Leopoldo Mugnone

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Drawing by Mugnone, 1896

Leopoldo Mugnone (born September 29, 1858 in Naples , † December 22, 1941 in Capodichino ) was an Italian conductor and composer.

Mugnone, who came from a family of musicians - his father Antonio was the first double bass player at the Teatro La Fenice - composed his first opera Il dottor Bartolo Salsapariglia when he was twelve . He studied at the Conservatory of S. Pietro a Majella with Beniamino Cesi and Paolo Serrao . In 1875 he became choirmaster for the comic opera and operetta at the Teatro Nuevo and composed the operettas Don Bizzarro e le sue figlie and Mamma Angot al serraglio di Costantinopoli based on libretti by Enrico Golisciani , both of which were successfully performed at the Teatro Nuevo. At the same time he also composed chamber music works and songs.

He then went to the Teatro Garibaldi and in 1877 to the Teatro dei Fiorentini , where he performed operas by Giovanni Paisiello , Domenico Cimarosa , Errico Petrella and Gioachino Rossini in a series . After his return to Naples he traveled for some time as a piano accompanist with the double bass virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini . In 1887 he made his debut at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome with Verdi's The Power of Fate .

In 1890 Mugnone conducted the world premiere of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana . In 1900 he directed the world premiere of his friend Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca ; later he was also the conductor of the premieres of three operas by Umberto Giordano ( Andrea Chénier , 1905; Fedora , 1906; Mese mariano , 1910) and of Alberto Franchetti's La figlia di Jorio (1906).

From 1891 Mugnone was a conductor at La Scala in Milan , and from 1900 he conducted regularly at the Royal Opera House in London. He has directed numerous premieres of Italian operas abroad as well as the premieres of German and French operas (including by Georges Bizet , Jules Massenet , Hector Berlioz and Richard Wagner ) in Italy. In Argentina he conducted the first performance of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Italian, and he also appeared as a guest conductor in Uruguay. He composed two other successful operas himself : Il Birichino (1892) and Vita Bretonna (1905).

Mugnone was married to the singer Maria Paolicchi .

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personal data
SURNAME Mugnone, Leopoldo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian conductor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH September 29, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Naples
DATE OF DEATH December 22, 1941
Place of death Capodichino