- Primo Riccitelli
Primo Riccitelli (
9 August ,1875 –27 March ,1941 ), was an Italian composer.One of four children, he was born in the village of Cognoli near the communal town of
Campli in theAbruzzo Region ofItaly . His father, Giuseppe, was a small land owner and his mother, Maria Maiaroli, a homemaker. The one-day old infant was baptized at the local parish hall of Molviano with the first name Pancrazio. He would later perform under the stage name, Primo Riccitelli.Primo Riccitelli began his studies in the town of
Teramo and then transferred to the Conservatory of Pesaro where he soon became the protégé of the famed talentPietro Mascagni . He is perhaps best remembered for two operatic masterpieces, "I Compagnacci " and "Madonna Oretta ". Lesser known compositions include "Madonnetta", "Francesca da Rimini", "Lory", "Nena"; "Heremos", "Suora Maddalena" and "Maria sul Monte". The one-act operatic piece 'I Compagnacci,' was performed inRome and at theMetropolitan Opera House inNew York , USA. All traces of several other of Primo Riccitelli's invaluable operas have been lost.After a brief illness Primo Riccitelli died on the 27th of March, 1941 in
Giulianova where he is now buried. A street in the town ofTeramo bears the name of this illustrious citizen. Also carrying the name of this composer is a musical and theater society headquartered in Teramo and performing inBellante . On 20 April, 2006 a bronze statue was dedicated to Primo Riccitelli at the entrance to the cemetery in the small village ofSant'Onofrio located near his birthplace.ource
*D.Taylor & R. Kerr (eds.), The Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, New York (1940).
*Raffaele Aurini , "Dizionario Bibliografico della gente D'Abruzzo", Teramo, 1973, volume V;
*"Dizionario Bibliografico della gente D'Abruzzo", 2° edizione, a cura diFausto Eugeni ,Luigi Ponziani eMarcello Sgattoni , Colledara, 2002, Andromeda Editrice, vol. 5, pp. 106-114;
*Fernando Aurini , "I Compagnacci", Teramo, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio, novembre 1999;External links
* [http://xoomer.alice.it/aurini/primoriccitelli/index.htm Approfondimenti su Primo Riccitelli] (In Italian)
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