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 The grave of Umberto Giordano at the Cimitero Monumentale, Milano. Picture by Androom (21 Feb 2019) |
Giordano, Umberto |
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BORN 28 Aug 1867, Foggia, Puglia - DIED 12 Nov 1948, Milano, Lombardia GRAVE LOCATION Milano, Lombardia: Cimitero Monumentale, Piazzale Cimitero Monumentale (Circondante di Ponente, tomba 723-724) |
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Umberto Giordano was the son of an artisan. He studied with Paolo Serrao at the Conservatory of Naples. For a competition by the music publishing firm Casa Sonzogno he wrote his first opera "Marina". He took sixth place (Pietro Mascagni won) but his work was noticed and Casa Sonzogno commissioned another opera with him. This became "Mala Vita", a verismo ('realist') opera about a labourer who wanted to reform a prostitute. When it was performed at the Teatro Argentina in Rome in February 1892 it caused a scandal, but afterwards it was performed successfully in Vienna, Prague and Berlin. His next opera "Regina Diaz" (1894) failed. He returned to Milan and another verismo opera "Andrea Chénier" (1896) became his best known work. In "Fedora" (1898) the young singer Enrico Caruso sang the part of Loris Ipanov, the lover of Fedora, performed by Gemma Bellincioni. His later works met with less success, although in 1915 his "Madame Sans-Gêne" had its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Toscanini conducting and Geraldine Farrer singing. Giordano died in 1948 in Milan. Events |
| 28/3/1896 | First performance of Giordano's opera "Andrea Chénier" at La Scala in Milan |
| 17/11/1898 | First performance of Giordano's opera "Fedora" at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. Giordano was the conductor, Gemma Bellincioni was Fedora and Enrico Caruso performed the role of her lover, Loris Ipanov. [Caruso, Enrico] |
| 5/12/1906 | American premiere of Giordano's "Fedora" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Enrico Caruso was Count Loris and Lina Cavalieri was Fedora. Arturo Vigna was the conductor. [Caruso, Enrico][Cavalieri, Lina] |
| 25/1/1915 | Premiere of Giordano's "Madame Sans-Gêne" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Arturo Toscanini was the conductor. Geraldine Farrar was Caterina Hubscher. Giovanni Martelli was sergaent Lefebvre. Andrés de Segurola was Fouché. Paul Althouse was Count Neipperg. Pasquale Amato was Napoléon. Andrés De Segurola was Fouché. Leonora Sparkes, Rita Fornia and Sophie Braslau were the laundresses. Minnie Egener was Princess Elisa. [Farrar, Geraldine][Fornia, Rita][Toscanini, Arturo] |
| Images |
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The grave of Umberto Giordano at the Cimitero Monumentale, Milano. Picture by Androom (21 Feb 2019) |
Sources • Fedora (opera) - Wikipedia • Madame Sans-Gêne (opera) - Wikipedia • Umberto Giordano - Wikipedia |
