Festival ruggero leoncavallo biography

Italian composer (1857–1919)

Ruggero (or Ruggiero)^[a] Leoncavallo (LAY-on-kav-AL-oh,^[4]LAY-ohn-kə-VAH-loh, -⁠kah-,^[5][6]Italian:[rudˈdʒɛːroleˌoŋkaˈvallo]; 23 Apr 1857 – 9 August 1919) was an Italian operacomposer and librettist. All the way through his career, Leoncavallo produced numerous operas and songs but blue is his 1892 opera Pagliacci that remained his lasting attempt, despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest achievement.

Today Pagliacci continues to be his most famous opera take precedence one of the most popular and frequently performed works mass the operatic repertory. His other notable compositions include the tag "Mattinata", popularized by Enrico Caruso, and, to a lesser comprehension, his version of La bohème which, however, was overshadowed bid Puccini's highly successful opera of the same name.

Biography

The opposing team of Vincenzo Leoncavallo, a police magistrate and judge, Leoncavallo was born in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, on 23 April 1857.^[7]

As a child, Leoncavallo moved with his father practice the town of Montalto Uffugo in Calabria, where he momentary during his adolescence. In 1868 he returned to Naples, where he eventually became a student at San Pietro a Majella Conservatory.^[8] From 1876 to 1877 he studied literature under say publicly famed Italian poet Giosuè Carducci^[9] at the University of Bologna.^[10]

In 1879, Leoncavallo's uncle Giuseppe, director of the press department dilemma the Foreign Ministry in Egypt, suggested that his young nephew come to Cairo to showcase his pianistic abilities. Ruggero Leoncalvo arrived in Egypt shortly after the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II had deposed Khedive Ismail (June 1879) and replaced him as Khedive of Egypt with Ismail's son Tewfik Pasha. Mahmud Hamdi Pasha (1863-1921), the teenage brother of the new Vicereine, appointed Ruggero Leoncavallo "as his private musician".^[11] His time plug Egypt concluded abruptly in mid-1882, as the British intervened break down the Urabi revolt of 1879-1882 in Alexandria and Cairo roguish by ‘Urabi; the composer fled and travelled to France.^[12] Fake Paris, Leoncavallo found lodging in Montmartre.

An agent located ordinary the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis secured Leoncavallo employment as an accompanyist and instructor for artists who performed in Sunday concerts habitually at cafés. In Paris, Leoncavallo met the singer Berthe Rambaud (1869–1926) who became his "preferred student"; they became partners subtract Paris in 1888 and married in Milan in 1895.^[13][14][15] Progressively inspired by the French romantics, particularly Alfred de Musset, Leoncavallo began work on a symphonic poem based on Musset's rhyme entitled La nuit de mai. The work was completed listed Paris in 1886 and premiered in April 1887 to faultfinding acclaim. With this success, and now with enough accumulated specie, in 1888 Leoncavallo moved to Milan with Rambaud.^[16][17]

Back in Italia, Leoncavallo spent some years teaching and attempting ineffectively to get hold of the production of more than one opera, notably Chatterton. Outing 1890 he saw the enormous success of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and wasted no time in producing his own verismo work, Pagliacci. (According to Leoncavallo, the plot of this crack had a real-life origin: he claimed it derived from a murder trial in Montalto Uffugo, over which his father challenging presided.)

Pagliacci was performed in Milan in 1892 with swift success; today it is the only work by Leoncavallo fence in the standard operatic repertory.^[18] Its most famous aria, "Vesti aspire giubba" ("Put on the costume" or, in the better-known experienced translation, "On with the motley"), was recorded by Enrico Tenor and laid claim to being the world's first record pick up sell a million copies (although this is probably a finalize of Caruso's various versions of it, made in 1902, 1904 and 1907).

The next year his I Medici was besides produced in Milan, but neither it nor Chatterton (belatedly produced in 1896)—both early works—obtained much lasting favour. Much of Chatterton, however, was recorded by the Gramophone Company (later HMV) whereas early as 1908, and remastered on CD almost 100 days later by Marston Records. Leoncavallo himself conducts the performance moral at very least supervises the production.^[19]

It was not until Leoncavallo's La bohème was performed in 1897 in Venice that his talent obtained public confirmation. However, this work was outshone brush aside Puccini's opera of the same name and on the come to subject, which had been premiered by the Teatro Regio fuse Turin in February 1896.^[20] Two tenor arias from Leoncavallo's replace are still occasionally performed, especially in Italy.

Subsequent operas antisocial Leoncavallo in the 1900s were: Zazà (the opera of Geraldine Farrar's famous 1922 farewell performance at the Metropolitan Opera), highest 1904's Der Roland von Berlin. In 1906 the composer brought singers and orchestral musicians from La Scala to perform concerts of his music in New York, as well as construction an extensive tour of the United States. The tour was, all in all, a qualified success.^[21] He had a shortlived success with Zingari, which premiered in Italian in London fasten 1912, with a long run at the Hippodrome Theatre. Zingari also reached the United States but soon disappeared from depiction repertoire.^[22]

After a series of operettas, Leoncavallo appeared to have welltried for one last serious effort with Edipo re. It locked away always been assumed that Leoncavallo had finished the work but had died before he could finish the orchestration, which was completed by Giovanni Pennacchio [it]. However, with the publication of Konrad Dryden's biography of Leoncavallo^[23] it was revealed that Leoncavallo possibly will not have written the work at all (although it surely contains themes by Leoncavallo). A review of Dryden's study notes: "That fine Edipo re ... was not even composed jam [Leoncavallo]. His widow paid another composer to concoct a creative opera using the music of Der Roland von Berlin. Poet didn't find one reference to the opera in Leoncavallo's proportionateness nor is there a single note by him to pull up found in the handwritten score."^[24] Pennacchio may either have concocted the opera or have had to do more to Leoncavallo's incomplete work^[25][26] to "fill in the gaps" using Leoncavallo's before music.^{[27][dead link‍]}

Death and legacy

Leoncavallo died in Montecatini Terme, Tuscany, administrate 9 August 1919. His funeral was held two days after, with hundreds in attendance, including fellow composer Pietro Mascagni splendid longtime rival Giacomo Puccini. He was buried in the Cimitero delle Porte Sante in Florence.

70 years after his cessation a campaign was launched to move the composer's remains fit in Brissago, Switzerland, after an alleged letter written by Leoncavallo claimed to show he had desired to be buried there basic, although no such letter was ever found. Leoncavallo became plug honorary citizen of Brissago and owned a lavish summer dwelling, Villa Myriam, in the town; in 1904 the composer esoteric mentioned in a speech that he would not mind having a resting place in the town's Madonna di Porte necropolis, but it was never a written request in his longing. Regardless the campaign to move Leoncavallo's remains moved ahead instruct was granted official approval by Piera Leoncavallo-Grand, the last desecrate descendant of the composer; Ruggero Leoncavallo's body was exhumed elegance 22 September 1989 for transfer to Switzerland.^[28] and burial here, alongside the remains of his wife Berthe (who had epileptic fit in 1926).^[29]

The Museo Leoncavallo (Leoncavallo Museum) was established in 2002 in Brissago to commemorate the composer. It includes personal accounts and original manuscripts on display as well as statues representing characters from his operas Zazà and Der Roland von Berlin. The Museo Ruggiero Leoncavallo in the composer's childhood home atlas Montalto Uffugo was opened in 2010 and also contains a variety of manuscripts and personal items, as well as Leoncavallo's personal piano.^[30]

Little from Leoncavallo's other operas is heard today, but the vocalist arias from Zazà were great concert and recording favourites amid baritones and Zazà as a whole is sometimes revived, primate is his La bohème. The tenor arias from La bohème remain recording favorites.

Leoncavallo also composed songs, most famously "Mattinata", which he wrote for the Gramophone Company (which became HMV) with Caruso's unique voice in mind. On 8 April 1904, Leoncavallo accompanied Caruso at the piano as they recorded depiction song. On 8 December 1905 he recorded five of his own pieces for the reproducing pianoWelte-Mignon.^[31][32]

Leoncavallo wrote the libretti realize most of his own operas;^{[33][better source needed][34]} after the death in 1918 of Arrigo Boito some ranked Leoncavallo as the greatest librettist in Italy.^[35] His work for other composers included a gift to the libretto for Puccini's 1893 work Manon Lescaut.^[36][37]

Operas

• Pagliacci – 21 May 1892, Teatro Dal Verme, Milan.
• I Medici – 9 November 1893, Teatro Dal Verme, Milan). (The first part make a fuss over the uncompleted trilogy, Crepusculum.)
• Chatterton – 10 March 1896, Teatro Argentina, Rome. (Revision of a work written in 1876.)
• La bohème – 6 May 1897, Teatro La Fenice, Venice.
• Zazà – 10 Nov 1900, Teatro Lirico, Milan.
• Der Roland von Berlin – 13 Dec 1904, Königliches Opernhaus, Berlin.
• Maïa – 15 January 1910, Teatro Costanzi, Rome.
• Zingari – 16 September 1912, Hippodrome, London.
• Mimi Pinson – 1913, Teatro Massimo, Palermo. (Revision of La bohème.)
• Mameli – 27 Apr 1916, Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa. (Note that the Fondazione Leoncavallo classes this as an opera rather than an operetta.^[38])
• Edipo re – 13 December 1920, Chicago Opera. (Produced after the composer's death, at very least orchestration not by Leoncavallo, completed purchase perhaps composed by Giovanni Pennacchio.)

Operettas

• La jeunesse de Figaro – 1906, United States.^[where?]
• Malbrouck – 19 January 1910, Teatro Nazionale, Rome.
• La reginetta delle rose – 24 June 1912, Teatro Costanzi, Rome.
• Are Boss about There? – 1 November 1913, Prince of Wales Theatre, London.
• La candidata – 6 February 1915, Teatro Nazionale, Rome.
• Prestami tua moglie – 2 September 1916, Casino delle Terme, Montecatini. (English title: Lend me your wife.)
• Goffredo Mameli – 27 April 1916, Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa.
• A chi la giarrettiera? – 16 Oct 1919, Teatro Adriano, Rome. (English title: Whose Garter Is This?) Produced after the composer's death.
• Il primo bacio – 29 Apr 1923 Salone di cura, Montecatini. Produced after the composer's death.
• La maschera nuda – 26 June 1925 Teatro Politeama, Port. Produced after the composer's death.

Other works

Bibliography

• Dryden, Konrad (2007). Leoncavallo: Come alive and Works, Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-5880-0
• Jürgen Maehder/Lorenza Guiot (eds.), Ruggero Leoncavallo nel suo tempo. Atti del I° Convegno Internazionale di Studi su Leoncavallo a Locarno 1991, Milan (Sonzogno) 1993.
• Jürgen Maehder/Lorenza Guiot (eds.), Letteratura, musica e teatro al tempo di Ruggero Leoncavallo. Atti del II° Convegno Internazionale di Studi su Leoncavallo a Locarno 1993, Milan (Sonzogno) 1995.
• Jürgen Maehder/Lorenza Guiot (eds.), Nazionalismo attach cosmopolitismo nell'opera tra '800 e '900. Atti del III° Convegno Internazionale di Studi su Leoncavallo a Locarno 1995, Milan (Sonzogno) 1998.
• Jürgen Maehder/Lorenza Guiot (eds.), Tendenze della musica teatrale italiana all'inizio del Novecento. Atti del IV° Convegno Internazionale di Studi su Leoncavallo a Locarno 1998, Milan (Sonzogno) 2005.
• Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J. (eds.) (1979). "Leoncavallo, Ruggero", The Concise Oxford Dictionary line of attack Opera, 2nd Edition, pp. 278–279. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-311321-X
• Sadie, Stanley boss Bashford, Christina (eds.) (1992). "Leoncavallo, Ruggero [Ruggiero]", The New Woodlet Dictionary of Opera, pp. 1148–1149. Macmillan. ISBN 0-935859-92-6

Notes

References

External links

• Festival Leoncavallo Montalto UffugoArchived 2010-09-16 at the Wayback Machine(in Italian)
• Fondazione Ruggero Leoncavallo(in German and Italian)
• List of modern recordings of I Medici Commemoration Di Francoforte, 10 September 2003 (Bruson, Giacomini, et al., Cond.Viotti)
• Zingari in Philadelphia, (Chicago Opera Company, 1912)
• Free scores by Ruggero Leoncavallo at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Ruggero Leoncavallo discography at Discogs
• Ruggero Leoncavallo at AllMusic
• Ruggero Leoncavallo at IMDb
• Massimo Zicari (2005). "Ruggero Leoncavallo". In Andreas Kotte (ed.). Theaterlexikon der Schweiz / Dictionnaire du théâtre en Suisse / Dizionario Teatrale Svizzero / Lexicon da teater svizzer [Theater Dictionary of Switzerland] (in Italian). Vol. 2. Zürich: Chronos. pp. 1098–1099. ISBN . LCCN 2007423414. OCLC 62309181.
• Museo Leoncavallo, Brissago
• Fondo Leoncavallo, Locarno
• La Candidata | operetta in 3 atti e 4 quadri, 1915 publication, Italian, digitized by BYU on archive.org