Lorenzo Molajoli was an Italian opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

 who was active in recording during the 1920s and 30s.

The facts surrounding the career of the conductor Lorenzo Molajoli are obscure. He was born in Rome in 1868 and studied there at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. His career began in 1891 and it would appear that much of his career prior to the First World War was spent in both North and South America, South Africa and various provincial Italian opera houses. Claims have been made that Molajoli conducted at La Scala in the inter-war years but there is no published documentation to substantiate this assumption. What can be established is that he served with considerable distinction as the house conductor in Milan for Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

, recording complete operas and accompanying a large number of singers, in addition to making recordings of a number of operatic overtures. Molajoli conducted twenty complete or abridged operas for Columbia between 1928 and 1932 including the first complete recording of Ponchielli's La Gioconda

La Gioconda (opera)

La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...

. A number of his complete opera recordings have been released on CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 on Naxos

Naxos Records

Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...

and other labels. He died in Milan on 4 April 1939.

Discography

1916 - Rigoletto (Verdi) - Cesare Formichi, Ines Maria Ferrari, Giuseppe Taccani: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1927 & 30 - Rigoletto (Verdi) - Riccardo Stracciari, Mercedes Capsir, Dino Borgioli: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1928 - La Bohème (Puccini) - Rosetta Pampanini, Luigi Marini, Gino Vanelli: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1928 - Aida (Verdi) - Giannina Arangi-Lomardi, Aroldo Lindi, Maria Capuana: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1928 - La Traviata (Verdi) - Mercedes Capsir, Lionello Cecil, Carlo Galeffi: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1929 - Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) - Mercedes Capsir, Enzo de Muro Lomanto, Enrico Molinari: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1929 - Andrea Chenier (Giordano) - Luigi Marini, Lina Bruna Rasa, Carlo Galeffi: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1929 - Madama Butterfly (Puccini) - Rosetta Pampanini, Alessandro Granda, Gino Vanelli: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1929 - Tosca (Puccini) - Bianca Scacciati, Alessandro Granda, Enrico Molinari: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1929 - Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) - Riccardo Stracciari, Mercedes Capsir, Dino Borgioli: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1930 - Le furie di Arlecchino (Lualdi) - Maria Zamboni, Enzo de Muro Lomanto: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1930 - Ernani (Verdi) - Antonio Melandri, Iva Pacetti, Gino Vanelli: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1930 - La favorite (Donizetti) - Carmelo Maugeli, Giuseppina Zinetti, Cristy Solari: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1930 - Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) - Francesco Merli, Rosetta Pampanini, Carlo Galeffi: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1930 - Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) - Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Antonio Melandri: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1930 - Il Trovatore (Verdi) - Francesco Merli, Bianca Scacciati, Giuseppina Zinetti, Enrico Molinari: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1930 & 31 - Don Pasquale (Donizetti) - Attilio Giuliani, Ines Alfani-Tellini, Cristy Solari: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1930 & 31 - L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti) - Ines Alfani-Tellini, Cristy Solari, Eduardo Faticani: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1931 - Mefistofele (Boito) - Nazzareno de Angelis, Antonio Melandri, Mafalda Favero; Giannina Arangi-Lombardi; La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1931 - Fedora (Giordano) - Gilda Dalla Rizza, Antonio Melandri, Emilio Ghirardini, Eugenio Dall'Argine: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1931 - La Gioconda (Ponchielli) - Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Ebe Stignani, Alessandro Granda, Gaetano Viviani, Corrado Zambelli: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1931 - Manon Lescaut (Puccini) - Maria Zamboni, Francesco Merli, Enrico Molinari; La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1931 - Carmen (Bizet) - Aurora Buades, Aureliano Pertile, Ines Alfani-Tellini, Benvenuto Franci: La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1932 - Falstaff (Verdi) - Giacomo Rimini, Pia Tassinari, Roberto D'Alessio, Emilio Ghirardini, Aurora Buades; La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus
1932 - Faust (Gounoud) - Antonio Melandri, Nazzareno de Angelis; La Scala Opera Orchestra and Chorus