Duni, Egidio (Romualdo)
Duni, Egidio (Romualdo)
Duni, Egidio (Romualdo), noted Italian composer; b. Matera, Feb. 9, 1709; d. Paris, June 11, 1775. Nothing definitive is known about his musical training. He may have studied at the Loreto Cons, in Naples. His first opera, Nerone, was successfully premiered in Rome on May 21, 1735. He visited London in 1737; produced his opera Demofoonte at the King’s Theatre there on May 24, 1737. Making his way to Holland, he studied at the Univ. of Leiden (1738). He returned to Italy in 1739; was appointed maestro di cappella of S. Nicola di Bari in Naples in 1743, and took up the same post at the court of the Duke of Parma about 1748, where he also served as music teacher to the Duke’s daughter. His operacomique Le Peintre amoureux de son modele was premiered in his presence in Paris on July 26, 1757. Following its success, he settled in Paris. From 1761 to 1768 he was music director of the Comedie-Italienne, where he brought out such successful works as Mazet (1761), Les Deux Chasseurs et la laitiere (1763), L’Ecole de la jeunesse (1765), La Clochette (1766), and Les Moissonneurs (1768). Duni was a significant contributor to the opéra-comique genre. By fusing Italian and French strains in his work, he was instrumental in developing the comedie melee d’ariettes.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire