Angelo Mariani (conductor)
Encyclopedia
Angelo Mariani was an Italian opera conductor and composer. His work as a conductor drew praise from Giuseppe Verdi
, Giacomo Meyerbeer
, Gioachino Rossini and Richard Wagner
, and he was a longtime personal friend of Verdi's, although they became estranged towards the end of Mariani's life. He conducted at least two world premieres (Verdi's Aroldo
and Faccio
's Amleto
); and at least 4 Italian premieres (Meyerbeers's L'Africana
, Verdi's Don Carlo
, and Lohengrin
and Tannhäuser
by Wagner).
in 1821. He studied the violin
at the Accademia Filarmonica of Ravenna. At age 15 he played in concerts in the Romagna
. He then studied harmony and composition with a nobleman-priest, Girolamo Roberti, and then with a monk named Levrini, a pupil of Stanislao Mattei
, at a monastery in Ravenna.
In 1843 he played the viola
in an opera orchestra at Macerata
and wrote two overtures, which were performed. He went to Faenza
in 1844 as teacher and conductor at the Academy there. One of his overtures came to the attention of Gioachino Rossini, who had it performed. He then worked in Trento
(where he made his debut as an operatic conductor), Bologna
(where he studied counterpoint with Marchesi) and Messina. At Messina, the orchestra refused to play under him. He wrote pieces for the Messina Royal Orphanage's brass band and for the Academy there. After further work in Naples
, Bologna and Messina (where again the orchestra was hostile to him, but he possibly played in the orchestra rather than conduct), in 1846 he had a fresh start as a conductor in Milan
. He appeared first at the Teatro Re and then at the Teatro Carcano. He also conducted later at Stradella
and Vicenza
.
He claimed to have abolished the system whereby an opera orchestra was jointly conducted by a maestro concertatore at the cembalo
and a violin-conductor. This may be what led to his trouble in Messina.
He had his first great success with Giuseppe Verdi
's I due Foscari
(1846) and Nabucco
(1847), both in Milan.
In September 1847 he conducted Giovanni Pacini
's music for a performance of Sophocles
' Oedipus rex
, with a colossal chorus and orchestra. This led to his being appointed conductor of the Court Theatre at Copenhagen
in November. While there, King Christian VIII of Denmark
died, and Mariani's Requiem Mass written for the late king was performed twice.
Mariani returned to Italy after the revolution of March 1848 and enrolled in the volunteers. From there, he went to Constantinople
, where he conducted the Italian Theatre for two years, in succession to Giuseppe Donizetti
. He also composed two dramatic cantatas there, and, for the visit of Sultan Abdülmecid I
to the newly rebuilt Naum Theatre, a new National Hymn, the Turkish words of which the Italian singers had learned phonetically. The National Hymn has been recorded.
In December 1851 he returned to Messina for four months, before going to Naples, and then as conductor for the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa
. He intended to stay for only two months, but his contract was made permanent, and he spent the majority of the rest of his life there, and also died there. His reputation was now strong, and he was offered positions in places such as Paris
, Madrid
, and Naples
, but seemed unable to make up his mind about any of them, so all these offers lapsed. He made the acquaintance of Verdi in around 1853, and they became firm friends.
On 16 August 1857, he conducted the premiere performance of Verdi's Aroldo
, a reworking of his earlier opera Stiffelio
, at the Teatro Nuovo in Rimini
.
On 30 May 1865 he conducted the premiere of Franco Faccio
's opera Amleto
at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.
In 1865, he conducted the Italian premiere of Giacomo Meyerbeer
's L'Africana
at the Teatro Communale in Bologna.
On 27 October 1867 he conducted the Italian premiere of Verdi's Don Carlo
at the same theatre.
In late 1868, Verdi asked Mariani to be the conductor for a Requiem
Mass he was planning in honour of Gioachino Rossini, who had died on 13 November. This would be a collaboration between 13 composers, including Verdi himself. Mariani agreed to be involved in the organising committee, although he was less than enthusiastic (he was simultaneously engaged in the commemorative celebrations for Rossini in Pesaro
). The 13 composers all wrote their sections of the work (Verdi's was the Libera me, Domine), but the planned performance on the first anniversary of Rossini's death did not eventuate because disagreements arose with Mariani regarding the performance in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna. On 4 November, to Verdi's great sorrow, the organising committee formally abandoned the project. Verdi blamed this in considerable part on Mariani's lack of energy and commitment, and it marked the real beginning of a permanent break in their friendship (although there are indications trouble was already brewing in 1867). In the following years, Mariani tried to heal the rift, writing letters to Verdi expressing his love and admiration for him, but Verdi refused to be swayed, and continued to castigate Mariani for what he considered to be his failure over the Rossini Requiem. A possible complicating factor was Mariani's romantic relationship with the soprano Teresa Stolz
, a favourite of Verdi's (she was his choice for the title role in the Milan premiere of Aida
in February 1872, which as far as Verdi was concerned was the real premiere). Mariani and Stolz were engaged to be married, however, around 1871 she left him, in very unclear circumstances. There were suggestions and even public accusations that she was also carrying on an affair with Verdi, but this has never been proven.
Despite Verdi's break with Mariani personally, he still had respect for him as a conductor, and he invited him to conduct the world premiere of Aida in Cairo
in December 1871. Mariani declined, saying he was not well enough to travel. This was indeed true, as he was already suffering symptoms of the cancer that would kill him less than two years later. However, it served only to further widen the rift between the two men.
On 1 November 1871, Mariani conducted the Italian premiere of Richard Wagner
's Lohengrin
at the Teatro Communale, Bologna, to great acclaim. This was the first performance of any Wagner opera in Italy. On 9 November, Verdi attended a Mariani performance of Lohengrin and annotated a copy of the vocal score with his impressions and opinions of Wagner (this was almost certainly his first exposure to Wagner's music). In 1872, Mariani conducted the Italian premiere of Wagner's Tannhäuser
, also at Bologna, but it was much less successful than Lohengrin had been.
He died of cancer in 1873, in the attic of the Palazzo Sauli, a house he had long rented from Verdi in Genoa.
Angelo Mariani also composed a number of songs, some of which have been recorded.
The Teatro Angelo Mariani in Sant'Agata Feltria
(first built in 1605) was rededicated and renamed in honour of Mariani.
There is an Associazione Musicale Angelo Mariani in Ravenna.
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
, Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, Gioachino Rossini and Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, and he was a longtime personal friend of Verdi's, although they became estranged towards the end of Mariani's life. He conducted at least two world premieres (Verdi's Aroldo
Aroldo
Aroldo is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on and adapted from their earlier 1850 collaboration, Stiffelio...
and Faccio
Franco Faccio
Franco Faccio was an Italian composer and conductor.-Biography:Born in Verona, Faccio became known as a conductor of Verdi's music. He studied music at the Milan Conservatory where he was a pupil of Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti...
's Amleto
Amleto
Amleto is an opera in four acts by Franco Faccio, with libretto by Arrigo Boito. It premiered on May 30, 1865 at the Teatro Carlo Felice of Genova. It was revised for a La Scala production given on February 12, 1871.- Composition and premiere :...
); and at least 4 Italian premieres (Meyerbeers's L'Africana
L'Africaine
L'africaine is a grand opera, the last work of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French libretto was written by Eugène Scribe. The opera is about fictitious events in the life of the real historical person Vasco da Gama...
, Verdi's Don Carlo
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, and Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
and Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
by Wagner).
Biography
Angelo Maurizio Gaspare Mariani was born in RavennaRavenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
in 1821. He studied the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
at the Accademia Filarmonica of Ravenna. At age 15 he played in concerts in the Romagna
Romagna
Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...
. He then studied harmony and composition with a nobleman-priest, Girolamo Roberti, and then with a monk named Levrini, a pupil of Stanislao Mattei
Stanislao Mattei
Stanislao Mattei was an Italian composer, musicologist, and teacher. A pupil of Giovanni Battista Martini, Mattei's music bares a close resemblance to his style of composition...
, at a monastery in Ravenna.
In 1843 he played the viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
in an opera orchestra at Macerata
Macerata
Macerata is a city and comune in central Italy, the capital of the province of Macerata in the Marche region.The historical city center is located on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza rivers. It consisted of the Picenes city named Ricina, then, after the romanization, Recina and Helvia Recina...
and wrote two overtures, which were performed. He went to Faenza
Faenza
Faenza is an Italian city and comune, in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated 50 km southeast of Bologna.Faenza is noted for its manufacture of majolica ware glazed earthenware pottery, known from the name of the town as "faience"....
in 1844 as teacher and conductor at the Academy there. One of his overtures came to the attention of Gioachino Rossini, who had it performed. He then worked in Trento
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...
(where he made his debut as an operatic conductor), Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
(where he studied counterpoint with Marchesi) and Messina. At Messina, the orchestra refused to play under him. He wrote pieces for the Messina Royal Orphanage's brass band and for the Academy there. After further work in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Bologna and Messina (where again the orchestra was hostile to him, but he possibly played in the orchestra rather than conduct), in 1846 he had a fresh start as a conductor in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. He appeared first at the Teatro Re and then at the Teatro Carcano. He also conducted later at Stradella
Stradella
-Places in Italy:Municipalities *Stradella, in the Province of Pavia, LombardyCivil parishes *Stradella , in the commune of Bigarello, Province of Mantua, Lombardy...
and Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
.
He claimed to have abolished the system whereby an opera orchestra was jointly conducted by a maestro concertatore at the cembalo
Cembalo
Cembalo may refer to:* Harpsichord, in German and other languages, commonly appearing in musical instructions* Balaklava, Crimea, Ukraine, named Cembalo by the Genoese traders in 13-15th centuries...
and a violin-conductor. This may be what led to his trouble in Messina.
He had his first great success with Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's I due Foscari
I due Foscari
I due Foscari is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a historical play, The Two Foscari by Lord Byron....
(1846) and Nabucco
Nabucco
Nabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
(1847), both in Milan.
In September 1847 he conducted Giovanni Pacini
Giovanni Pacini
Giovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, 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...
's music for a performance of Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Oedipus rex
Oedipus the King
Oedipus the King , also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...
, with a colossal chorus and orchestra. This led to his being appointed conductor of the Court Theatre at Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in November. While there, King Christian VIII of Denmark
Christian VIII of Denmark
Christian VIII , was king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, king of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...
died, and Mariani's Requiem Mass written for the late king was performed twice.
Mariani returned to Italy after the revolution of March 1848 and enrolled in the volunteers. From there, he went to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, where he conducted the Italian Theatre for two years, in succession to Giuseppe Donizetti
Giuseppe Donizetti
Giuseppe Donizetti was, from 1828, Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan Mahmud II .His younger brother Gaetano Donizetti was a famous Italian opera composer...
. He also composed two dramatic cantatas there, and, for the visit of Sultan Abdülmecid I
Abdülmecid I
Sultan Abdülmecid I, Abdul Mejid I, Abd-ul-Mejid I or Abd Al-Majid I Ghazi was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on July 2, 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories...
to the newly rebuilt Naum Theatre, a new National Hymn, the Turkish words of which the Italian singers had learned phonetically. The National Hymn has been recorded.
In December 1851 he returned to Messina for four months, before going to Naples, and then as conductor for the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. He intended to stay for only two months, but his contract was made permanent, and he spent the majority of the rest of his life there, and also died there. His reputation was now strong, and he was offered positions in places such as Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, and Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, but seemed unable to make up his mind about any of them, so all these offers lapsed. He made the acquaintance of Verdi in around 1853, and they became firm friends.
On 16 August 1857, he conducted the premiere performance of Verdi's Aroldo
Aroldo
Aroldo is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on and adapted from their earlier 1850 collaboration, Stiffelio...
, a reworking of his earlier opera Stiffelio
Stiffelio
Stiffelio is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer by Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois...
, at the Teatro Nuovo in Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
.
On 30 May 1865 he conducted the premiere of Franco Faccio
Franco Faccio
Franco Faccio was an Italian composer and conductor.-Biography:Born in Verona, Faccio became known as a conductor of Verdi's music. He studied music at the Milan Conservatory where he was a pupil of Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti...
's opera Amleto
Amleto
Amleto is an opera in four acts by Franco Faccio, with libretto by Arrigo Boito. It premiered on May 30, 1865 at the Teatro Carlo Felice of Genova. It was revised for a La Scala production given on February 12, 1871.- Composition and premiere :...
at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.
In 1865, he conducted the Italian premiere of Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
's L'Africana
L'Africaine
L'africaine is a grand opera, the last work of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French libretto was written by Eugène Scribe. The opera is about fictitious events in the life of the real historical person Vasco da Gama...
at the Teatro Communale in Bologna.
On 27 October 1867 he conducted the Italian premiere of Verdi's Don Carlo
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
at the same theatre.
In late 1868, Verdi asked Mariani to be the conductor for a Requiem
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
Mass he was planning in honour of Gioachino Rossini, who had died on 13 November. This would be a collaboration between 13 composers, including Verdi himself. Mariani agreed to be involved in the organising committee, although he was less than enthusiastic (he was simultaneously engaged in the commemorative celebrations for Rossini in Pesaro
Pesaro
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
). The 13 composers all wrote their sections of the work (Verdi's was the Libera me, Domine), but the planned performance on the first anniversary of Rossini's death did not eventuate because disagreements arose with Mariani regarding the performance in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna. On 4 November, to Verdi's great sorrow, the organising committee formally abandoned the project. Verdi blamed this in considerable part on Mariani's lack of energy and commitment, and it marked the real beginning of a permanent break in their friendship (although there are indications trouble was already brewing in 1867). In the following years, Mariani tried to heal the rift, writing letters to Verdi expressing his love and admiration for him, but Verdi refused to be swayed, and continued to castigate Mariani for what he considered to be his failure over the Rossini Requiem. A possible complicating factor was Mariani's romantic relationship with the soprano Teresa Stolz
Teresa Stolz
Teresa Stolz was a Bohemian soprano, long resident in Italy, who was associated with significant premieres of the works of Giuseppe Verdi, and may have been his mistress...
, a favourite of Verdi's (she was his choice for the title role in the Milan premiere of Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
in February 1872, which as far as Verdi was concerned was the real premiere). Mariani and Stolz were engaged to be married, however, around 1871 she left him, in very unclear circumstances. There were suggestions and even public accusations that she was also carrying on an affair with Verdi, but this has never been proven.
Despite Verdi's break with Mariani personally, he still had respect for him as a conductor, and he invited him to conduct the world premiere of Aida in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
in December 1871. Mariani declined, saying he was not well enough to travel. This was indeed true, as he was already suffering symptoms of the cancer that would kill him less than two years later. However, it served only to further widen the rift between the two men.
On 1 November 1871, Mariani conducted the Italian premiere of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
at the Teatro Communale, Bologna, to great acclaim. This was the first performance of any Wagner opera in Italy. On 9 November, Verdi attended a Mariani performance of Lohengrin and annotated a copy of the vocal score with his impressions and opinions of Wagner (this was almost certainly his first exposure to Wagner's music). In 1872, Mariani conducted the Italian premiere of Wagner's Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, also at Bologna, but it was much less successful than Lohengrin had been.
He died of cancer in 1873, in the attic of the Palazzo Sauli, a house he had long rented from Verdi in Genoa.
Angelo Mariani also composed a number of songs, some of which have been recorded.
The Teatro Angelo Mariani in Sant'Agata Feltria
Sant'Agata Feltria
Sant'Agata Feltria is a comune in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 125 km southeast of Bologna and about 45 km south of Rimini.-Overview:...
(first built in 1605) was rededicated and renamed in honour of Mariani.
There is an Associazione Musicale Angelo Mariani in Ravenna.