Franco Ghione was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 conductor and violinist. He graduated from the Parma Conservatory and became a violinist for the Parma Theatre and the Augusteo in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. He began a conducting career in 1913 and conducted in many opera houses, including La Scala

La Scala

La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...

. He conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...

 from 1936-1940, where it was said that, because he could not speak English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, he "would explode in frustration" when his instructions were not understood.

After graduating in composition and violin at the Parma Conservatory, Ghione began his musical career as a violinist in the orchestras of the Parma Theatre and of the Augusteo in Rome, and then made his debut as a conductor in 1913.
His first appearance at La Scala was in the 1922/23 season with successful performances of Massenet's Manon and Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. From then on, he was regularly invited to conduct in major opera houses and worked with the finest voices of the period. He has left us numerous interesting recordings, among which we recall especially Pagliacci (by Leoncavallo) with Beniamino Gigli

Beniamino Gigli

Beniamino Gigli was an Italian opera singer. The most famous tenor of his generation, he was renowned internationally for the great beauty of his voice and the soundness of his vocal technique. Music critics sometimes took him to task, however, for what was perceived to be the over-emotionalism...

, Puccini's Turandot with Gina Cigna

Gina Cigna

Gina Cigna was a French-Italian opera singer, one of the leading dramatic soprano of the inter-war period.- Biography :...

, Francesco Merli

Francesco Merli

Francesco Merli was an Italian opera singer, particularly associated with heavy roles such as Otello, Canio and Calaf. He ranks as one of the finest dramatic tenors of the inter-war period....

, and Magda Olivero

Magda Olivero

Magda Olivero is a soprano of the verismo-school of singing. She was born in Saluzzo, Italy. Olivero made her operatic debut in 1932 on Turin radio in Cattozzo’s oratorio I misteri dolorosi. She performed widely and increasingly successfully until 1941, when she married and retired from performing...

; and Verdi's La traviata with Maria Callas

Maria Callas

Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...

.