Emilio Usiglio
Encyclopedia
Emilio Usiglio was an Italian
composer and conductor.
Usiglio 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 opera
tic 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 in 1910. His wife was the soprano Clementina Brusa.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
composer and conductor.
Usiglio studied music in Parma, first with Giuseppe Barbacini and then with Giovanni Rossi, before continuing his education in Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
with Carlo Romani and in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
with Teodulo Mabellini
Teodulo Mabellini
Teodulo Mabellini was an Italian composer.-Biography:He was born at Pistoia, Tuscany on 2 April 1817.He was commissioned by Giuseppe Verdi, to compose a portion of Messa per Rossini. Specifically Number VI...
. At the age of 20 he began his opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic career with some success with La locandiera. He wrote exclusively opere buffe
Opera buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
, his most famous being 1879's Le donne curiose after the play by
Le donne curiose
Le donne curiose is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to a text by Luigi Sugana after Carlo Goldoni's play.-Performance history:...
Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty...
.
As a conductor, Usiglio led the premiere, in 1875, of the new version of Arrigo Boito
Arrigo Boito
Arrigo Boito , aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito, pseudonym Tobia Gorrio, was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist and composer, best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello and Falstaff, and his own opera Mefistofele...
's Mefistofele
Mefistofele
Mefistofele is an opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.-Composition history:...
in 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,...
, and in 1877 he conducted the Italian premiere of Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
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...
and of Hamlet
Hamlet (opera)
Hamlet is an opéra in five acts by the French composer Ambroise Thomas, with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier based on a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas, père and Paul Meurice of Shakespeare's play Hamlet.- Ophelia mania in Paris:...
by Ambroise Thomas
Ambroise Thomas
Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...
in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. In 1889 he led the first Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
performances of Fosca
Fosca (opera)
Fosca is an opera seria in four acts by Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Gomes to an Italian language libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni based on Luigi Capranica's 1869 novel La festa delle Marie.- Performance history :...
by Antonio Gomes.
Due primarily to his increasing alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, Usiglio was forced to retire as a conductor in 1897. He died in Milan in 1910. His wife was the soprano Clementina Brusa.
Operas
- La locandiera, libretto by Giuseppe Barilli (Torino, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, September 5, 1861)
- Un'eredità in Corsica, libretto by Raffaello Berninzone (MilanMilanMilan 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 ,...
, Teatro di Santa Radegonda, July 1, 1864) - Le educande di Sorrento or La figlia del generale, libretto by Raffaello Berninzone (FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Teatro Alfieri, May 1, 1868) - La scommessa, libretto by Benedetto Rado (FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Teatro Principe Umberto, July 6, 1870) - La secchia rapita, libretto by Angelo Anelli, written in collaboration with five other composers (FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Teatro Goldoni, April 6, 1872) - Le donne curiose, libretto by Angelo Zanardini (MadridMadridMadrid 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...
, Teatro RealTeatro RealThe Teatro Real or simply El Real , is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.-History:...
, February 11, 1879) - Nozze in prigione, libretto by Angelo Zanardini (MilanMilanMilan 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 ,...
, Teatro Manzoni, March 23, 1881) - La guardia notturna ossia La notte di San Silvestro, libretto by Raffaello Berninzone, not performed
- I fratelli di Lara, not performed
Ballet
- Atabalipa degli Incas o Pizzarro alla scoperta delle Indie (FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Teatro Nazionale, autumn 1866)
Other works
- Rimembranze dell'Arno, vocal album dedicated to Giovanni PaciniGiovanni PaciniGiovanni 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...
- Allora... e adesso, stornello
- Lamento d'oltre tomba, for voice and pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Su marinar, barcarola for voice and pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Sources
- Bowen, José Antonio, The Cambridge companion to conducting, Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 155–156. ISBN 0521527910
- Sansone, Matteo, "Usiglio, Emilio", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 3 November 2009), (subscription access)