina che ….. * 1985: Uno Strumento In Primo Piano: Violino * 1985: Diario * 1986: Gran gala * 1988: Dolci ricordi * 1988: Un’ Orchestra Per La Radio 2 * 1989: Napoli appassionata * 1990: Tango * 1991: Classic * 1996: Balliamo Con Il Violino Di Piergiorgio Farina * (Unknown): I Miei Successi References External links * * * Piergiorgio Farina at Discogs

Pierluigi Billone

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Pierluigi Billone (born 14 February 1960 in Italy) is an Italian composer known for works which often “reinvent” the performance techniques of the instruments involved. Biography His music has been performed by among others Klangforum Wien, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Ensemble Modern, the ensemble recherche, Instant Donné, and the Ensemble Contrechamps and has been featured at festivals such as the Donaueschinger Musiktage, Wien Modern, the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Ars Musica Bruxelles, und the Festival d’Automne à Paris. His name has also been spread across Europe by numerous radio broadcasts. He is closely associated with the conductor Emilio Pomárico, the percussionists Christian Dierstein and Adam Weisman, the bassoonist Lorelei Dowling, the violist Barbara Maurer, the clarinet duo Stump-Linshalm, and the singers Frank Wörner and Alda Caiello, for whom he has written solo works and solo parts. Among the prizes he has received for his works are the City of Stuttgart Composition Prize (1993), the Busoni Award for Composition from the Academy of Arts, Berlin (1996), the Vienna International Composition Prize (2004), and the Ernst Krenek Prize of the City of Vien

Pierluigi Castellano

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Pierluigi Castellano (born 1958, in Rome) is an Italian musician, composer and journalist. Biography Castellano began his career by studying piano, clarinet, composition and electronic music, attending seminars held by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Aldo Clementi. In 1983 and 1984 took part in the work of Giovanna Marini, Le Cadeau de l’Empereur held, among others, at the Festival d’Avignon, the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris and the Teatre Grec in Barcelona. Between 1985 and 1990 he composed several soundtracks for theater, movies (A futura memoria: Pier Paolo Pasolini, by Ivo Barnabò Micheli ), but particularly for dance shows (choreography by Enzo Cosimi, Fabrizio Monteverde and others ) with good critical and commercial feedbacks in France, England and the United States. He also composed Electronic Music for the ENEL and Infobyte project for the Seville Expo ‘92. For Rai Radio Tre Castellano composed two Operas: Viaggio nel Cyberspazio (1993) and Zonacalda (1995). He took part in the European research project HELP working on the musical translation of visual art. As journalist Castellano wrote for Il Manifesto and works for the Italian national television RAI. Discography * La

Piero Cassano

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Piero Cassano (born 13 September 1948) is an Italian keyboardist, singer and composer, a founding member of the Genoan band Matia Bazar. Early career and Jet Cassano started playing the piano at a young age. In 1971 he founded the progressive rock band JET with fellow musicians Aldo Stellita and Carlo Marrale. The band released an album, Fede, speranza, carità and unsuccessfully participated to the Sanremo Music Festival 1973 with the song Anika na-o. Matia Bazar: first stint In 1975 vocalist Antonella Ruggiero and drummer Giancarlo Golzi joined Jet, resulting in a new band: Matia Bazar. In a six-year span, Cassano composed many of their hits, namely Stasera…che sera! (1975), Per un’ora d’amore (1975), Cavallo bianco (1975), Solo tu (1977), …e dirsi ciao – the winning song of the Sanremo Music Festival 1978, Raggio di luna (the Italian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1979) and C’è tutto un mondo intorno (1979). In 1981 Cassano decided to leave Matia Bazar to pursue other projects. As a composer and producer In 1983, Cassano started a collaboration with lyricist Adelio Cogliati. Together, they helped launch newcomer Eros Ramazzotti, writing for him hits like Una storia imp

Piero Coppola

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Piero Coppola (11 October 1888 – 17 March 1971) was an Italian conductor, pianist and composer. Life and career Coppola was born in Milan; his parents were both singers. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, graduating in piano and composition in 1910. He then worked in Brussels, Belgium before spending the duration of World War I in Scandinavia. In the late 1920s and 1930s Coppola conducted recordings of many works of Debussy and Ravel, including the first recordings of Debussy’s La mer and Ravel’s Boléro. Coppola’s conducting enjoyed the admiration of Debussy, although the composer never actually heard Coppola perform any of his works. and among the early recordings “closest to Debussy’s thought”. His recording of Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1932. Family Despite many unsubstantiated claims, there is no known family relationship between Piero Coppola and the musician brothers Anton and Carmine Coppola or Carmine’s son Francis Ford Coppola. Recording premieres * Debussy, La mer, orchestra, 1928 * Honegger, Pacific 231, unidentified symphony orchestra, His Master’s Voice D 2030, 1927 * Ravel, Shéhérazade, Marcelle Gerar (soprano), orchestra, The Gr

Piero Milesi

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Piero Milesi (1953 in Milan – 2011 in Levanto) was an Italian musician, composer, and music arranger. Biography Milesi began his career by studying cello, composition, and experimental electronic music. He joined the International Folk Group of Moni Ovadia in 1977 as a performer and composer. The composition Modi was created between 1978 and 1980. It is a two-part composition which was published in 1982 by the British independent label Cherry Red Records following an introduction to the label by another Cherry Red artist, Morgan Fisher. Since 1984 his compositions have been produced by Studio Azzurro di Milano. The compositions The Nuclear Observatory of Mr. Nanof and Camera Astratta (Abstract Chamber) are two soundtracks produced by the American independent label Cuneiform Records. From 1995 to 1996 he arranged, produced and performed on Anime salve, the final album by Fabrizio De André, having already orchestrated and arranged his previous album Le nuvole. In 1997 he arranged the album “Sixteenth Moon” by Japanese pop star Kazufumi Miyazawa, produced by Hugh Padgham and featuring musicians Manu Katché, Dominic Miller, and Pino Palladino. Milesi composed various soundtracks for fi

Piero Niro

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Piero Niro (born 1957) is an Italian composer, classical pianist, and academic specialising in the philosophy of music and aesthetics. Niro was born in Baranello in the southern Italian region of Molise and initially studied piano and composition at the music conservatory in Campobasso before transferring to the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome where he received diplomas in piano and composition. He also received a Laurea in philosophy at the University of Rome Tor Vergata before going on to postgraduate studies in composition Accademia Santa Cecilia with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Franco Donatoni. His string quartet won First Prize at the 1985 Concorso Internazionale Ennio Porrino. Three of his compositions have subsequently been published by Ricordi: *3 Pezzi for solo piano *Game for piano, flute, clarinet, 2 violins viola and cello (broadcast by the RAI in 1989) *Ottetto for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, and cello Since 1989 Niro has been of Head of the Composition department of the Conservatorio di Musica Lorenzo Perosi in Campobasso where he is also Professor of Philosophy of Music and Aesthetics and Analysis and Theory of Music. Amongst his publications on m

Piero Piccioni

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Piero Piccioni (; December 6, 1921 – July 23, 2004) was an Italian film score composer. A pianist, organist, conductor, and composer, he was also the prolific author of more than 300 film soundtracks. He played for the first time on radio in 1938 with his “013” Big Band, to return on air only after the Allied liberation of Italy in 1944. “013” was the first Italian jazz band to be broadcast in Italy after the fall of Fascism. His style has drawn comparisons to composers such as Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai. Early life Piero Piccioni was born in Turin, Piedmont. His mother’s maiden name was Marengo, hence his pseudonym Piero Morgan, which he adopted until 1957. When he was growing up, his father Attilio Piccioni (a prominent member of the Italian Christian Democratic Party with the post-war Italian government), would frequently take him to hear concerts at the EIAR Radio Studios in Florence. Having listened to jazz throughout his childhood (he loved the music of Art Tatum and Charlie Parker) and attending studies at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini, Piero Piccioni became a musician. Career Piccioni made his radio debut at 17 with his 013 Big Band in 1938, but only returned on

Pietro Aron

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Pietro Aron, also known as Pietro (or Piero) Aaron (c. 1480 – after 1545), was an Italian music theorist and composer. He was born in Florence and probably died in Bergamo (other sources state Florence or Venice). Biography Very little is known about Aron’s early life but at least one source claims he may have been Jewish. He was educated in Italy. Aron was a self-taught musician. He claimed in his Toscanello in musica (1523) that he had been friends with Obrecht, Josquin, and Heinrich Isaac in Florence. If true, the time frame would have been most likely in 1487. Between 1515 and 1522, he was Church Cantor at the Cathedral of Imola. In 1516 he became a priest there. In February 1523 Aron went to Venice and became cantor of Rimini Cathedral, where he worked for Sebastiano Michiel, who was Grand Prior of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. In 1525, he was “maestro di casa” in a Venetian house. In 1536, after the death of Michiel, he joined a monastery in Bergamo where he remained until his death. Aron is known for his treatises on the contrapuntal practice of the period. His earliest treatise, De institutione harmonica, on counterpoint, is written in Italian even though most schol

Pietro Borradori

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Pietro Borradori (Milan, 1965) is an Italian composer and pianist. Biography He began to play Piano at the age of 8 years-old. At 12, he started to compose his first short pieces for piano. He then studied Piano with Carlo Pestalozza in Milan, graduated in Musical Composition at the Conservatory of Milan with Giacomo Manzoni, and at Accademia Chigiana of Siena with Franco Donatoni. He subsequently studied in Freiburg with Emmanuel Nunes and in Paris with Gerard Grisey. In addition to his musical formation he studied Architecture at the Politecnico of Milan. From 1987 to 1992 he taught Composition at the Conservatory of Music of Trento. His pieces has been performed by the main European Ensembles and Orchestras. He received among others commissions from institutions like Radio France, French Ministere of Culture, West Deutscher Rundfunk, Radio Televisione Italiana, Nederlands Radio Symphonic Orchestra, Festival Milano Musica, Fondazione Roma Europa, Gulbenkian Foundation. He recorded monographic CDs for Fonit Cetra and BMG Ricordi labels. The works from 1987 to 1994 has been published by BMG Ricordi. Besides his activity as a composer, he acted as music promoter and artistic directo

Pietro Della Valle

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Pietro Della Valle (; 2 April 1586 – 21 April 1652), also written Pietro della Valle, was an Italian composer, musicologist, and author who travelled throughout Asia during the 17th century. His travels took him to the Holy Land, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and as far as India. Life Pietro Della Valle was born in Rome on 2 April 1586, to a wealthy and noble family. His early life was spent in the pursuit of literature and arms. He was a cultivated man, who knew Latin, Greek, classical mythology, and the Bible. He also became a member of the Roman Accademia degli Umoristi, and acquired some reputation as a versifier and rhetorician. In 1611 he took part in a Spanish naval expedition against the Barbary States. When Pietro was disappointed in love and began to consider suicide, Mario Schipano, a professor of medicine in Naples, suggested the idea of travelling in the East. It was Schipano who received a sort of diary in letters from Pietro’s travels. Before leaving Naples, Pietro took a vow to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. So, at age 28, he left Venice by boat on 8 June 1614 and reached Constantinople; he remained there for more than a year and acquired a good knowledge o

Pietro Domenico Paradies

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Pietro Domenico Paradies (also Pietro Domenico Paradisi) (170725 August 1791) was an Italian composer, harpsichordist and music teacher, most prominently known for a composition popularly entitled “Toccata in A”, which is, in other sources, the second movement of his Sonata No. 6. A reviewer of a modern edition of his sonatas, all first edited by the composer, noted in passing “Paradies (never Paradisi, it seems)” suggesting that Paradisi might be a modern adaptation. Life and work Paradies was born in Naples. Probably a student of Nicola Porpora, he dedicated himself at first to composing for the theater. He spent a few years around 1740 in Venice, where he taught and wrote music at the Ospedali Grandi. There, he composed two semi-dramatic, occasional serenatas, including a serenata in honor of Frederick Christian, the Prince of Saxony and Heir to Poland. In 1746 he moved to London, where he became known as a teacher of harpsichord and singing; among his students was Gertrud Elisabeth Mara, probably around 1750 and possibly Thomas Linley the elder. In 1770 he returned to Italy. He died in Venice. Instrumental and vocal music His reputation is due to his music for the harpsichord,

Pietro Floridia

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Pietro Floridia (5 May 1860 in Modica – 16 August 1932 in New York City) was an Italian composer of classical music. According to David Johnson (quoting the notes, by Luigi della Croce, to the Bongiovanni recording of Floridia’s Symphony and other works), Floridia was born in Modica, Sicily, and studied in Naples, where he created his first opera, Carlotta Clepier. He later destroyed the score of this work and entered further studies. He wrote a symphony (his only one) in 1888, taught at the Palermo Conservatory of Music, and wrote operas Maruzza (produced in Venice in 1894) and La Colonia Libera with libretto by Luigi Illica (produced in Rome in 1899). Floridia died in Harkness Presbyterian Hospital in New York City in 1932. Notes Sources * External links * * *

Pietro Grossi

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Pietro Grossi (15 April 1917 – 21 February 2002) was an Italian composer pioneer of computer music, visual artist and hacker ahead of his time. He began experimenting with electronic techniques in Italy in the early sixties. Biography Pietro Grossi was born in Venice, and he studied in Bologna eventually taking a diploma in composition and violoncello. In the sixties Grossi taught at the Florence Conservatory and began to research and experiment with electroacoustic music. From 1936 to 1966 was the first cellist of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra. Grossi began to experiment with electroacoustic music in the 1950s. By 1962, he had become the first Italian to carry out successful research in the field of computer music. In 1963, he turned his interest to electronic music and founded the S 2F M (Studio di Fonologia Musicale di Firenze) which made its headquarters at the Florence Conservatory, and he also became a lecturer in this subject. In 1964 he organized events with the association Contemporary Musical Life that introduced in Italy the work of John Cage. In 1965 he obtained the institution of the first professorship of Electronic Music in Italy. In 1967 he made the first

Pietro Locatelli

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Pietro Antonio Locatelli (3 September 1695 in Bergamo – 30 March 1764 in Amsterdam) was an Italian Baroque composer and violinist. Biography Bergamo Little is known about Locatelli’s childhood. In his early youth, he was the third violinist and held the title of virtuoso in the cappella musicale (musical establishment) of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. His first violin teachers were probably Ludovico Ferronati and Carlo Antonio Marino, both of whom were members of the cappella. The maestro di cappella, Francesco Ballarotti, may have taught him composition. In autumn 1711, Locatelli went to Rome to seek greater recognition. Rome Locatelli began studying in Rome in autumn 1711, probably under Antonio Montanari or Giuseppe Valentini and perhaps for a short time under Arcangelo Corelli, who died in January 1713. In a letter of 17 March 1714, Locatelli wrote to his father in Bergamo that he was a confirmed member of the compita accademia di vari instrumenti, the household musicians of Prince Michelangelo I Caetani (1685–1759), where Valentini had worked as a violinist and composer since no later than 1710. Between 1716 and 1722, Locatelli was also a member of the congreg

Pietro Mascagni

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Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music. While it was often held that Mascagni, like Ruggero Leoncavallo, was a “one-opera man” who could never repeat his first success, L’amico Fritz and Iris have remained in the repertoire in Europe (especially Italy) since their premieres. Mascagni wrote fifteen operas, an operetta, several orchestral and vocal works, and also songs and piano music. He enjoyed immense success during his lifetime, both as a composer and conductor of his own and other people’s music and created a variety of styles in his operas. Biography Early life and education Mascagni was born on 7 December 1863 in Livorno, Tuscany, the second son of Domenico and Emilia Mascagni. His father owned and operated a bakery. Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti (“Nanni”) was born the same year in the same city and became Mascagni’s lifelong friend and collaborator. In 1876, at the age of 13, Mascagni began musical studies with Alfredo Soffredini, who found

Pietro Nardini

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Pietro Nardini (12 April 1722 – 7 May 1793) was an Italian composer and violinist, a transitional musician who worked in both the Baroque and Classical era traditions. Life Nardini was born in Livorno and at the age of 12 became a pupil of Giuseppe Tartini in Padua. In 1740 he moved to Lucca. He was invited to the court of Maria Theresa in Vienna more than once. In 1762 he moved to Stuttgart, where he joined the court of Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg and performed at his summer residence Ludwigsburg Palace. He was appointed conductor, succeeding Niccolò Jommelli. In 1765 he traveled to the courts of Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Prince Francis Xavier of Saxony. In 1770 he moved back to Italy to assist the suffering Tartini. The next year he became Kapellmeister, succeeding Carlo Antonio Campioni in Florence. The rest of his life he stayed at the court of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, but performed in Naples, Pisa and Rome. As a friend of Leopold Mozart, he witnessed the arrival of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on his first visit to Italy and his attempts to find a sustainable position in 1770–1771. He also met the Bohemian composer Václav Pichl, Kapellmeister t

Pino Calvi

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Pino Calvi (12 January 1930 – 4 January 1989) was an Italian pianist, arranger, conductor and soundtrack composer for TV series and films, which included Tunis Top Secret (1959), Crimen (1960) and The Revengers (1972). His song “Accarezzame” was performed by famous Italian artists such as, among others, Roberto Murolo, Ornella Vanoni, Peppino Di Capri, Achille Togliani, Teddy Reno, Fred Bongusto, Gigliola Cinquetti, Paolo Fresu. He became popular in the 1970s for his participation in some RAI TV programs, such as Senza Rete in Naples, when he was a polite Maestro. Calvi died in Palazzina di Castana, Pavia in 1989. Gallery File:Pino Calvi 1959.jpg Pino Calvi in 1959 Bibliography * Lorenzo Nosvelli – Angelo Vicini: Pino Calvi – Il sogno e la musica – Edo edizioni Oltrepò – 2003 References External links * Pino Calvi Discography at Discogs *

Pino Presti

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Giuseppe Prestipino Giarritta (born 23 August 1943), professionally known by his pseudonym Pino Presti, is an Italian conductor, arranger, bassist, composer and record producer from Milan. He is a 5th-dan black belt in Shotokan Karate. Presti was very young when he first entered the music business. He started as a bass guitar player, and then gradually began as an arranger, composer, orchestra conductor, and producer. Among his collaborations in different genres of music like jazz, pop, funk, soul, and Latin music are Mina (the most famous Italian pop singer), Gerry Mulligan, Ástor Piazzolla (with whom he has performed on 24 recordings as a sideman, including the well-known composition Libertango), Quincy Jones, Wilson Pickett, Shirley Bassey, Franco Cerri, Maynard Ferguson, Stéphane Grappelli, Severino Gazzelloni, Aldemaro Romero, and Tullio De Piscopo among others. Early life Son of an accomplished violinist, Arturo Prestipino Giarritta, Presti began studying piano and music theory at the age of six. When he was 17, he started his career performing as a vocalist and bass guitarist in clubs as well as working in recording studios as an instrumentalist. Although he had a contract w

Pippo Barzizza

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Giuseppe “Pippo” Barzizza (; 15 May 1902 – 4 April 1994) was an Italian composer, arranger, conductor and music director. Giuseppe Barzizza, called Pippo, was born in Genova on 15 May 1902, and died in Sanremo on 4 April 1994. He became famous in the 1930s and 1940s, at the beginning with Blue Star Orchestra and then with Orchestra Cetra. He composed songs and film soundtracks. His treatise, “Barzizza’s method” was printed in 1952. His basics and exercises “are so clear that’s it’s enough to read this little book to overcome any doubts or hesitation!” Franco Franchi said, “Barzizza was among the first to be interested in jazz music and swing and he became for many years, together with his friend and rival Cinico Angelini, a great example for his fellows, both for his extraordinary compositions and his skills to find out new talents and songs, and for his attempt to give a modern mark to Italian music”. Biography Pippo Barzizza was born in Genova, 15 May 1902, to Luigi and Fortunata Battaglieri. He was a child prodigy. At age six he entered the Camillo Sivori Institute to study violin and quickly passed the exam and took his first award. Pippo could hardly read words but he was alre

Pollione Ronzi

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Pollione Ronzi (27 February 1833 in Bologna – 3 September 1915 in Milan) was an Italian operatic tenor, composer, conductor, and voice teacher. He sang roles at many important opera houses in Italy, including La Scala in Milan. In 1867, he was heard at the opera house in Livorno as Egidio in Errico Petrella’s La contessa d’Amalfi. In 1871, he sang the role of Rodrigo in Gioachino Rossini’s Otello at the Teatro Regio di Torino. In 1874, he became manager and conductor at the Teatro Manzoni in Milan. In 1876, he sang in recital alongside soprano Ida Corani with Clara Schumann as their accompanist in the Royal Philharmonic Society’s concert season in London. He had sung in orchestral concerts with the RPS a year earlier under conductor William Cusins. This was followed in 1854 by Buon Gusto which was first performed at the Teatro di San Carlo. His opera, Dea, premiered at the Vienna State Opera on 4 August 1894. and tenor Franco De Gregorio. References

Raffaello Carboni

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Raffaello Carboni (15 December 1817 – 24 October 1875) was an Italian writer, composer and interpreter who wrote a book on the Eureka Stockade which he witnessed while living in Australia. Although only a spectator at the Eureka Rebellion he was charged with treason in the Supreme Court of Victoria, but found not guilty of the charge and released on 21 March 1855. Carboni left Australia on 18 January 1856 for Europe. After periods of travelling, he returned to Italy, where he died in Rome in 1875. He was, however, arrested and tried for treason, but later acquitted in March, having been taken ill with dysentery in gaol. In July 1855, Carboni was elected to the local court at Ballarat to adjudicate mining disputes. His book, The Eureka Stockade, the only complete first-hand description and analysis of the causes of the attack on the Eureka Stockade, was published a year after the uprising. Carboni became a naturalised British citizen, but left Australia on 18 January 1856, sailing in the Impératrice Eugénie, and using some of the gold found at Ballarat to pay for his travels. After three years’ travel during which he visited Jerusalem and Bethlehem, he returned to Italy and worked f

Remo Anzovino

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Remo Anzovino (born 12 February 1976) is an Italian composer, musician and criminal lawyer. In the early years of his artistic activity, he composed music for theater and sound design; he later found its way into a personal relationship between silent cinema and music: by inverting the relationship between images and sounds, in his concerts he offers songs with the accompaniment of silent film sequences that serve as a sort of visual soundtrack. A strong visual element, the fusion of languages used, and the immediacy of the melodies are all peculiarities of his compositions. Biography Anzovino was introduced to music at the age of 10, and he soon developed a natural aptitude for writing. In eighth grade he founded The Left Hand Band together with his school friends. The singer of the group was his brother Marco, three-years younger, who became a popular songwriter (“Radio1 Premio Recanati” plaque, 2001) and rhythm guitarist whom he shares each subsequent experience with. He recorded with the band in 1994 an album called Malìa (on cassette), nowhere to be found today. In 1994, while he was still in high school, Anzovino was hired for his first stage music for a theater show from Fab

Renato de Grandis

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Renato de Grandis (24 October 1927 – 2 December 2008) was an Italian composer, musicologist, writer and Theosophist. Biography Renato de Grandis was born in 1927 in Venice. He studied piano, conducting, composition, and musicology in Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia. Among his teachers were famous musicians Gian Francesco Malipiero and Bruno Maderna. Music In 1945, Renato, being an eighteen-year-old student, won the first prize in a composition competition organized by the Italian radio, and in 1953, he had the first national award of Italy for composition. In 1959, he settled in Darmstadt, where he lived for about twenty years, then lived in Brussels. He wrote 2 operas, 4 symphonies, 12 sonatas for piano, and other works. De Grandis was an outstanding but atypical figure in the context of avant-garde music of the late 20th century. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called him an “avant-garde outsider,” while the music encyclopedia MGG (1st edition) wrote that “he pointed the way in European musical theatre for decades.” He was considered one of the most significant European avant-garde composers. His music was being performed in Darmstadt, Dortmund, Cologne, Kiel

Renato Dionisi (composer)

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Renato Dionisi (2 January 1910 in Rovinj – 24 August 2000 in Verona) was an Italian composer and music educator. Biography Renato Dionisi was born in Rovinj in Istria, but soon moved to Borgo Sacco, Rovereto where he spent his childhood and early youth. He studied music composition at the music schools in Bolzano and Rovereto, graduating in 1936. From 1940 he taught music history, choral music, harmony and counterpoint at several schools including the Bolzano Conservatory, Milan Conservatory and the Conservatory “Luigi Cherubini” in Florence. Selected works :: Dionisi’s scores are largely published by Casa Ricordi, Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, Edizioni Musicali G. Zanibon and Edizioni Bèrben. ;Orchestral * Aldebaran for flute, oboe, trumpet, harp, string orchestra and percussion (1981) * Luctus in ludis for narrator and chamber orchestra (1971) * Sonatina per orchestra e pianoforte a quattro mani (1982) ;Concertante * Tre movimenti (3 Movements) for viola and string orchestra (1966) * Concerto for 2 pianos and string orchestra (1968) * Musica for timpani and chamber orchestra ;Chamber music * Quartetto a fiati (Wind Quartet) for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1958) * Divertimento p

Renato Serio

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Renato Serio (5 October 1946 – 4 November 2024) was an Italian composer, conductor, and arranger. Life and career Born in Lucca, Serio studied piano, conducting, composition and electronic music. He started his career in the 1960s collaborating with artists such as Shirley Bassey and Nini Rosso. He was the impresario of the Polish singer Anna German. On 27 August 1967 in Italy, on the road between Forlì and Milan, Serio fell asleep at the wheel. They got into a serious car accident. At high speed the car impresario of the singer crashed into a concrete fence. Anna was thrown from the car through the windshield. She suffered multiple fractures, internal injuries. After the incident, Anna German did not regain consciousness for a week, and Serio received fractures of the hand and foot. Serio composed the music for several musical comedies by Garinei & Giovannini, References External links * * * Renato Serio at Discogs

Renzo Rossellini (composer)

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Renzo Rossellini (2 February 1908 – 13 May 1982) was an Italian composer, music critic, and music educator. A prolific composer who wrote a wide range of music, Renzo Rossellini was born in Rome on 2 February 1908. After graduating from the conservatory he worked as a music critic for Il Messaggero 4 ballets, 10 operas, 2 oratorios, cantatas, symphonies, chamber music, and vocal music. His first published composition was the art song “Le cennamelle” (1927). He wrote the music to several of his brother’s films, including Rome, Open City (1945) and Paisan (1946). In 1934 Rossellini married pianist Lina Pugnani. Their son was the producer Franco Rossellini (1935-1992). His marriage to Lina ended in divorce, and in the 1950s he married his second wife, Anita Limongelli. From 1972-1976 he was artistic director of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. He died in Monte Carlo on May 13, 1982. Partial list of works Ballets *La danza di Dassine (1934) *Racconto d’inverno (1947) *Canti del Golfo di Napoli (1954) *Poemetti pagani (1960) Operas *La Guerra (1956) *Il vortice (1958) *La piovra (1958) *Le campane (1959, television opera) *Uno sguardo dal ponte (1961) *Il linguaggio dei fiori (1963) *La leggen

Riccardo Cocciante

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Riccardo Cocciante (; born 20 February 1946), also known in French-speaking countries and English-speaking countries as Richard Cocciante (), is an Italian and French singer and songwriter. His work includes recordings in Italian, French, English and Spanish. Early and personal life Cocciante was born on 20 February 1946 in Saigon, French Indochina (now Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam), to an Italian father from Rocca di Mezzo, L’Aquila, and a French mother. At the age of 11, he moved to Rome, Italy, where he attended the Lycée français Chateaubriand. He has also lived in France, the United States, and Ireland. Cocciante has been married to Catherine Boutet since 1983. They have one child together. Career An R&B enthusiast, Cocciante began his musical career as an organ player, and in the late 1960s began performing as a singer at L’Approdo, a Roman club for foreign students. The same year, he covered the Beatles song “Michelle”, featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, for the musical documentary All This and World War II, and he released his sole English album in the US, with the single “When Love Has Gone Away” peaking at No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1980, Cocciante began a decade-l

Riccardo Drigo

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Riccardo Drigo (; 30 June 1846 – 1 October 1930) was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist. Drigo is noted for his long career as principal Chef d’orchestre/kapellmeister and Music Director of the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg, Russia, for which he composed music for the original works and revivals of the choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. During his career in Saint Petersburg, Drigo conducted the premieres and regular performances of nearly every ballet performed on the Tsarist stage. Drigo is equally noted for his original full-length compositions for the ballet as well as his large catalog of supplemental music written ad hoc for insertion into already-existing works. Drigo is also noted for his adaptations of already-existing scores, such as his 1895 edition of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s score for Swan Lake. Many pieces set to the music of Drigo are still performed today, and are considered cornerstones of the classical ballet repertory. Life Riccardo Giuseppe Drigo was born in Padua, Italy on 30 June 1846. His father Silvio Drigo was a barrister and his mother, a noble Lupati, was active in politics. None o

Riccardo Gandolfi

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Riccardo Gandolfi (16 February 1839 – 6 April 1920) was an Italian composer and music critic. Biography Born in Voghera. His mother Camilla Guiscardi was a painter. He was sent to study musical composition in the Conservatory of Naples under C. Conti. He then moved to Florence to study under Teodulo Mabellini and Giovanni Pacini. His first opera, Aldina, was staged in the Santa Radegonda theater of Milan. His second opera, Il paggio, was staged at the Royal Theater of Turin and used as libretto by Giovanni Peruzzini. He also wrote Il Conte di Monreale and Caterina di Guisa. He wrote a number of symphonic and chamber works, including a requiem for King Carlo Alberto played in the Turin Cathedral. He wrote a cantata Il battesimo di Santa Cecilia (1875). However, Gandolfi served for two decades as librarian of the Conservatory Luigi Cherubini in Florence, and is best remembered for his publications on music and musicians. Publications *Appunti intorno all’arpa, all’oboe e all’organo (Florence 1887); *Giacomo Rossini, in Rassegna nazionale, 16 May 1887, pp. 257–267; *Una riparazione a proposito di Francesco Landino, ibid., 1 December 1888, pp. 538–549; *Commemorazione di W.A. Mozart, i

Riccardo Malipiero

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Riccardo Malipiero Jr. (24 July 1914 – 27 November 2003) was an Italian composer, pianist, critic, and music educator. He was awarded the gold medal by the city of Milan in 1977 and by the city of Varese in 1984. Born in Milan, Malipiero was the son of cellist Riccardo Malipiero (1886–1975). He studied piano and composition at Milan Conservatory (in 1930), where he graduated in 1932, and Turin Conservatory, where he obtained a diploma in 1937. He pursued further studies in composition with his uncle Gian Francesco Malipiero in Venice. From 1935 to 1947 he was a lecturer at the Liceo Musicale “Vincenzo Appiani” in Monza. Malipiero was active as a pianist, and also wrote criticism for Il popolo and Corriere lombardo, from 1945 to 1966. He lectured in the United States in 1954, 1959, and 1969, and in Buenos Aires in 1963. Between 1969 and 1984 he directed the Varese Conservatory, in which he joined the music faculty in 1979. Malipiero’s early works were composed using a free atonality. In 1945 he began using a twelve-tone technique in his compositions, becoming one of the pioneers of that technique in Italy. He promoted the twelve-tone technique in articles he contributed in Italian m

Riccardo Piacentini

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Riccardo Piacentini (born 3 July 1958, in Moncalieri, Province of Turin) is an Italian composer and pianist, professor of Composition at the Milan Conservatory. Biography He graduated in 1980 in Composition and Piano at Turin and Alessandria Conservatories, as well as in Literature and Music History at University of Turin with a thesis on the orchestral works of Goffredo Petrassi. He studied with Carlo Pinelli, favorite pupil of Giorgio Federico Ghedini and Franco Donatoni. He participated also in courses and workshops with Sylvano Bussotti, György Ligeti, Ennio Morricone, André Richard (at the Heinrich Strobel Center in Freiburg, where Luigi Nono worked), Karlheinz Stockhausen, and in 1988 he was among the performed composers at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt. He is particularly active both as composer of foto-musica con foto-suoni for museums - a new musical technique for counterpointing human voice, acoustic and electronic instruments and environmental sounds -, and as pianist of the Duo Alterno. With this internationally acclaimed ensemble, founded in 1997 together with his wife soprano Tiziana Scandaletti, he has performed all over the world, keepin

Richard Aaker Trythall

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Richard Aaker Trythall (July 25, 1939 – December 21, 2022) was an American-born Italian composer and pianist of contemporary classical music. Early life and education Trythall was born on July 25, 1939, in Knoxville, Tennessee, the younger brother of composer Gil Trythall. His family, related to composer Edvard Grieg, has Welsh and Norwegian ancestry, and moved to the United States from Norway. He attended Central High School in Knoxville and in 1958 he enrolled at the University of Tennessee, where he studied under David Van Vactor graduating with a Bachelor of Music in 1961. His interest in composition was fostered by Van Vactor, at the time conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and founder of the University of Tennessee School of Music. He was then admitted to Princeton University in 1961 where he studied under Earl Kim, Roger Sessions, Milton Babbitt, and Edward T. Cone obtaining a Master of Fine Arts in 1963. He completed his music studies attending, that same year, advanced composition courses at the Berlin University of the Arts where he studied with Boris Blacher under a Fulbright-Hays Scholarship. Trythall was part of the group of David Van Vactor’s notable student

Richard Wagner

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Early years#

Richard Wagner was born on 22 May 1813 to an ethnic German family in Leipzig, then part of the Confederation of the Rhine. His family lived at No 3, the Brühl (The House of the Red and White Lions) in Leipzig’s Jewish quarter. He was baptised at St. Thomas Church. He was the ninth, and youngest, child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, Johanna Rosine Wagner, the daughter of a baker. Wagner’s father Carl died of typhoid fever six months after Richard’s birth. Afterwards, his mother Johanna lived with Carl’s friend, the actor and playwright Ludwig Geyer. In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married, although no documentation of this has been found in the Leipzig church registers. She and her family moved to Geyer’s residence in Dresden. Until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father. Geyer’s love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography Mein Leben Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel. In late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzel’s school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher. He struggled to play a proper scale at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures by ear. Following Geyer’s death in 1821, Richard was sent to the Kreuzschule, the boarding school of the Dresdner Kreuzchor, at the expense of Geyer’s brother. At the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Carl Maria von Weber’s opera Der Freischütz, which he saw Weber conduct. At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright. His first creative effort, listed in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis (the standard listing of Wagner’s works) as WWV 1, was a tragedy called Leubald. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was strongly influenced by Shakespeare and Goethe. Wagner was determined to set it to music and persuaded his family to allow him music lessons. By 1827, the family had returned to Leipzig. Wagner’s first lessons in harmony were taken during 1828–1831 with . In January 1828 he first heard Beethoven’s 7th Symphony and then, in March, the same composer’s 9th Symphony, both at the Gewandhaus. Beethoven became a major inspiration, and Wagner wrote a piano transcription of the 9th Symphony. He was also greatly impressed by a performance of Mozart’s Requiem. Wagner’s early piano sonatas and his first attempts at orchestral overtures date from this period. In 1829 he saw a performance by dramatic soprano Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, who became his ideal of the fusion of drama and music in opera. In Mein Leben Wagner wrote, “When I look back across my entire life I find no event to place beside this in the impression it produced on me,” and claimed that the “profoundly human and ecstatic performance of this incomparable artist” kindled in him an “almost demonic fire”. In 1831, Wagner enrolled at the Leipzig University, where he became a member of the Saxon student fraternity. He took composition lessons with the Thomaskantor Theodor Weinlig. Weinlig was so impressed with Wagner’s musical ability that he refused any payment for his lessons. He arranged for his pupil’s Piano Sonata in B-flat major (which was consequently dedicated to him) to be published as Wagner’s Op. 1. A year later, Wagner composed his Symphony in C major, a Beethovenesque work performed in Prague in 1832 and at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1833. He then began to work on an opera, Die Hochzeit (The Wedding), which he never completed.

Rita Brondi

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Maria Rita Brondi (5 July 1889 – 1 July 1941) was an Italian guitarist, lutenist, singer, composer, and music historian. She gave concerts throughout Europe as a guitarist and singer, conducted research on lute and guitar history, and composed guitar pieces. She was also an editor for the Enciclopedia Italiana. Early life Maria Rita Brondi was born in Rimini in 1884 or 1889. She was taught guitar first by her father, who was a noted performer, She later studied voice with Paolo Tosti in England and composition with M. Manozzi. Career Brondi toured in Europe as a guitarist and singer, known for singing Italian regional folk songs. She performed for Queen Margherita in Rome, and for a number of other titled people, including the Duchess of Aosta in Turin, and Princess Bona Adelaide and the Duke of Ancona. She wrote a book on the history of the guitar, titled Il liuto e la chitarra (1926), which was published in several editions through the twentieth century. She was mentioned as a peer of Italian musicians (1878–1972) and Geni Sadero (also known as Eugenia Scarpa, 1886–1961), though both of them outlived her. Julian Bream mentioned her as making early lute recordings, in company with

Rito Selvaggi

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Rito Selvaggi (22 May 189819 May 1972) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, poet, and educator. He composed numerous works, including operas, oratorios and sacred music as well symphonic and chamber music. He also served as the director of the music conservatories in Palermo, Parma, and Pesaro. Biography Selvaggi was born in Noicàttaro in the Province of Bari, the third of six children. He showed an early talent for music, especially the piano, and in 1910, his family sent him to the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, where he studied under Amilcare Zanella. After graduating from the conservatory, he continued his piano studies with Ferruccio Busoni in Bologna and made his Paris debut in 1913. His career as a concert pianist was cut short by World War I, when he served as a lieutenant in the Italian Army from 1915 to 1918. After the war, he concentrated his musical activities primarily on conducting and composing. He was the co-director (with Tullio Serafin) of the Teatro Regio in Turin and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris from 1918 to 1922 and toured internationally as a conductor from 1923 to 1927. From 1929 to 1943 he was also the artistic director for symphonic musi

Riz Ortolani

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Riziero “Riz” Ortolani (; 25 March 192623 January 2014) was an Italian composer, conductor, and orchestrator, predominantly of film scores. He scored over 200 films and television programs between 1955 and 2014, with a career spanning over fifty years. Internationally, he is best known for his genre scores, notably his music for mondo, giallo, horror, and Spaghetti Western films. His most famous composition is “More,” which he wrote for the infamous film Mondo Cane. It won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Theme and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 36th Academy Awards. The song was later covered by Frank Sinatra, Kai Winding, Andy Williams, Roy Orbison, and others. Ortolani received many other accolades, including four David di Donatello Awards, three Nastro d’Argento Awards, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. In 2013, he received a Lifetime Achievement from the World Soundtrack Academy. Early life Ortolani was born on 25 March 1926 in Pesaro, Italy. He was the youngest of six children. Ortolani’s father, a postal worker, gave his son a violin at age 4. Ortolani later switched to flute after injuring his elbow in a car accide

Roberto Brambilla

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Roberto Brambilla (born 30 October 1975) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Life Brambilla was born in Livorno, Italy, and studied music at the “Conservatorio G. Verdi” in Milan with Alessandro Solbiati. He has improved his studies in different international masterclass given by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Alessandro Melchiorre, Alessandro Solbiati and Alvise Vidolin. and are broadcast on RAI and in many other radio. He is published by BAM International, TEM and Warner/Chappell Music. About the music The musical aesthetics of Roberto Brambilla underlines a research of sound materials, also using electronic tools, such as to highlight micro-sound in the “moment form”. Examples are the glove created to modify the sounds of the piano in his piece Memoriam VII, for female voice and piano, or the use of modern instruments, used with the purpose to modify the timbre of classical instruments, in various works of his repertoire. Awards * 2004 Mario Nascimbene award * 2014 International PAS Works Selected works include: * Cardinal Events for B clarinet (2006) *Ipnagogico for piano four hands, electronic music and the painting “Paesaggi contaminati” by Emanuele Gregolin (2

Roberto Carnevale

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Roberto Carnevale (born 15 June 1966) is an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic teacher. Biography and career Born in Catania, he started studying piano at the age of seven. He took a degree in Arts at the University of Catania and he attended the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. He studied under Roberto Bianco (piano), Franco Donatoni (composition), Salvatore Enrico Failla (musicology) and Ferdinand Leitner (conducting). He is Professor of History of Music and Assistant Headmaster at the , and Headmaster at the CEU. In 1988, he was awarded the international prize “Council of Europe”. His composition have been played all over the world by famous musicians and orchestras (Claudia Antonelli, Giovanni Sollima, Marco Betta, Tonino Battista, Riccardo Risaliti, Aldo Bennici, Vera Beths, Henk Guittart, Maurizio Ben Omar, Gidon Kremer, Graziella Concas, Marina Leonardi, Giorgio Magnanensi, Daniel Schweitzer, Logos Ensemble, Octandre Ensemble, Ensemble Modern, Klami Ensemble, Calamus Ensemble, Keldisc Group, L’Offerta Musicale Ensemble, Soloists of Santa Cecilia Academy, Soloists of Teatro La Fenice, Soloists of ORT, London Chamber Group, Ensemble Foriani, Ensemble Bellin

Roberto Ciotti

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Roberto Ciotti (20 February 1953 – 31 December 2013) was an Italian blues musician, composer and guitarist. Life and career Born in Rome, Ciotti began playing the guitar at the age of 12. From 1970 to 1972 he was a member of the jazz band Blue Morning, then he started a solo career as a bluesman, a composer and a professional guitarist, collaborating with Chet Baker, Francesco De Gregori and Edoardo Bennato, among others. His debut album was Supergasoline Blues, released in 1978. Following a long illness, Ciotti died on 31 December 2013, at the age of 60. Discography Albums * Supergasoline Blues (1978, Cramps, 5205 751) * Bluesman (1979, Cramps, 5205 752) * Rockin’ Blues (1982, RCA Italiana) * No More Blue (1989) * Road ’n’ Rail (1992) * Marrakech Express - Turné (1992) * King of Nothing (1994) * Changes(1996) * Walking (1999, Il Manifesto) * Behind the Door (2002) * Troubles & Dreams (2010) * Equilibrio Precario (2013) References External links * * * Roberto Ciotti at Discogs *

Roberto De Simone

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Roberto De Simone (; 25 August 1933 – 6 April 2025) was an Italian stage director, academic teacher, playwright, composer and ethnomusicologist. Beginning as a harpsichordist, he turned to research of early Italian music and co-founded the Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare to perform it. The musical La Gatta Cenerentola, which he authored, composed and directed, was first performed at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto in 1976 and received international recognition. He directed the San Carlo Theatre from 1981 to 1987, and was stage director of operas at La Scala in Milan from 1986. He was director of the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella from 1995 to 2000. Life and career Born in Naples on 25 August 1933, At the same time he started being active as an ethnomusical researcher and essayist, mainly focused on the southern Italy folk music of oral tradition, with specific interest in tarantism and funeral laments. In the second half of the 1960s he met some musicians who shared with him an interest in traditional music, and this encounter led to the foundation of the Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare, with whom De Simone collaborated for a decade. He approached the in 1972 as a pos

Roberto Fabbri

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Roberto Fabbri (born 1964, Rome) is an Italian classical guitarist, composer, teacher and writer. Biography He studied classical guitar under the guidance of Carlo Carfagna at the Conservatory “Santa Cecilia” in Rome, where he graduated with full honors in 1986. He obtained a bachelor in music with 110 and praise with an essay on Mauro Giuliani’s Rossiniane. He is the headmaster and teacher of classical guitar at the Academy “Novamusica e Arte” in Rome and also teaches classical guitar at the Institute of High Artistic and Musical Formation “Giulio Briccialdi” in Terni. Musical career He has developed his musical career as a soloist and with the guitar quartet Nexus. He has been the artistic director of Festival Internazionale della Chitarra Città di Fiuggi since 2006. He plays the Ramirez 125° Anniversary 2007 n°1 guitar and uses La Bella strings. Publications Roberto Fabbri has carried out an intense didactic and editorial activity, cooperating with different publishing houses (Anthropos, Berben, Playgame, EMR, Warner Bros., Carisch). His most popular book Suoniamo la Chitarra has been translated into French, Spanish, and German, and now a Chinese translation is coming up. He con

Roberto Lupi

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Roberto Lupi (28 November 1908 – 17 April 1971) was an Italian composer, conductor, and music theorist. Born in Milan and trained at the conservatory there, he began his conducting career in 1937. His compositions of experimental music included large-scale works for chorus and orchestra, chamber music, and stage works. However, Lupi’s most widely heard piece was his Armonie del pianeta Saturno for oboe (or, sometimes, trumpet), harp and strings which was played each night from 1954 to 1986 at the close of RAI television transmissions. He held the chair in composition at the Florence Conservatory from 1941 until his death and published three books on music theory, the last of them posthumously. From the 1950s, his theoretical approach and his compositions, especially his stage works, were strongly influenced by the ideas of Rudolf Steiner. Stage works * Orfeo, choreographed cantata to a libretto based on Book IV of Virgil’s Georgics, choreography by Janine Charrat. Premiere: La Fenice, Venice, 19 September 1951 * La nuova Euridice, opera (mistero melodrammatico) in three acts to a libretto by Maria Della Quercia (Eva Bagni). Premiere: Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo, 3 October 1957 * La d

Roberto Molinelli

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Roberto Molinelli (born 1963, Ancona) is an Italian composer, conductor and violist. He has graduated with honors and won prizes in national and international competitions. His CD on Carl Reinecke’s chamber music was awarded with “CD of the Month” prize on “CD Classical” magazine. As a composer, arranger and conductor he has collaborated with many Artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman, Gustav Kuhn, Cecilia Gasdia, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Valeria Esposito, Andrea Griminelli, Valeria Moriconi, Federico Mondelci, Enrico Dindo, Elena Zaniboni, Danilo Rossi, Giorgio Zagnoni. His premières have been performed by many Orchestras worldwide (Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, La Scala Theatre, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian Radio-TV Orchestra, Orchestra Haydn Bozen, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, I Solisti di Pavia with Enrico Dindo, Euroradio Concerts live via satellite, Symph. Orch. of Sanremo, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, Istituzione Sinfonica Abruzzese, Orchestra di Roma e del Lazio, Symph. Orch. of Bari) in many Concert Halls (Carnegie Hall, New York City, Moscow International House o

Roberto Paci Dalò

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Roberto Paci Dalò is an Italian author, composer and musician, film maker and theatre director, sound and visual artist, radio-maker. He is the co-founder and director of the performing arts ensemble Giardini Pensili and he has been the artistic director of Wikimania 2016 Esino Lario. He won the Premio Napoli per la lingua e la cultura italiana in 2015. Life and career After musical, visual, and architecture studies in Fiesole, Faenza and Ravenna, in 1993 he receives the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program Fellowship. He taught Media Dramaturgy and New Media at the university of Siena and teaches Exhibit & Experience Design at UNIRSM Design Università degli Studi della Repubblica di San Marino. Since 2017 he is founder and director of Usmaradio, radio station and Research Centre for Radiophonic Studies. In 1993 he conceives the project Publiphono. In 1994, with Marina Abramović and Barbara Bloom he has been invited to the project “Bildende Kunst auf dem Theater” at Hebbel-Theater, Berlin. In 1995 the Kronos Quartet premiered at the Vienna Opera House his composition Nodas. In 1997 he creates Trance Bakxai, an artist’s rave inspired by Euripides. In 2001, he stages the performance work M

Roberto Procaccini

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Roberto Procaccini • Lobbe (born Roberto Procaccini, on , Rome, Italy) is an Italian composer, producer, and keyboard player. Studies He studied piano (classical and jazz) privately, and then at the University of Music in Rome. In 1995 he moved to Boston, United States, where he attended the Berklee College of Music, winning two scholarships (Best and Arif Mardin Scholarship) and graduated Summa cum laude in Contemporary Writing and Production; he followed workshops in composition and conducting with Maestro Mauro Bacherini and Peppe Vessicchio. As a composer divides his time between recordings, film, television and theater. Biography In Italy he worked in various roles (arranger, producer, author, keyboardist) for many artists: Marina Rei, Zero Assoluto, Marco Mengoni, The Niro, Nathalie, Anansi, Otto Ohm, Bandabardò, Patty Pravo, Chiara Civello, Spagna, Ron, Damian Draghici, Claudio Mattone, Tony Renis, Peppe Vessicchio, Max Calò, Mark Armani, Syria, Barbara Eramo, Madame Lingerie, Red Desert, Stefano Palatresi, Enrico Sognato and Luna among others. He has also worked in the U.S. as an author, arranger and producer for EG Daily, Intermusic and Compression Records, in Spain as a s

Roman Vlad

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Roman Vlad (29 December 1919 – 21 September 2013) was a Romanian-born Italian composer, pianist, and musicologist. Biography Born in Cernăuți, Kingdom of Romania (now Chernivtsi, Ukraine), he studied with Titus Tarnawski and Liviu Russu in Romania earning a piano diploma. He moved to Rome in 1938 to study at the University of Rome and later the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He eventually became an Italian citizen in 1951. Vlad’s early career was as a performer and composer; he won the Enescu Prize in 1942 for his Sinfonietta, and the Silver Ribbon Award for his film music. He was the artistic director of Accademia Filarmonica Romana from 1955 to 1958 and again from 1966 to 1969. As well, he was the president of the Italian Society for Contemporary Music in 1960 and musical consultant for the third RAI national radio and television network. He was later a member of the Directory Council of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia and artistic consultant for the Ravenna Festival and the Spoleto Festival. Vlad was an eclectic composer whose works range from symphonies to operas to chamber music to “The Japanese Seasons, 24 Haiku.” He was a noted composer of film music, including

Romano Musumarra

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Romano Musumarra (born 21 July 1956) is an Italian composer, arranger, musician and record producer. Life and career Born in Rome, Musumarra approached music as a child, learning to play pipe organ at his church. He studied piano, composition and conducting at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and in 1975 he formed the melodic pop-rock group La Bottega dell’Arte, with whom he achieved some significant success throughout the 1970s. Besides his work with the band, in 1978 he made an electronic album called Automat together with Claudio Gizzi. In 1983 he left La Bottega dell’Arte and devoted himself to the activity of arranger and composer, arranging among others works by Riccardo Cocciante, Mango, Fred Bongusto and Franco Califano, and composing the music for Severino Gazzelloni’s album Azzurra. Musumarra continued his collaboration with Mas, composing and producing the tracks on her first two albums, including “Johnny, Johnny” and “En rouge et noir”, both number one in the French chart. In addition to launching new names, Musumarra has composed songs for established artists such as Celine Dion, Mireille Mathieu, Sylvie Vartan, Alain Delon, Nikka Costa, Dana Dawson, Hélène Sé

Romualdo Marenco

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Romualdo Marenco (March 1, 1841 – October 9, 1907) was an Italian composer primarily noted for ballet music. Marenco started his musical career as a violinist in the Doria Theater in Genoa. His first composition was the ballet Garibaldi’s Landing in Marsala. He was appointed the orchestral conductor for La Scala in Milan and also directed the ballet company there for seven years. His best-known ballets were written in collaboration with choreographer Luigi Manzotti during that period. Marenco is best remembered for the ballet Excelsior, composed in 1881. Excelsior is a tribute to the scientific and industrial progress of the 19th century, from the electric light to the telegraph, steam engine, Fréjus Rail Tunnel, and Suez Canal. As such it foreshadows the Futurism movement. In the first nine months, it was staged 100 times in Italy and abroad. It is still performed and was recently (2002) staged in Milan. Works (1870). Opera * Lorenzino de’ Medici (Libretto by G. Perosio, Lodi 1874) * I Moncalda (Libretto by Fulgi, Milan 1880) * Federico Struensée (Novi Ligure 1908) Operetta * Le Diable au corps (Libr. E. Blum and P. Toché, Paris 1884) * Strategia d’amore (Libr. C. A. Blengi, Milan

Rosanna Scalfi Marcello

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Rosanna Scalfi Marcello () was an Italian singer and composer of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. Life Rosanna Scalfi’s exact birth and death dates are unknown; she was professionally active around 1723–1742 in Venice. She was a gondola singer of the Venetian arie di battello–a tradition of simple strophic songs. A legendary account tells of the composer and nobleman Benedetto Marcello, while above the ciy’s Grand Canal, hearing Scalfi sing. Impressed by her voice, Marcello began instructing her in vocal training around 1723; the two were secretly wed in a religious ceremony on 20 May 1728, when she was twenty-four years old. However, this marriage to a commoner was unlawful and they never completed the civil requirements. After Marcello died of tuberculosis in 1739, the marriage was declared null by the state, and Rosanna was unable to inherit his estate. Left destitute, she filed suit on 1 February 1742 against Benedetto’s brother Alessandro Marcello, seeking financial support, but her claims were rejected. Also in 1742, she appeared as Arbace in Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli’s Artaserse at St. Salvatore during the Ascension season that same year. Some of Marcello’s dra

Rosario Di Bella

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Rosario Di Bella (born 27 July 1963) is an Italian composer, singer-songwriter, music arranger and musician. Background Born in Zafferana Etnea, Catania, the son of a trumpeter, Di Bella spent much of his childhood in Geneva. At just eight years old he started playing guitar, and shortly later he began studying piano. In 1991, he debuted at the Sanremo Music Festival, as a member of a trio consisting of himself, Marco Conidi and Bungaro; their song “E noi qui” was a commercial success. He came back in Sanremo Festival as a soloist two years later, with the song “E io che non volevo”. In 1995, he got his major commercial success with the song “Difficile amarsi”. Since 2001, he has focused on composing, writing among others for Paolo Meneguzzi and Patty Pravo. Discography * 1989 – Pittore di me stesso * 1991 – Figlio perfetto * 1995 – Esperanto * 2000 – I miei amici * 2001 – Rosario Di Bella (collection) * 2004 – Made in Italy (collection) * 2007 – Il negozio della solitudine * 2016 – Spirituality (in couple with Juri Camisasca) References External links * * * *

Rosario Scalero

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Natale Rosario Scalero (24 December 1870 in Moncalieri - 25 December 1954 in Montestrutto) was an Italian violinist, music teacher and composer. Life and career By the age of six, Scalero was under the tutelage of Pietro Bertazzi, a violinist, musical instrument maker and instructor at the Conservatorio St. Cecilia in Rome. Among his most successful students at Curtis were composers Samuel Barber, Nino Rota, Gian Carlo Menotti and George Walker. During that time he also taught Marc Blitzstein, Berenice Robinson and Mary Watson Weaver. In 1946 he returned to Montestrutto, near Ivrea, where he died in 1954. Works *A Suite for String Quartet and String Orchestra *La Divina Foresta, symphonic poem for large orchestra *Violin Sonata (Op.12, D minor, published 1910) Pupils References External links * Rosario Scalero, Retrieved 25 August 2010 * Music Is My Faith - An Autobiography. David Mannes, External links *

Ruggero Leoncavallo

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Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo (23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Throughout his career, Leoncavallo produced numerous operas and songs, but it is his 1892 opera Pagliacci that remained his lasting contribution, despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest success. Today Pagliacci continues to be his most famous opera and one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the operatic repertoire. His other notable compositions include the song “Mattinata”, popularized by Enrico Caruso, and, to a lesser extent, his version of La bohème which, however, was overshadowed by Puccini’s highly successful opera of the same name. Biography The son of Vincenzo Leoncavallo, a police magistrate and judge, Leoncavallo was born in Naples, at the time the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, on 23 April 1857. As a child, Leoncavallo moved with his father to the town of Montalto Uffugo in Calabria, where he lived during his adolescence. In 1868 he returned to Naples, where he eventually became a student at San Pietro a Majella Conservatory. From 1876 to 1877, he studied literature under the famed Italian poet Giosuè Carducci at the

Salvator Léonardi

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Salvator Léonardi (2 July 1872, Catania – 23 February 1938, Paris) was a mandolin virtuoso, teacher and composer. He taught in Egypt, Malta, London and Paris for more than 20 years, and also toured as a performer. Léonardi learned mandolin and guitar from an uncle, but went on to become a professional musician, studying the violin at a Naples conservatory. He won awards as a solo mandolinist at international music competitions in Florence and Rome. Léonardi was the author of the Méthode pour Banjoline ou Mandoline-Banjo (Method for Banjolin and Mandolin-Banjo). The book was rare among texts teaching mandolin, because it taught his method in three languages at once, English, French and Spanish. In the third edition of his mandolin-banjo method (1921), he stated in the introduction that the mandolin had been declining in popularity from previous times. In writing his book, he noted the instrument was soaring in popularity in the shape of the banjo. He did not just recycle old material for his book, but also included his own compositions, including Souvenir de Malta, Caminando (a tango), Souvenir de Rome, Un Beso Por Teléfono, Qui-Pro-Quo, Rêverie, and Capriccio (a polka). As a music

Salvatore Di Vittorio

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Salvatore Di Vittorio (born 22 October 1967 in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian composer and conductor. He is the music director and conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of New York. Career His program music, focused on symphony, is mostly influenced by Hector Berlioz and Richard Strauss. He has written works for various orchestras, such as Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Teatro Massimo , San Diego Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and The Morgan Library & Museum. He has taught at Loyola School (New York City) and Adelphi University. This included the first Concerto per Violino (in La Maggiore) , published by Edizioni Panastudio and Casa Ricordi in Italy. He premiered and recorded three of these editions, along with his own Overtura Respighiana and first two program symphonic poems with the Chamber Orchestra of New York for Naxos Records in 2010. Naxos Records released these first recordings in 2011. Between the 2021/2022 and 2024/2025 seasons, Di Vittorio premiered his Viaggi di Enea (Voyages of Aeneas) as one of two commissions for the Teatro Massimo Opera Orchestra in Palermo—the second, his Metamorphosis Symphony at the opera house. Di Vittor

Salvatore Frega

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Salvatore Frega (born 29 September 1989) is an Italian composer of contemporary classic music, Director of the Accademia Musicale Medicea and of TGmusic.it and Professor at the Conservatory N. Paganini - Genova. Officially engaged to psychologist, Dr. Elisa Coppa. Professional collaborations Salvatore Frega has had commissions and exhibitions such as: Venice Biennale, Koper Biennale, Sanremo Symphony Orchestra, Galilei Orchestra of the Fiesole Music School, Musical Afternoon Orchestra of Milan, Orchestra of the San Giacomantonio Conservatory of Cosenza, Fiorentina Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV, Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra, The Kazakh Soloists, Eskisehir Philharmonic Orchestra, Art Center of Singapore, Qazaq Concert, Haydn Symphony Orchestra, Torre del Lago Puccini Symphony Orchestra. 8/9 Agosto 2021 - 67° Festival Puccini at Torre del Lago; with a commission for Ensemble and Voice Reciting with the theme of “Kiss at the time of COVID-19”. 1 September 2021 - receives the commission for a world premiere ballet from the Fondazione Ente Luglio Musicale Trapanese. 2022/2023 - Composer in residence of the Puccini Festival of Torre del Lago. 22 December 2022 - Salva

Salvatore Sciarrino

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Salvatore Sciarrino (born 4 April 1947) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Described as “the best-known and most performed Italian composer” of the present day, his works include Quaderno di strada (2003) and La porta della legge (2006–08). Biography A native of Palermo, the young Sciarrino was attracted to the visual arts, but began experimenting with music when he was twelve. Though he had some lessons from Antonino Titone and Turi Belfiore, he is primarily self-taught as a composer. After his classical studies and a few years of university in his home city, in 1969 he moved to Rome, where he attended Franco Evangelisti’s course in electronic music at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. In 1977, Sciarrino moved from Rome to Milan, where he taught at the conservatory until 1982. By this time his compositional career had expanded to the point where he could withdraw from teaching, and he moved to Città di Castello, in Umbria, where he has lived ever since. He nevertheless has continued to teach occasionally in Florence and Bologna, as well as in Città di Castello. Some of his notable students include Francesco Filidei, Lucia Ronchetti, David Monacchi, and Maurizio

Salvatore Viganò

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Salvatore Viganò (March 25, 1769 – August 10, 1821) was an Italian choreographer, dancer and composer. Viganò was born in Naples. He studied composition with Luigi Boccherini (his uncle) and by the mid-1780s was composing original music. He produced early dance compositions in Bordeaux and Vienna. In 1788, he appeared as a dancer on the stage in Venice. He performed in the coronation festivities of Charles IV of Spain in 1789. He became a pupil of the French dancer and choreographer Jean Dauberval. In 1791, he and his wife achieved success as a dancing team in Venice, where he choreographed his first ballet, Raoul de Créqui. He was ballet master in Vienna and collaborated with Beethoven on the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus. He returned to Italy in 1804 and became the ballet master of La Scala ballet school in Milan. He is considered the father of a new kind of performance called "" where the pantomime served the dance and the ensembles were very significant. He died in Milan. Viganò’s elder sister, Vincenza Viganò-Mombelli was also a dancer and the librettist of Rossini’s first opera Demetrio e Polibio. Major works * La vedova scoperta, 1783 (opera) * The Creatures of Promethe

Sandro Gorli

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Sandro Gorli (born 19 June 1948) is an Italian composer, conductor and teacher. He is the author of “Requiem” for mixed choir a Cappella, written specially for the well-known choir La Chapelle Royale. This composition was included in the Treasury of choral authentic music. From 1990 to 1998, he was the principal conductor of the ELISION Ensemble in Melbourne, Australia. Early life and education Sandro Gorli was born in Como on 19 June 1948. He entered and graduated from a University course in architecture in Milan, but then switched to studying composition with the renowned Italian composer and teacher Franco Donatoni, which, in particular, was a teacher of modern Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. As a result, he received higher education in music – composition class, and piano class. Sandro Gorli also conducts research in the field of phonology and cooperates with Phonology Studio at the Radiotelevision of Italy (RAI) in Milan. In the process of its work on the RAI he meets with musicians from the RAI National Symphony Orchestra and he liked conduct the orchestra. First Sandro Gorli studying this art directly in Milan, then at the invitation of Hans Swarowsky he mo

Saro Tribastone

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Saro Tribastone (born 27 November 1966 in Ragusa) is an Italian composer, guitarist and performer of Mediterranean instrumental music who expresses his love for his homeland in Sicily through his compositions and performances of acoustic music. Career He is adept at playing a number of different string instruments like Italian Guitar, Flamenco Guitar, the Greek Tzouras, Chitarra Battente, Mandolin and Acoustic Guitar, to create his unique sound. His compositions express sounds of music made of popular Sicilian, Spanish flamenco and Latin rhythms and also echoes ethnic Greek, Arabian and Indian sounds. His style resembles the nuevo flamenco and world music. His passion for music began at age 6, when he was given his first acoustic guitar. Since then, he has been continuously perfecting his technique of Flamenco from various lands. At age 8, he started making his first short instrumental compositions. In his musical career, he has also composed soundtracks for several documentaries and television. Some of his songs have been used as accompanying music for programs broadcast on satellite TV in the USA over the years. Some choice tracks have been placed in satellite TV programs for the

Saverio Mercadante

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Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 179517 December 1870) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as prolifically as any of them, and his development of operatic structures, melodic styles and orchestration contributed significantly to the foundations upon which Giuseppe Verdi built his dramatic technique. Biography Early years Mercadante was born out of wedlock in Altamura, near Bari in Apulia; his precise date of birth has not been recorded, but he was baptised on 17 September 1795. Mercadante studied flute, violin and composition at the conservatory in Naples, and organized concerts among his compatriots. The opera composer Gioachino Rossini said to the conservatory Director, Niccolo Zingarelli, “My compliments, Maestro – your young pupil Mercadante begins where we finish”. an ascendancy which did not end until censorship problems with the latter’s Poliuto caused a final break. But Mercadante’s style began to shift with the presentation of I Normanni a Parigi at the Teatro Regio in Tur

Sergio Bardotti

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Sergio Bardotti (14 February 1939 – 11 April 2007) was an Italian lyricist, composer and record producer. Life and career Born in Pavia, Bardotti studied piano for seven years and graduated from conservatory with a degree in Theory and Solfeggio. After having performed in nightclubs with the stage name Sergio Dotti, he moved to Rome, employed by RCA for his literary branch. In 1989 Bardotti won a second Sanremo Music Festival with the song “Ti lascerò”, performed by Anna Oxa and Fausto Leali. Since the 1990s he worked mainly as a television writer. References External links * Sergio Bardotti at Discogs *

Sergio Maltagliati

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Sergio Maltagliati (born 1960 in Pescia, Italy) is an Italian Internet-based artist, composer, and visual-digital artist. His first musical experience with the Gialdino Gialdini Musical Band was in the early 70s. Biography On 04/10/2023 he was elected Honorary Academician of the Accademia delle arti del disegno in Florence. Historical Academy founded in Florence in 1563 by Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany at the suggestion of Giorgio Vasari, as a leading exponent of the Florentine artistic current known as Musica d’Arte (Visual Music and Fluxus). Sergio Maltagliati an artist from Florence Italy; studied music at the Florence Conservatory, then he began to paint. Thus creating a new method of writing music where the score becomes a visual composition. The relation between the sound and color creates a living feeling that art is not dead. It does not stop at the artist’s last attempt at the canvas, but goes beyond to the viewer. It is the relationship between artist and viewer, one is no different from the other. Now the viewer can take the step that the artist may dare not to across. It is the point of translation a fear to most artist that want to create and let their wor

Sergio Rendine

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Sergio Rendine (7 September 1954 – 21 April 2023) was an Italian composer of operas, ballets, symphonies, cantatas and chamber music. He worked as a lecturer at the Conservatorio Alfredo Casella, for the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and for SIAE. He was artistic director of the Teatro Marrucino in Chieti from 1997 to 2007. He received awards for Alice, a “radiophonic opera”. His opera Un segreto d’importanza was premiered by the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. His Missa de beatificatione in onore di Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, a mass written for the beatification of Pio of Pietrelcina, was premiered in 1999 in Vatican City, with José Carreras as a soloist. His oratorio Passio et Ressurrectio was recorded live and broadcast from the cathedral in Chieti premiere, and his two symphonies were recorded by Chandos Records. Life and career Rendine was born in Naples on 7 September 1954, External links * * Rendine, Sergio in the Enciclopedia Treccani * * * Sergio Rendine (1954) Naxos Records * Sergio Rendine hitparade.ch

Silvana Di Lotti

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Silvana Di Lotti (born 29 November 1942) is an Italian pianist, lecturer and composer. She was born in Agliè, Turin, and studied in Turin and Salzburg with Roberto Goitre, Amalia Pierangeli Mussato and Giorgio Ferrari, and in Siena with Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez. After completing her studies, she took a position teaching at the Turin Conservatory. She won the Alfano Prize at the Turin Conservatory, and the Ancona Prize for woodwind composition. Life Silvana Di Lotti was born in Agliè Canavese in Turin on 29 November 1942. She studied piano in Turin with Amalia Pierangeli Mussato and composition with Giorgio Ferrari. She then studied in the summer school in Salzburg with Kurt Leimer, and then at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena with Luciano Berio, Franco Evangelisti, Luis de Pablo, Pierre Boulez. and Roberto Goitre. She also won the Ancona Prize in the Tenth International Competition for woodwind instruments in 1980, with a piece for oboe and piano. That work was then performed in Pavia and in the former Soviet Union in Leningrad and Riga. She has also taught at the A. Vivaldi Conservatory in Alessandria. Di Lotti’s compositions have been performed at major music festi

Silvio Amato

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Silvio Amato (born April 10, 1961, in Catania, Italy), is a composer of classical, contemporary and popular music, and film soundtracks. Currently, he resides in Marina del Rey, CA with his family. He previously resided in Boston, Massachusetts and maintains a studio in Milan, Italy Early life Amato is son of a distributor of children’s clothing and a mother who did not care much for classical music. The used piano his father brought home to “fill space” in the family’s living room soon became an obsession for young Silvio who learned the instrument on his own despite his mother’s constant pleas “I beg you Silvio, please, please, please stop playing.” Eventually, he studied classical piano with a master teacher. Moving north to Milan as a young man, he established himself as a composer and arranger, working with a variety of popular and light classical artists as well as composing for television and motion pictures. It has been said that “his approachable music captures the vibrancy and romanticism of contemporary Italian culture, appealing to devotees of popular and classical genres alike.” Works In 2008, shortly after his oldest daughter left home to study at Boston University in

Simone Cilio

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Simone Antonio Cilio (born 4 September 1992) is an Italian film composer best known for his film scores. Life and career Simone Cilio was born in Niscemi, Italy. In his early career, he worked on the feature film Badsville; his score was nominated as Best Original Score at the Maverick Movie Awards. Filmography 2013 * Next To Me (short film) – directed by Sara Mignogna * How to kill my boyfriend (short film) – directed by Alfonso Perugini * Avenge my eyes (short film) – directed by Alex Kaplan * Cinema Cafe (web series) – directed by Paolo Brancati * La Grande Festa – Capurso (documentary) – directed by Antony Pepe 2014 * L’Evento – directed by Lorenzo D’Amelio * Nella tasca del cappotto (short film) – directed by Marco Di Gerlando * The War at Home (short film) – August Dannehl * One Night Only (short film) – directed by Brendan Elmore * Wrong Way (web series) – directed by Ninni Palma * La proposta (short film) – directed by Mirko Salciarini * Bastard! (short film) – directed by John Gallegos * Punctum (short film) – directed by Michael Gaddini 2015 * Censurado, Ode to love – directed by Mauro Russo Rouge * Il ricordo di una lacrima – directed by Mario Santocchio * The Last One –

Sonia Bo

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Sonia Bo (born 27 March 1960) is an Italian pianist, conductor and composer. Her works have been performed at a number of festivals, including She has won a number of awards, including first prizes in the Guido d’Arezzo Composers Competition, the composition competition of the European Cultural Foundation, the composition competition G. Savagnone in Rome, and the international composition competition Alpe Adria Giovani in Trieste. She was awarded the Friuli Prize and the Ennio Porrino Prize in 1985, and has also won the Franco Evangelisti Prize, and the Valentino Bucchi Prize. Life Sonia Bo was born in Lecco, Italy, on 27 March 1960, She composes for orchestra, chamber ensemble, choir, voice, piano and organ as well as electroacoustic music. She has won a number of awards and prizes, and her works are performed internationally in Asia, Europe and North America, including at festivals, such as Festival Focus in New York, the Musica Nova in Sofia, Traiettorie sonore in Como, Nuova consonanza and Nuovi Spazi Musicali in Rome, Antidogma in Turin and the Venice Biennale. Honors and awards *First prize, Guido d’Arezzo Composers Competition (1985) *First prize, composition competition of

Stanislao Gastaldon

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Martino Stanislao Luigi Gastaldon (8 April 18616 March 1939) was an Italian composer, primarily of salon songs for solo voice and piano. However, he also composed instrumental music, two choral works, and four operas. Today, he is remembered almost exclusively for his 1881 song “Musica proibita” (“Forbidden Music”), still one of the most popular pieces of music in Italy. Gastaldon also wrote the lyrics for some of his songs, including “Musica proibita”, under the pseudonym Flick-Flock. He was born in Turin and after a peripatetic childhood studied music there and in Florence. By 1900, he had settled permanently in Florence, where he died at the age of 77. In his later years, he also worked as a voice teacher, music critic, and art dealer. Life and career Gastaldon was born in Turin on 8 April 1861 to Luigi Gastaldon and Luigia Grazioli. His father was an engineer from Lerino, a village near Torri di Quartesolo in the Veneto region of Italy. His mother was a Roman noblewoman who had married a wealthy landowner, Count Bernardo Genardini, at the age of 16. She met Luigi Gastaldon in 1854 when she was 23 and shortly thereafter abandoned her husband and four children to live with him. T

Stefano Bernardi

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Stefano (or Steffano) Bernardi (18 March 1580 – 15 February 1637), also known as “il Moretto”, was an Italian priest, composer and music theorist. Born in Verona and maestro di cappella at the Verona Cathedral from 1611 to 1622, he later moved to Salzburg, where he was responsible for the music at the Salzburg Cathedral and composed a Te Deum for 12 choirs performed at the cathedral’s consecration in 1628. Bernardi’s career spanned the transition from late Renaissance music to early Baroque, with some of his works in the polyphonic style of Palestrina and others in the new stile concertato. He composed both sacred and secular music, including several masses and motets as well as sinfonias and three books of madrigals. He also wrote a treatise on counterpoint published in 1615. Biography Bernardi was born in Verona and educated at the Scuola Accolitale (Acolyte College) attached to the Verona Cathedral, where he also sang in the choir under Ippolito Baccusi. In 1622 Bernardi left Verona to take up a post as Director of Court Music to Archduke Carl Joseph, Bishop of Breslau and Brixen. Following the Archduke’s death in 1624, Bernardi settled in Salzburg, where he was to become the Di

Stefano Lentini

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Stefano Lentini (born 26 November 1974) is an Italian composer based in Rome. He has extensively composed and produced music for film, television, and theatre, working across a wide range of genres. His musical journey began with a classical guitar crafted by his grandfather, a carpenter, using wood from old wardrobe doors. Lentini started composing and recording music at an early age. A multi-instrumentalist, he is recognized for his distinctive guitar melodies but also plays piano, bass, drums, flute, lute, and various other instruments. Through multitrack recording, he often performs all instrumental parts on his albums. His compositions frequently incorporate rich string orchestrations, resulting in a symphonic and cinematic sound. Lentini’s television work has been screened in Italy and around the world and includes the TV series Belcanto, The Sea Beyond (seasons 1–5), The Red Door (seasons 1–3), Braccialetti Rossi (seasons 1–3) (International Emmy Kids Awards nominee), El Maestro, Bakhita, and Drawn for Jury Duty. He composed the soundtrack for the feature films Maresia (Premiered at the 2015 Festival des Films du Monde, Montreal), The Nest of the Turtledove (Best Ukrainian F

Stefano Mainetti

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Stefano Mainetti is an Italian composer and conductor. Biography Attended Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Rome where he earned a Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, in Composition and a 1st class honors Master of Music in Film Scoring degree. He studied Conducting with Cesare Croci and Ennio Nicotra and holds a BA, magna cum laude, in Anthropology and Political Science with a published dissertation on Richard Wagner. He was a student of Giorgio Caproni, one of the greatest 20th century Italian poet, his teacher at the primary school, who influenced his musical and artistic training. He taught Composition and Film Scoring at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome and is a lecturer in the Master’s Program in Music Management and Media at Roma Tre University, where he explores the relationship between music and generative artificial intelligence. Stefano is one of the founders of the ACMF, the Italian Association of Music Composers for Films Writes music for cinema, theatre and television. Works in Italy and the United States. One of the two composers who wrote the music for the CD Abbà Pater. Works in the United States includes writing and conducting the music for films such as The

Stefano Scodanibbio

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Stefano Scodanibbio (18 June 1956 – 8 January 2012) was an Italian musician who reached international prominence as a double bassist and composer. Biography Scodanibbio was born in Macerata. He studied double bass with Fernando Grillo and composition with Fausto Razzi and Salvatore Sciarrino. From an early age he was interested in the double bass as a solo instrument and in promoting new trends in contemporary European and American music. In 1983 he founded the Rassegna di Nuova Musica in Macerata. He has been described as “a tremendous bassist, a fearless improviser, and a gifted composer”. The many composers who have written for him include Brian Ferneyhough, Salvatore Sciarrino, Sylvano Bussotti, Iannis Xenakis, Fernando Mencherini, Gérard Grisey, Roberto Paci Dalò, Giacinto Scelsi, Julio Estrada. He worked for a long period with Luigi Nono. He worked closely with the musician Terry Riley, as well as with choreographers and dancers such as Virgilio Sieni, Patricia Kuypers, Hervé Diasnas, the poets Edoardo Sanguineti and Gian Ruggero Manzoni, the philosopher Giorgio Agamben, the artist Gianni Dessì and the director and playwright Rodrigo Garcia. He played regularly with Rohan de

Stelvio Cipriani

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Stelvio Cipriani (20 August 1937 – 1 October 2018), also known as Viostel, was an Italian composer, mostly of motion picture soundtracks, conductor and pianist. Biography Though not raised with a strong musical upbringing, as a child Cipriani was fascinated by his church’s organ. His priest gave Cipriani his first music lessons and encouraged the boy and his family. Cipriani attended the Santa Cecilia Conservatory starting at the age of 14. Around this time, he played in cruise ship bands, enabling him to meet Dave Brubeck. Upon returning to Italy, he began working as piano accompaniment for Rita Pavone. Cipriani’s first soundtrack was for the Spaghetti Western The Bounty Killer (1966). This was followed by his more widely known score for The Stranger Returns (a 1967 film, also known by the alternate titles A Man, a Horse, a Gun and Shoot First, Laugh Last, starring Tony Anthony). Cipriani would go on to compose other Spaghetti Western scores and also began composing poliziottesco soundtracks. Cipriani became prolific in the Italian film world, eventually garnering a Nastro d’Argento for Best Score award for The Anonymous Venetian (1970). Furthermore, one of Cipriani’s most famous

Sylvano Bussotti

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Sylvano Bussotti (1 October 1931 – 19 September 2021) was an Italian composer of contemporary classical music, also a painter, set and costume designer, opera director and manager, writer and academic teacher. His compositions employ graphic notation, which has often created special problems of interpretation. He was known as a composer for the stage. His first opera was La Passion selon Sade, premiered in Palermo in 1965. Later operas and ballets were premiered at the Teatro Comunale di Firenze, Teatro Lirico di Milano, Teatro Regio di Torino and Piccola Scala di Milano, among others. He was artistic director of La Fenice in Venice, the Puccini Festival and the music section of the Venice Biennale. He taught internationally, for a decade at the Fiesole School of Music. He is regarded as a leading composer of Italy’s avantgarde, and a Renaissance man with many talents who combined the arts expressively. Bussotti died at a nursing home in Milan after a long illness on 19 September 2021, twelve days before his 90th birthday. Festivities planned in Florence for the event are held in his memory, titled 90 Bussotti, from 20 to 25 September, including performances by , Florence Queer Fes

Temistocle Solera

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Temistocle Solera (; 25 December 1815 – 21 April 1878) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Life and career He was born in Ferrara. He received his education at the Imperial College in Vienna and at the University of Pavia. Throughout his life he actively participated in anti-Austrian resistance. At one point, he was incarcerated for his activities. He completed several literary works, including the novel Michelino, his style influenced by Alessandro Manzoni. He then found work as a librettist; his collaboration with the composer Giuseppe Verdi began in 1839 and lasted for a few years. Solera then found work as the impresario for the Royal Theatre in Madrid. He died in Milan in 1878. (Pelayo is a Spanish national hero, the leader of Christian resistance in the Cantabrian mountains against the Arab invasion in the early eighth century) Librettist *For Giuseppe Verdi ** Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio (1839) ** Nabucco (1842) ** I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1843) ** Giovanna d’Arco (1845) ** Attila (1846) *For other composers * Galeotto Manfredi (Carlo Hermann; 1842) * La conquista di Granata (Emilio Arrieta, 1850) * La fanciulla delle Asturie (Benedetto Secchi; 1856) * So

Teodulo Mabellini

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Teodulo Mabellini (2 April 1817 – 10 March 1897) was an Italian composer. Life Early education in Pistoia and Firenze Teodulo Mabellini was the son of Vincenzo, a strumentaio (maker of musical instruments) specialized in wind instruments. He took his very first music lessons from his father and from the flautist, Giovacchino Bimboni, (future music producer of brass instruments). The education he received from these first teachers was critical in forming the unique style of his orchestral compositions. He continued to have contact with Bimboni throughout his entire life, and together they developed a knowledge of composition for winds that was uncommon in this time period (see Style). In 1832, at the age of 15, Mabellini held a concert of his own compositions (of which only lEstro armonico remains; the autograph can be found in Pistoia, see Sources) in Pistoia and Grosseto. Immediately after graduating, he was hired as Master of Harpsichord at the Teatro dei Risvegliati in Pistoia and collaborated in productions such as La straniera di Vincenzo Bellini and Anna Bolena by Gaetano Donizetti. The operatic world inspired him to compose his first opera, Matilde e Toledo, which he wrote i

Teofilo Macchetti

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Teofilo Macchetti (Venice, March 3, 1632 – Pisa, 1714) was an Italian composer and music theorist. Life Macchetti studied music in Venice and joined the Benedictine Order, which assigned him to the monastery in Rovigo as solicitor in 1669. He stayed in Rovigo until 1674, but his interest for history and music caused him to travel for research to Venice (in 1672 and in 1673) and to Rome, where he stayed for four years (from 1675 to 1679). After that he made stops in Loreto and Spoleto, and then settled in Pisa, where he became Chapel Master of the Duomo in 1681. From the notes in his diary, precious information regarding the musical activity of a 1600-1700 chapel can be understood. Macchetti describes his duties, the music that was performed, and his academic activity in minute detail. In addition, he documented many distinctive traits of the music performed at that time. Curiosità musicali His interest for antique music is gathered in Curiosità musicali (translated as Musical Curiosity, or Music Trivia) which dates back to beginning in 1711 and is preserved today in the Biblioteca Universitaria of Pisa. in which he recognizes Curiosità musicali as its essential foundation. Works In

Teresa de Rogatis

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Teresa de Rogatis (15 October 1893 – 8 January 1979) was an Italian composer, guitarist, pianist and music teacher. She gave her first recital at the age of seven. She toured internationally, and then settled in Cairo where she was one of the founders of the National Conservatory of Egypt. De Rogatis returned to Naples in 1963 after her husband died. Her son is also a concert pianist, and created the Teresa de Rogatis Foundation in Los Angeles. Biography Teresa de Rogatis was born in Naples on 15 October 1893. She was seen as a child prodigy giving her first recital when she was just seven. She studied in the Conservatorio San Pietro at Majella where she graduated with honours, and gave concert tours. It was on one such tour in Egypt that de Rogatis met her husband the Swiss man Paolo Feninger. She settled in Cairo during the 1920s where she taught guitar and composition, and helped found the National Conservatory of Egypt in the late 1950s. de Rogatis composed over sixty works, of which almost half are works for piano. She also composed vocal music and pieces for guitar, and a four-movement sonatina. He created the Teresa de Rogatis Foundation in Los Angeles, which distributes and

Teresa Procaccini

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Teresa Procaccini (born 23 March 1934 in Cerignola) is an Italian composer and music educator. She taught composition at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Procaccini has won a number of prizes, including the Viotti competition, the Casella Prize and the International String Quartet Competition of San Francisco. Biography Teresa Procaccini was born in Cerignola in 1934. She studied organ with Fernando Germani and composition with Virgilio Mortari at the Foggia Conservatory. Between 1971 and 1972, she directed the Conservatory of Foggia, and until 2001 taught composition at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 1972 she became the artistic director of the Friends of Music Association of Foggia. Procaccini has won national and international prizes, including the Viotti competition, the Casella Prize and the International String Quartet Competition of San Francisco. She has given master classes at the Festival of Città di Castello, the Academy “Respighi” of Assisi, the “Internationalen Meisterkursen” of Duren (Germany) and the Summer Music Frentana Lanciano. Her works have been performed internationally in Australia, Europe, Canada and North and South America, and have been

Teresa Rampazzi

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Teresa Rampazzi née Teresa Rossi (31 October 191416 December 2001) was an Italian pianist and composer who was a pioneer of electronic and computer generated music. Biography Teresa Rampazzi was born in Vicenza, Italy, and studied piano as a child, then continued her studies at the Milan Conservatory and graduated with a diploma in piano in 1933. During these conservatory years, she met Severino Gazzelloni, René Leibowitz, Franco Donatoni who became close friends. She married and lived for a while in Vicenza until 1948, Venice until 1959, and Verona. In 1955 she moved with her husband to Padua where she became a member of the Trio Bartók and the Circolo Pozzetto music ensembles. Rampazzi developed an interest in avant-garde music and attended the Ferienkurse Darmstadt during the 1950s where she heard a frequency generator for the first time in her life, introduced by Herbert Eimert. In February 1959 John Cage arrived in Padova (during one of his first journeys in Italy) and Teresa Rampazzi gave a concert with him and with Heinz-Klaus Metzger and Sylvano Bussotti. They played Music for Piano, Winter Music, Variations I & II, Music Walk. Later she sold her piano and with Ennio Chiggi

Tito Schipa Jr.

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Tito Luigi Giovanni Michelangelo Schipa (born 18 April 1946), better known as Tito Schipa Jr., is a Portuguese-born Italian composer, singer-songwriter, producer, writer and actor. Career Born in Lisbon, Schipa is the son of the Italian tenor Tito Schipa. He studied singing and piano and made his professional debut in 1967 with a musical based on songs by Bob Dylan, Then an Alley. In 1970 he composed and directed Orfeo 9, which is considered the first Italian rock opera. It was adapted into a film directed by the same Schipa in 1973, while a double album based on the opera was released in 1972. In 1975 he founded the Teatro in Trastevere. In 1980 he released Er Dompasquale, the first triple album ever produced in Italy, which was a rock adaptation of Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Don Pasquale. In 1988 Schipa released Dylaniato, an album of Bob Dylan’s cover songs adapted in Italian and Romanesco dialect. Between 1989 and 1990 he published for the editor Arcana the translations of Jim Morrison’s poetries and of Bob Dylan’s complete works. Schipa’s varied career include credits as actor, radio and television writer and stage director. Discography ;Albums * 1972 – Orfeo 9 (Fonit Cetra, LP

Tomaso Albinoni

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Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera composer, he is known today for his instrumental music, especially his concertos. He is best remembered today for a work called “Adagio in G minor”, attributed to him but largely written by Remo Giazotto, a 20th-century musicologist and composer, who was a cataloguer of the works of Albinoni. Biography Albinoni was born in Venice, at the time part of the Republic of Venice, but now in Italy. His father was Antonio Albinoni, a wealthy paper merchant. Tomaso studied violin and singing; in 1694, he dedicated his Opus 1 to the fellow-Venetian, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (grand-nephew of Pope Alexander VIII). His first opera, Zenobia, regina de Palmireni, was produced in Venice in 1694. Albinoni was possibly employed in 1700 as a violinist to Charles IV, Duke of Mantua, to whom he dedicated his Opus 2 collection of instrumental pieces. In 1701 he wrote his hugely popular suites Opus 3, and dedicated that collection to Ferdinando de’ Medici, Grand Prin

Tomaso Antonio Vitali

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Tomaso Antonio Vitali (7 March 1663 – 9 May 1745) was an Italian composer and violinist of the mid to late Baroque era. The eldest son of Giovanni Battista Vitali, he is chiefly known for a Chaconne in G minor for violin and continuo, to which he is traditionally attributed as the composer. The earliest known source for Vitali’s Chaconne is a manuscript housed in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek Dresden with the shelfmark Mus. 2037/R/1. The work’s wide-ranging modulations into distant keys have raised speculation that it could not be a genuine Baroque work, while the lack of similarities to other works by Vitali have made modern scholars cast serious doubts on the attribution. Biography Vitali was born in Bologna on 7 March 1663; his father was the noted composer and violinist Giovanni Battista Vitali. He studied composition in Modena with Antonio Maria Pacchioni, and was employed at the Este court orchestra from 1675 to 1742. He was a teacher, whose pupils included Evaristo Felice dall’Abaco, Jean Baptiste Senaillé, Girolamo Nicolò Laurenti and Luca Antonio Predieri. Authentic works by Vitali include a set of trio sonatas published as his opus numbers 1 and 2 (1693), sonatas da cam

Tomaso Benvenuti

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Tomaso Benvenuti (also spelled Tommasso and Tommaso; 4 February 1838 – 26 February 1906) was a nineteenth-century Italian composer of opera. He was born in Cavarzere in the Veneto (at the time part of the Austrian Empire) and died in Rome at the age of 68. Works Benvenuti is known to have written the following seven operas: *Valenzia Candiano, an azione lirica, 1856. The librettist is unknown, as is the place, if there was one, of the first performance. A libretto published in Mantua in 1856, however, does include other details of what may have been the first production. From the character list it appears the opera was adapted from Valenzia Candiano, o, La figlia dell’ammiraglio, an historical novel published in 1843 by the Milanese writer Giuseppe Rovani. *Adriana, or Adriana Lecouvreur, a dramma lirico in 4 acts, 1857. The libretto by was adapted from the play Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugène Scribe and Ernest-Wilfrid Legouvé, which would later form the basis for Francesco Cilea’s opera Adriana Lecouvreur. The opera’s first performance was on 26 November 1857 at the Teatro della Canobbiana, Milan. *Guglielmo Shakspeare (i.e. William Shakespeare), a melodramma in 5 acts, 1861. The op

Tommaso Traetta

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Tommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta (30 March 1727 – 6 April 1779), was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including reducing the ornateness of style and the primacy of star singers. Biography Traetta was born in Bitonto, a town near Bari in the Apulia region of Italy. He was a student of a composer, singer, and teacher Nicola Porpora in Naples, and found early success with his opera Il Farnace in 1751. Around this time, he came into contact with Niccolò Jommelli. Traetta found regular commissions throughout Italy, before accepting a post as court composer at Parma in 1759. The ruler of Parma, Philip, Duke of Parma had married the eldest daughter of Louis XV. In Parma, there was a craving for all things French and the splendor of Versailles. It was in Parma that Traetta’s operas first moved in new directions. As a result, Antigona, his 1772 opera for Saint Petersburg, was amongst his most forward-looking, the closest he approached the famous reform ideals usually associated with Gluck. It was at the court of the Duke of Bourbon-Parma, that Traetta

Tony Cucchiara

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Salvatore Cucchiara (30 October 1937 – 2 May 2018), known under the stage name Tony Cucchiara, was an Italian folk singer-songwriter, playwright and composer. Life and career Born in Agrigento, Cucchiara debuted in the late 1950s, mainly recording cover versions of American hits, before starting his career as singer-songwriter in 1962. His first hit was the song " Annalisa", named after Cucchiara’s first daughter. This song was used as closing theme of the RAI variety show Alta pressione. In the following years he embraced folk music, first recording some classic pieces of the Sicilian tradition and then creating a musical duo with his wife Nelly Fioramonti, called Tony e Nelly, entirely devoted to the folk repertoire. In 1970 Cucchiara debuted as a playwright with a musical titled Cassandra 2000. In 1972 he reached a large national and international audience, and critical success, with a musical comedy titled Caino e Abele (“Cain and Abel”). In 1973 his wife died from childbirth giving birth to the couple’s second child, a boy. In later years Cucchiara focused his activity on stage, as author of other successful plays such as Pipino il Breve (1978) and La baronessa di Carini (1980

Totò Savio

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Gaetano “Totò” Savio (18 November 1937 – 25 July 2004) was an Italian composer, lyricist, producer, guitarist and occasional singer. Early life Born in Naples, Savio started playing the guitar at six years old, and at 13 he won a radio contest for guitarists. In 1955 he became a member of the musical group of Marino Marini, with whom he toured in Europe and Africa. He formed his own band in 1961, and the two of them toured throughout Italy and appeared on a number of radio and television shows. References Further reading * External links * * *

Ubaldo Pacchierotti

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Ubaldo Pacchierotti (1875/1876 – 21 April 1916) was an Italian composer who wrote several operas that were produced or published between 1899 and 1920. Pacchierotti’s second work, L’albatro: leggenda nordica, for at least one major reviewer established Pacchierotti as a young new composer of promise, although the work itself initially did not see many performances. L’albatro premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan in November 1905. In November 1907, extracts of the work were played as a prelude to a performance of Cavalleria Rusticana in Turin. The reviewer for La Stampa commented favorably on both the Milan premiere of the entire opera, and the extracts performed in Turin, stating that the pieces were: :“all notable for their elegance, beauty of form, and nobility of subject; we are reconfirmed in the hope of finding in Pacchierotti – who is young – the sort of refined, clever, and popular composer in the field of home-grown lyric opera of which young valiants we are in such need” (“tutte notevolie per eleganza, leggiadria di forme e nobilita’ de contenuto, ci siamo riconfermati nella speranza di ritrovare nel Pacchierotti – chi e’ giovane d’anni – il musicista colto e genial

Ulderico Marcelli

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Ulderico Marcelli, also known as Rico Marcelli (October 3, 1882 – August 17, 1962), was a 20th-century Italian composer who became known in the United States for writing operas and musical accompaniment for dramatic performances, and for his skill as an orchestra conductor. Called “Rico” by his friends, Marcelli was born in Rome, then was raised in Chile and educated at the conservatory in Santiago, the capital. Marcelli went to Ecuador in 1900 to teach at the conservatory in Quito, but was disliked by his students, many of whom transferred to study with conservatory Director Domenico Brescia. Marcelli married a woman named Clementina (1879–1956); the couple had two daughters, Aida and Gloria Emma, the second born in 1906. On January 26, 1910, Marcelli and his family, accompanied by his sister Julia Marcelli, arrived in San Francisco. By 1913, Marcelli was a member of the French horn section at the San Francisco Symphony as well as concert master for “Demetrio’s Venetian Orchestra of Soloists”, a well-regarded “cafe orchestra.” Grauman used Marcelli in his various Los Angeles, California, theaters until the advent of sound in the movies in the late 1920s removed a great number of m

Umberto Balsamo

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Rosario Umberto Balsamo (born 10 March 1942) is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer, best known for the songs “L’angelo azzurro” and “Balla”. Background Born in Catania, Balsamo was the youngest of five brothers. Balsamo obtained his first success in 1972 with the song “Se fossi diversa”, which ranked nineteen in the Italian hit parade. The following year he entered the competition at the Sanremo Music Festival with the song “Amore mio”. In 1977 he topped the hit parade with the song “L’angelo azzurro”, selling over a million of copies In 1979 he had one another major success with the song “Balla”, a mixture of tarantella and disco music. In the eighties Balsamo focused on composing, achieving a significant success with the song “Italia”, sung by Mino Reitano at the Sanremo Music Festival 1988. Discography Singles Studio albums *1974 Passato presente e futuro *1975 Natalì *1977 Malgrado tutto…l’angelo azzurro *1978 Crepuscolo d’amore *1979 Balla *1979 Auto Music *1980 Pianeti *1982 Mai più *1990 Respirando la notte luna *1992 Un pugno nella notte *2003 Vorrei aprire il cielo sabato sera a spina di rosa Compilation albums *1989 L’angelo azzurro e altri successi *1995 Umberto

Umberto Giordano

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Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. His best-known work in that genre was Andrea Chenier (1896). He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, Marina, was written for a competition promoted by the music publishers Casa Sonzogno for the best one-act opera, remembered today because it marked the beginning of Italian verismo. The winner was Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana. Giordano, the youngest contestant, was placed sixth among seventy-three entries with his Marina, a work which generated enough interest for Sonzogno to commission the staging of an opera based on it in the 1891–92 season. The result was Mala vita, a gritty verismo opera about a labourer who vows to reform a prostitute if he is cured of his tuberculosis. This work caused something of a scandal when performed at the Teatro Argentina, Rome, in February 1892. It played successfully in Vienna, Prague and Berlin and was re-written as Il Voto a few years later, in an attempt to raise interest in the work again. Giordano tried a more romantic topic with his next opera, Reg

Victor Baravalle

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Victor Baravalle (1885–1939) was an Italian-born composer, music director, and conductor, best known for his work on both the stage and film productions of the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II musical Show Boat. Baravalle worked as musical director and conductor for several Broadway musicals, including as conductor for the Greenwich Village Follies in 1921. He conducted the Broadway premiere production of Show Boat in 1927, as well as for the original stage productions of nine other Jerome Kern shows, among them The Cat and the Fiddle, Music in the Air, and Roberta. He continued a connection with Jules Bledsoe, the star of Show Boat, and conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for Bledsoe’s concert in 1929. Among the other stage musicals that he conducted was the first American production of The White Horse Inn. In 1929, he was Musical Director for RKO Pictures, at the time known as Radio Pictures, until Max Steiner took over in 1930. He conducted the early film musical Tanned Legs (1929). He became executive head of music for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, then Metro, in 1935. He also conducted the orchestra for the sound prologue for the early sound version of Show Boat (1929), a

Victor de Sabata

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Victor Alberto de Sabata (10 April 1892 – 11 December 1967) was an Italian conductor and composer. He is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished operatic conductors of the twentieth century, especially for his Verdi, Puccini and Wagner. De Sabata was acclaimed for his interpretations of orchestral music. Like his near contemporary Wilhelm Furtwängler, de Sabata regarded composition as more important than conducting but achieved more lasting recognition for his conducting than his compositions. De Sabata has been praised by various authors and critics as a rival to Toscanini for the title of greatest Italian conductor of the twentieth century, and even as “perhaps the greatest conductor in the world”. In 1918, aged 26, de Sabata was appointed conductor of the Monte Carlo Opera, performing a wide variety of late-19th century and contemporary works, and earning acclaim from Maurice Ravel. De Sabata became the music director at La Scala in Milan, a post he would hold for over 20 years. His animated conducting style led one observer to describe his appearance in performance as “a cross between Julius Caesar and Satan.” De Sabata began playing the piano at the age of four, and

Vincenza Garelli della Morea

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Vincenza Garelli della Morea née Valeggio (Countess de Cardenas; 1859 – after 1924) was an Italian pianist and composer. She also used the pseudonym Centa della Morea. She played in a salon with notable composers such as Arrigo Boito, Franco Faccio and Gaetano Coronaro. Her compositions include three pantomimes, operettas, orchestral works and a string quartet, as well as songs and piano pieces. An Ave Maria written by Della Morea at a young age was performed at the Carignano Theatre in Turin, and then again later in Catania and Rome in 1888. Biography Vincenza Garelli della Morea was born in Valeggio, in the province of Pavia, in 1859. She married the Count de Cardenas and lived in Milan. Della Morea wrote an Ave Maria for four voices and an orchestra when she was very young, which was performed at the Carignano Theatre in Turin, and then again later in Catania and Rome in 1888. In Rome she became acquainted with writers Gabriele D’Annunzio and Matilde Serao. Her songs were performed at other salons. Works Della Morea composed three pantomimes, an opera, Le nozze di Leporello, operettas, orchestral works, a string quartet and a number of songs and piano pieces. Selected compositio

Vincenzo Bellavere

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Vincenzo Bellavere (also Bell’haver, Bell’aver, Belaver) (c.1540-1541 – 29 August 1587) was an Italian composer of the Venetian School. While a fairly minor figure in the Venetian School, he was a competent composer of madrigals and wrote a few works in the grand Venetian polychoral style. Biography Nothing is known about him prior to his appearance in Padua in 1567 as an organist at Crosieri Cathedral. That same year he tried to gain the prestigious job as first organist of the cathedral there. In 1568 he acquired the position of primary organist at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, a Venetian establishment almost as prestigious as St. Mark’s; he held this post until 1584 at which time he returned to Padua to take the post at the cathedral that he at first failed to win. In December 1585 he was fired from his job in Padua, probably because of an unexcused absence, but he returned to Venice to become organist of yet another Venetian church, Santo Stefano. In 1586 he became first organist at St. Mark’s, the position just vacated by Andrea Gabrieli; thus he was first organist alongside Giovanni Gabrieli, who was second organist. Unfortunately Bellavere died after only holding this post

Vincenzo Fioravanti

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Vincenzo Gioacchino Fioravanti (5 April 1799 – 28 March 1877) was a prolific Italian opera composer active in Naples. He composed 39 operas, of which 34 were performed in his lifetime. Like his father, Valentino Fioravanti, he specialised in the opera buffa genre, but he also composed sacred music including two oratorios during his time as maestro di cappella of Lanciano Cathedral (1839–1843). Life and career Fioravanti was born in Rome to Angiola (née Aromatari) and Valentino Fioravanti. Despite his own success as a composer, Valentino wanted his son to study medicine. Valentino was living in Naples while Vincenzo was supposedly studying medicine in Rome. Unbeknownst to him, the young Vincenzo was secretly studying composition with his father’s old teacher Giuseppe Jannacconi. In 1816 Vincenzo arrived in Naples and confessed to his father that he had been studying music. Valentino relented and gave his son further lessons in composition. He made his debut as composer at the Teatro San Carlino in Naples in 1819 with the premiere of La Pulcinella molinaro, spaventato dalla fata Serafinetta, an opera buffa set to a libretto by Filippo Cammarano. The following year, he returned to Rom

Vincenzo Galilei

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Vincenzo Galilei (3 April 1520 – 2 July 1591) was an Italian lutenist, composer, and music theorist. His children included the astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei and the lute virtuoso and composer Michelagnolo Galilei. Vincenzo was a figure in the musical life of the late Renaissance and contributed significantly to the musical revolution that demarcates the beginning of the Baroque era. In his study of pitch and string tension, Galilei produced perhaps the first non-linear mathematical description of a natural phenomenon known to history. Some credit him with directing the activity of his son away from pure, abstract mathematics and towards experimentation using mathematical quantitative description of the results, a direction of importance for the history of physics and natural science. With fellows of the Florentine Camerata, he laid the foundations for opera. Biography He was born in 1520 in Santa Maria a Monte, near Pisa, Republic of Florence, and began studying the lute at an early age. His mother was from San Vincenzo near Livorno. Sometime before 1562 he moved to Pisa, where on 5 July he married Giulia Ammannati of a noble family. Galileo Galilei was the oldest of six

Vincenzo Legrenzo Ciampi

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Vincenzo Legrenzo Ciampi (2 April 1719 – 30 March 1762) was an Italian composer. He is best known today as the composer of a song that cannot be certainly ascribed to his pen, “Tre giorni son che Nina in letto senesta”, formerly long attributed to Pergolesi and better known simply as “Nina”. Education and early career in Italy Ciampi was born in Piacenza and studied at the Naples Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini with Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo. His first known success was the comic opera Da un disordine nasce un ordine, performed at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples in 1737, when he was only eighteen. Five more of his comic operas were produced in Naples up to 1745, and his opera seria Ataserse was performed there in 1747. That same year, he was engaged at the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice as an assistant to the maestro di coro G. B. Runcher, whom he had succeeded by 1748. London Ciampi was one of the first music directors of the Ospedale to be given extended leave, and by the autumn of 1748, he was in London. His replacement at the Ospedale was Gioacchino Cocchi. In London, Ciampi was the composer and director of music for a company of Italian singers under G

Vincenzo Ruffo

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Vincenzo Ruffo (c. 1508 – 9 February 1587) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the composers most responsive to the musical reforms suggested by the Council of Trent, especially in his composition of masses, and as such was an influential member of the Counter-Reformation. Vincenzo Ruffo was born at Verona, and became a priest there in 1531. Most likely he studied with Biagio Rossetti, the organist at the cathedral in Verona. Ruffo published his first book of music in 1542. Also in 1542 he became maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Savona, but he only held this position for a year; the cathedral was destroyed in 1543 by the Genoese, and Ruffo fled. In either 1543 or 1544 he went to Milan to work for Alfonso d’Avalos, who was the governor of Milan at this time. When d’Avalos was called back to Madrid in 1546, Ruffo went back to in Verona, where he was the music director at the Accademia Filarmonica in 1551-1552, superseding Jan Nasco; in 1554 he became the choirmaster at the cathedral of Verona. While there he probably taught Gian Matteo Asola and Marc’ Antonio Ingegneri, the teacher of Monteverdi; it is possible, though not proven, that he taught Andrea Ga

Vito Frazzi

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Vito Frazzi (1 August 1888 – 7 July 1975) was an Italian neo-romantic composer. He was born in San Secondo Parmense, and studied at the Parma Conservatory, where he learnt composition from Guido Alberto Fano. Further reading * Paolo Fragapane (1932–3). “Le scale alternate di Vito Frazzi”. Rassegna dorica IV: 65–71 * Luigi Dallapiccola (1937). “Musicisti del nostro tempo: Vito Frazzi”. RaM X: 220–27 * Bruno Cicognani (1952). Il Don Chisciotte di Vito Frazzi. XV Maggio musicale fiorentino. p. 8–10 * Annibale Gianuario (1974). “L’alternato di Vito Frazzi”. Rassegna di studi musicali, Abano Terme. I/3: 70–90 * Carlo Prosperi (1975). “La scomparsa di Vito Frazzi”. Rassegna di studi musicali II: 119–29 * (1977). “Vito Frazzi e il Re Lear”. Chigiana, new series XIV: 333–60 * s.n. (1991). Omaggio a Vito Frazzi: 1888–1988. Florence: Centro dell’Arte Vito Frazzi. * Giorgio Sanguinetti (1993). “Il primo studio teorico sulle scale octatoniche: le ‘scale alternate’ di Vito Frazzi”. Studi musicali XXII: 411–6

Vito Palumbo

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Vito Palumbo (born 1972) is an Italian composer. He has had pieces performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, the Athenäum-Quartett Berliner Philharmoniker and the RAI National Symphony Orchestra. Biography Having been writing music from an early age, Palumbo was awarded a place at the prestigious Accademia Chigiana in Siena to study composition. Following this, he undertook a postgraduate degree at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, studying with the acclaimed composer Azio Corghi and graduating with Honours. Palumbo also attained a special scholarship, which was awarded personally by Luciano Berio. In 2005, he was awarded the G. Petrassi prize (established by the President of the Italian Republic in the Quirinale, Rome) for his work in composition. A winner of several national and international composition contests, including the Prokofiev Competition, Palumbo has received commissions worldwide from institutions and ensembles such as: the Philharmonia Quartett Berlin, Academie de France, ‘Parco della Musica’, the Contemporary Music Festival Parade in Beijing, the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the ‘M. Botin’ Foundation, Santander, Found

Vittoria Aleotti

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Vittoria Aleotti (c. 1575 – after 1620), believed by some scholars to be the same as Raffaella Aleotta (c. 1570 – after 1646) was an Italian Augustinian nun, a composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. She is recognized as one of the earliest known female composers to have works published, contributing to the development of sacred and secular vocal music. Aleotti was a nun at the Convent of San Vito in Ferrara, where she composed and performed music. Her published works include madrigals and sacred motets, notably appearing in the 1593 collection Il giardino de’ musici di Donne. Some scholars believe she may also have been the composer known as Raffaella Aleotti, who published a collection of sacred motets in 1593. Her contributions to music were significant in an era when female composers were rare, and her works remain a subject of interest in studies of women in Renaissance music. Early life She was born in Ferrara to the prominent architect Giovanni Battista Aleotti, and was mentioned in his will, written in 1631. According to her father, Vittoria became interested in music after listening to her older sister being taught music. Within a year, Vit

Vittorio Cosma

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Vittorio Cosma (born 11 March 1965) is an Italian pianist, record producer, conductor, and arranger. Life and career Born in Varese, Cosma studied piano at the Milan Conservatory and later jazz piano under Patrizio Fariselli and Franco D’Andrea. He made his professional debut as keyboardist in the bands Volpini Volanti and Premiata Forneria Marconi, with whom he made four tours and recorded Miss Baker. His activities as composer, arranger, and producer began in the late 1980s for Eugenio Finardi’s album Il vento di Elora. He also curated several compilation albums of jazz and fusion music, and composed scores for films, TV series, and commercials. References External links * * *

Vittorio Gnecchi

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Vittorio Gnecchi (17 July 1876 – 5 February 1954) was an Italian composer. Life Vittorio Gnecchi Ruscone was the son of a wealthy industrialist. Thanks to his solid financial position, he was able to take private lessons, and had among his teachers Michele Saladino (who was also the teacher of Pietro Mascagni and Victor de Sabata), Tullio Serafin, Gaetano Coronaro and Carlo Gatti. As soon as he was nineteen years old, he achieved success with the pastoral action Virtù d’amore, which allowed him to publish his work with the prestigious publisher Ricordi. The next work was the opera Cassandra, whose libretto, taken from Oresteia by Aeschylus, was first set by Gnecchi himself, then entrusted to the librettist Luigi Illica. Cassandra was completed in 1903 and premiered on 5 December 1905 at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna under the direction of Arturo Toscanini with Solomiya Krushelnytska and Giuseppe Borgatti. Shortly after the first performance of Elektra by Richard Strauss (25 January 1909), an article appeared in Italy by musicologist Giovanni Tebaldini, entitled “Telepatia Musicale”. In this article, Cassandra and Elektra were compared, and the author concluded that Strauss must ha

Vittorio Gui

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Vittorio Gui (14 September 188516 October 1975) was an Italian conductor, composer, musicologist and critic. Gui was born in Rome in 1885. He graduated in humanities at the University of Rome and also studied composition at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; his principal composition teachers were the noted composers Giacomo Setaccioli and Stanislao Falchi. His style was “impressionistic with characteristic Italian traits”. Gui’s opera David premiered in Rome in 1907; later that year, he made his professional conducting debut at the Teatro Adriano in Rome, leading Ponchielli’s La Gioconda as a substitute. This led to invitations to conduct in Naples and Turin (he met Claude Debussy in Turin in 1911). In 1923, Arturo Toscanini invited him to conduct Salome by Richard Strauss as the season opener at La Scala in Milan. He conducted the Teatro Regio in Turin from 1925 to 1927; in his last year in Turin, he premiered his fairy-tale opera Fata Malerba there. (Other notable compositions included the cantata Cantico dei cantici (“Song of Songs”) from 1921, and the symphonic poem Giulietta e Romeo (with voices, from 1902).) In 1928, Gui founded and conducted the Orchestra Stabile; he

Vittorio Monti

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Vittorio Monti (Naples, Italy, 6 January 1868 Naples, 20 June 1922) was an Italian composer, violinist, mandolinist and conductor. His most famous work is his Csárdás, written around 1904. Life and career Monti was born in Naples, where he studied violin and composition at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella. Around 1900 he received an assignment as the conductor for the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris, where he wrote several ballets and operettas, for example, Noël de Pierrot. He also wrote a method for mandolin Petite Méthode pour Mandoline, 98049, in which he included some of his works, Perle Brillante, Dans Una Gondola, and Au Petit Jour. There were also works by F. Paolo Tosti. In Paris, Monti was a significant figure in the Mandolin community, he created the La Stella, a group based around mandolin and guitar works and compositions. This group (under the name of “V. Monti”) written several pieces and techniques for mandolin students, and started performances in 1908 to 1910. In 1910, Monti created a music journal called Le Mediator, the journal gave news and instructional guidance to help new mandolin and guitar players. However, this journal dissolved in 1913. He died in

Vittorio Negri

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Vittorio Negri (October 16, 1923 - April 9, 1998) was an Italian conductor, record producer, and musicologist. Negri was born in Milan. He initially studied at the Milan Conservatory, then at the Salzburg Mozarteum, where he became assistant conductor under Bernhard Paumgartner in 1952. He initially worked on critical editions for I Musici, but took a position with Philips in the late 1950s as a record producer. He became a prolific producer for Philips’s classical music department and recorded copiously for them as conductor of the Berlin Chamber Orchestra and the Dresden Staatskapelle. He devoted much of his recording energies to Vivaldi, while continuing to work on musicological projects; he surfaced a lost work of Cimarosa’s, the Requiem in G Minor, and subsequently performed and recorded it. In the 1980s he led a chamber orchestra in Perugia, having primarily given up producing. He was the founder of the Italian Society of Musicology. His significant studies and publishing of critical editions, especially in the Baroque repertoire, led to him gaining a large reputation. His edition of Corelli’s Concerti grossi, Op. 6 was revised and recorded by I Musici and received critical a

Vittorio Rieti

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Vittorio Rieti (28 January 1898 – 19 February 1994) was an Italian and American composer. Biography Rieti was born to a family of Jewish descent in Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt. He later moved to Milan to study economics. Subsequently, he studied music in Rome with Ottorino Respighi and Alfredo Casella, and lived there until 1940. In 1925, he temporarily moved to Paris and composed music for George Balanchine’s ballet for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, Barabau. He met his wife in Alexandria. He was a cousin of actor Vittorio Rietti. He emigrated to the United States in 1940, becoming a naturalized American citizen on 1 June 1944. He taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore (1948–49), Chicago Musical College (1950–54), Queens College, New York (1958–60), and New York College of Music (1960–64). He died in New York on 19 February 1994. * Suite champêtre for 2 pianos (1948) * Medieval Variations (1962) * Chorale, variazioni e finale for 2 pianos (1969) ;Film music * Your Money or Your Life, directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (1933) * Ritorno alla terra, directed by Mario Franchini (1934) * Amore, directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (1935) * The Happy Road (La rou

Yakamoto Kotzuga

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Giacomo Mazzucato (born 10 January 1994), known by his stage name Yakamoto Kotzuga, is an Italian musician, composer and record producer. Biography The eclectic young artist studied at the Conservatorium of Venice. He began his career in 2013 with: * The EP, “Rooms of Emptiness” published by Bad Panda Records * The EP, “Lost Keys & Stolen Kisses” for the French of Highlife Recordings He worked on a few musical productions for the rappers Ghemon and Mecna, with various remixes and collaborations, such as “Your Smell” chosen as the soundtrack for Vogue’s news report at Paris Fashion Week. In 2014 he published the single All These Things I Used To Have. In 2014 he also won an artistic residence in Fabrica, at the communication research centre for the Benetton Group, where he worked as a composer and sound designer, creating soundtracks for documentaries, installations and commercial spots for the brand. In 2015: * He signed a contract for exclusive publishing with Sugar, one of the most important independent publishers in Europe, which gives the young musician and producer access to his own Italian and international network. * He published his debut album “Usually Nowhere” for La Temp

Zanetta Farussi

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Zanetta Farussi (27 August 1707 – 29 November 1776), known as La Buranella (“the woman of Burano”), was an Italian comedic actress. Her eldest son was the famous adventurer Giacomo Casanova. Biography Born Maria Giovanna Farussi, her father, Girolamo, was a shoemaker. In 1724, at the age of seventeen, she married the actor, Gaetano Casanova, ten years her senior, who had just returned to Venice after several years with a touring theatrical troupe to take a position at the Teatro San Samuele. The marriage was strongly opposed by her parents, because they considered acting to be a disreputable activity. Her father Girolamo died shortly after, from grief according to his grandson Giacomo, and her mother, Marcia, was reconciled only when Gaetano promised that he would not allow Zanetta to become an actress. This promise was soon broken when she began an apprenticeship at Gaetano’s theater. While she was there, Giacomo was born and (according to Giacomo’s memoirs) Gaetano suspected that Michele Grimani (1697–1775), the theater’s proprietor, was actually the father. The following year, they accepted a theatrical engagement in London. It was there they had their second son, Francesco, who