Umberto Giordano
Encyclopedia
Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 1867 – 12 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of opera
s.
He was born in Foggia
in Puglia
, southern Italy
, and studied under Paolo Serrao
at the Conservatoire of Naples
. His first opera Marina, was written for the competition staged by the music publishers Casa Sonzogno
for the best one-act opera, remembered today because it marked the beginning of Italian verismo
; the winner was Mascagni
's Cavalleria rusticana
. Giordano, the youngest candidate, placed sixth among seventy-three with Marina, which generated enough interest for Sonzogno to commission an opera to be staged in the 1891–92 season.
The result was Mala Vita, a gritty verismo opera concerning a labourer who vows to reform a prostitute if he is cured of his tuberculosis. This caused something of a scandal when performed at the Teatro Argentina
, Rome, in February 1892. It played successfully at Vienna, Prague and Berlin, and was re-written as Il Voto a few years later in an attempt to raise interest in the work again.
Giordano tried a more romantic approach with his next opera, Regina Diaz, to a libretto
by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti
and Guido Menasci
(1894), but this was also a failure, taken off the stage after just two performances.
Giordano then moved to Milan
, and returned to verismo with his best-known work, Andrea Chénier
(1896), based on the life of the French poet, André Chénier
. Fedora (1898), based on Victorien Sardou
's play, featured a rising young tenor named Enrico Caruso; it was also a success, and is still performed today. His later works are much less known, but occasionally revived. He died in Milan at the age of 81.
The most important theater in Foggia has been dedicated to Umberto Giordano. A square in Foggia is also dedicated to him, with many statues representing his most famous works.
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...
s.
He was born in Foggia
Foggia
Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".-History:...
in Puglia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
, southern Italy
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...
, and studied under Paolo Serrao
Paolo Serrao
Paolo Serrao was a distinguished and influential Italian teacher of musical theory and composition at Naples....
at the Conservatoire of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. His first opera Marina, was written for the competition staged by the music publishers Casa Sonzogno
Edoardo Sonzogno
Edoardo Sonzogno was an Italian publisher.A native of Milan, Sonzogno was the son of a businessman who owned a printing plant and bookstore; when he inherited the business upon his father's death he set about turning it into a publishing house, Casa Sonzogno, which opened in 1874...
for the best one-act opera, remembered today because it marked the beginning of Italian verismo
Verismo
Verismo was an Italian literary movement which peaked between approximately 1875 and the early 1900s....
; the winner was Mascagni
Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
. Giordano, the youngest candidate, placed sixth among seventy-three with Marina, which generated enough interest for Sonzogno to commission an opera to be staged in the 1891–92 season.
The result was Mala Vita, a gritty verismo opera concerning a labourer who vows to reform a prostitute if he is cured of his tuberculosis. This caused something of a scandal when performed at the Teatro Argentina
Teatro Argentina
The Teatro Argentina is an opera house and theatre located in the Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. It is one of the oldest theatres in Rome, and was inaugurated on January 31, 1732 with Berenice by Domenico Sarro....
, Rome, in February 1892. It played successfully at Vienna, Prague and Berlin, and was re-written as Il Voto a few years later in an attempt to raise interest in the work again.
Giordano tried a more romantic approach with his next opera, Regina Diaz, to a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti
Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti
Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti was an Italian librettist, best known for his friendship and collaboration with the composer Pietro Mascagni...
and Guido Menasci
Guido Menasci
Guido Menasci was an Italian opera librettist.His best known work is Cavalleria rusticana written with Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti. He also provided the libretti for Mascagni's I Rantzau, Zanetto, for Umberto Giordano's Regina Diaz and Viktor Parma's Stara pesem .Menasci was born in...
(1894), but this was also a failure, taken off the stage after just two performances.
Giordano then moved to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, and returned to verismo with his best-known work, Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
(1896), based on the life of the French poet, André Chénier
André Chénier
André Marie Chénier was a French poet, associated with the events of the French Revolution of which he was a victim. His sensual, emotive poetry marks him as one of the precursors of the Romantic movement...
. Fedora (1898), based on Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play...
's play, featured a rising young tenor named Enrico Caruso; it was also a success, and is still performed today. His later works are much less known, but occasionally revived. He died in Milan at the age of 81.
The most important theater in Foggia has been dedicated to Umberto Giordano. A square in Foggia is also dedicated to him, with many statues representing his most famous works.
Operas
- Marina (1888)
- Mala Vita (21 February 1892, Teatro Argentina, Rome)
- Regina Diaz (5 March 1894, Teatro Mercadante, Naples)
- Andrea ChénierAndrea ChénierAndrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
(28 March 1896, Teatro alla ScalaLa ScalaLa 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...
, Milan) - Fedora (17 November 1898, Teatro LiricoTeatro Lirico (Milan)The Teatro Lirico is a theatre in Milan, Italy. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was particularly notable for opera performances, including the world premieres of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Giordano's Fedora. The theatre, located on Via Rastrelli, closed in 1998...
, Milan) - Il Voto (revision of Mala Vita) (6 September 1902, Teatro Bellini, Naples)
- SiberiaSiberia (opera)Siberia is an opera in three acts by Umberto Giordano from a libretto by Luigi Illica. There is no direct source for the plot of Siberia and it is quite possible that this is an original work by Illica...
(19 December 1903, Teatro alla Scala, Milan, rev. 1927) - Marcella (9 November 1907, Teatro Lirico, Milan)
- Mese marianoMese marianoMese mariano is an opera in one act by Umberto Giordano. Its Italian libretto by Salvatore Di Giacomo was adapted from his play O Mese Mariano, which was in turn adapted from his novella, Senza vederlo . It premiered at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo on 17 March 1910...
(17 March 1910, Teatro MassimoTeatro MassimoThe Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II....
, Palermo) - Madame Sans-GêneMadame Sans-Gêne (opera)Madame Sans-Gêne is an opera in three acts by Umberto Giordano. The libretto was taken from Victorien Sardou and Emile Moreau's play, adapted for the opera by Renato Simoni.-Performance history:...
(25 January 1915, Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, New York) - Giove a Pompei (6 July 1921, Teatro La Pariola, Rome)
- La cena delle beffeLa cena delle beffeLa cena delle beffe is an opera in four acts composed by Umberto Giordano to an Italian libretto by Sem Benelli adapted from his play of the same name...
(20 December 1924, Teatro alla Scala, Milan) - Il reIl reIl re is a novella or opera in one act and three scenes by composer Umberto Giordano to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. The opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on 12 January 1929.-Performance history:...
(12 January 1929, Teatro alla Scala, Milan) - La festa del Nilo (incomplete)