- Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Gianandrea Gavazzeni (25 July 1909 - 5 February 1996) was an Italian
pianist , conductor (especially ofopera ),composer and musicologist.Gavazzeni was born in
Bergamo . For almost 50 years, starting from 1948, he was principal conductor atLa Scala ,Milan , in 1966-68 being its music and artistic director.He had his
Metropolitan Opera debut on 11 October 1976. He conducted eight performances ofGiuseppe Verdi 's "Il trovatore " that year at the Met [ [http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm MetOpera database] ] .His compositions include: concertos such as 'Concerto bergamasco'; 'The Song of St Alexander'; and sonatas.
His last wife was the
soprano Denia Mazzola-Gavazzeni [ [http://www.deniamazzola.com/ Denia Mazzola Website] ] . In January of 1993, at age 83, he conductedJules Massenet 's "Esclarmonde " atTeatro Massimo diPalermo , with his wife singing the title role. It was the first time he had conducted this opera [ [http://www.deniamazzola.com/ita/news.htm "Remembering G. Gavazzeni: Interview with Denia Mazzola" by Stephen Hastings (in Italian), Musica, 04/01] ] .Gianandrea Gavazzeni died on 5 February 1996.
References
* [http://www.naxos.com/conductorinfo/Gianandrea_Gavazzeni/32092.htm Biography of Gianandrea Gavazzeni]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E3DB1439F935A35751C0A960958260 New York Times, Gavazzeni's death announcement]
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