Alberto Randegger

Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely-used textbook on singing technique.

Life and career

Randegger was born in Trieste, Italy, the son of musician mother and schoolteacher father. He met Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, in 1850, and later became known as a great interpreter of Verdi's operas. ["Alberto Randegger". "The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular", Vol. 40, No. 680, 1 October 1899, pp. 653-58] He was a pupil of Jean Lafont in piano and of Luigi Ricci in composition. His earliest compositions were masses and other pieces of church music and, with two other young pupils of Ricci, produced two ballets and an opera, "Il Lazzarone," in 1852. In 1854 he composed another opera, "Bianca Capello", at Brescia. During this period, he also served as music director of theatres in Fiume, Senigallia, Brescia and Venice.Grove, George, et al. "Alberto Randegger". "Grove Music Online". "Oxford Music Online". Retrieved on 16 June 2008. (subscription required)]

Randegger began work in London as an organist at St. Paul's in Regent's Park from his arrival in London, in 1854, until 1879. Beginning in 1857 he conducted Italian opera at the St. James's Theatre and from 1887–1898 he conducted at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and at the Royal Opera House, where he was known for his performances of Wagner, Verdi and Mozart operas. He also became well known as a teacher of singing in London, teaching at the Royal College of Music. In 1868 he was appointed professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was appointed a director and a member of the committee of management. He continued teaching at both institutions until his death. Beginning in 1868, also, he was conductor at the Wolverhampton Festival. He conducted the Queen's Hall Choral Society and the first two seasons of symphony concerts at Queen's Hall from 1895 to 1897.

As a composer, in addition to his early works, Randegger wrote a comic opera, "The Rival Beauties" (1864); the vocal scenas Medea (1869); a musical play with dramatist W. S. Gilbert, "Creatures of Impulse" (1871); a dramatic cantata, the "150th Psalm" for soprano solo, choir, orchestra, and organ (1872); "Fridolin" (1873); two scenes for soprano and orchestra, "Medea" (1869) and "Sappho" (1875); "Funeral Anthem", in memory of the Prince Consort; "The Prayer of Nature" (1887); and numerous other vocal pieces. He also edited several collections of vocal music and collaborated with T.J.H. Marzials on the libretto for Arthur Goring Thomas's opera "Esmeralda" (1883).

Randegger served as musical director of the Carl Rosa Opera Company from 1879 to 1885, helping to revive interest in opera in England. In 1880, Sir George Grove wrote: "The careful way in which the pieces are put on the stage, the number of rehearsals, the eminence of the performers and the excellence of the performers have begun to bear their legitimate fruit, and the Carl Rosa Opera Company bids fair to become a permanent English institution." [ [http://www.carlrosaopera.co.uk/history/index.asp Information from the Carl Rosa history page] ] Upon the resignation of Julius Benedict in 1881, he also became conductor of the Norwich Musical Festival, which he directed until 1905. There he conducted new works by Cowen, J. F. Barnett, Stanford, Alexander Mackenzie, Prout, Parry, Edward German and others, and at the 1905 Festival invited 14 British composers to conduct performances of their own works.

Randegger's most important legacy, outside of his conducting, was a textbook entitled "Singing", published in 1879 by Novello & Co, which is still used. [] In 1882, Randegger was elected an honorary member of the Royal Philharmonic Society. He was married first to the actress Adeline de Leuw whom he divorced in 1892 (and who later married Hayden Coffin), and on 11 March 1897 he married the American singer Louise Baldwin (her second marriage). [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D04E5D61339E433A25750C2A9659C94669ED7CF&oref=slogin NY Times article about Randegger's marriage to Baldwin, dated March 23, 1897] ]

Randegger died at his home in London at the age of 79.

Notes

References

*
* [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Alberto_Randegger 1911 encyclopedia profile]
* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4666(19120101)53%3A827%3C17%3AARBA11%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1 Obituary: Alberto Randegger, Born April 13, 1832; Died December 18, 1911, "The Musical Times"] , Vol. 53, No. 827, 1 January 1912, pp. 17-18
*Biography of Randegger in "The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular", Vol. 40, No. 680, 1 October 1899, pp. 653-58
*Obituary, "The Times", 19 December 1911
*

External links

* [http://www.jamd.com/image/g/3203568?partner=Google&epmid=3 1880 drawing of Randegger]