Vittorio Gnecchi

Vittorio Gnecchi

Vittorio Gnecchi (born July 17, 1876 in Milan , † February 5, 1954 there ) was an Italian composer .

Life

Gnecchi was born the son of a wealthy industrialist. Financially secured by this circumstance, he enjoyed private studies with, among others, Michele Saladino, who was also the teacher of Pietro Mascagni and Victor de Sabata . At the age of nineteen he achieved great success with his azione pastorale "Virtù d'amore" and was able to win the renowned Giulio Ricordi as a publisher. The composer's next work was the opera “Cassandra”, the libretto of which he initially outlined from the Oresteia theme himself, but was then able to place it in the hands of the librettist Luigi Illica . “Cassandra” was completed in 1903, premiered on December 5, 1905 at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna under Arturo Toscanini, and was again published by Ricordi . Shortly after Richard Strauss ' opera " Elektra " was premiered in 1909 , an article by the musicologist Giovanni Tebaldini called "Telepatia Musicale" appeared in Italy. In it Gnecchi's “Cassandra” is compared with “Elektra” by Strauss and Tebaldini saw similarities in the works. Some then assumed that Strauss might have plagiarized . The uproar caused by the article prevented further successful productions of “Cassandra”, because nobody wanted to compromise the established Strauss. Gnecchi, who never commented on the case, stuck with this affront all his life.

Gnecchi's next opera “La Rosiera” dates back to 1927 and was followed by the ballet “Atlanta” (1929). The composer received late honors at the Salzburg Festival , where some of his works were performed and where the “Cantata Biblica” (1934), the “Missa Salisburgensis” (1935) and one that was also begun in 1914 after a libretto by Illicas and lasted almost forty years later completed opera "Giuditta" (Judith) (1953) was premiered.

Vittorio Gnecchi died in Milan on February 5, 1954.

swell

• Tebaldini, Giovanni: Telepatia Musicale, in: RMI XVI (1909), pp. 400-412 and pp. 632-659
• Horwarth, Michael: Tebaldini, Gnecchi and Strauss, in: Current Musicology, Vol. 10, NY, 1970
• Stumpf, Aaron Christopher: Art. Gnecchi Ruscone, Vittorio in: MGG Online , ed. by Laurenz Lütteken, Kassel, Stuttgart, New York 2016ff., published January 2020 ( https://www.mgg-online.com/mgg/stable/53331 )

Web links

• Article in the Berliner Morgenpost
• Oper-In-Berlin.de (information on the relationship between the operas Cassandra and Elektra)