Asioli, Bonifazio

Asioli, Bonifazio, Italian composer and pedagogue; b. Correggio, Aug. 30, 1769; d. there, May 18, 1832. He was born into a musical family, and began to compose and play the harpsichord at an early age. After studies with Angelo Morigi in Parma (1780–82), he returned to Correggio and brought out his first opera, La volubile, when he was 15. He also taught at the Collegio Civico there, becoming maestro di cappella in 1786. In 1787 he entered the service of the Marchese Gherardini in Turin, who he continued to serve in Venice (1796–99) and then in Milan. In 1805 he became maestro di cappella and music director at the court of the viceroy Eugène Beauharnis of Milan. He became the first director of the new Milan Cons. in 1808. In 1814 he returned to Correggio, where he ran a music school in his home. Asioli’s other operas included La contadina vivace (Parma, 1785), La gabbia de’ pazzi (Venice, 1785), La discordia teatrale (Milan, 1786), Le nozze in ville (Correggio, 1786), Cinna (Milan, Dec. 26, 1792), Pigmalione (1796), and Gustava al Malabar (Turin, 1802). Among his other scores were many cantatas and some instrumental pieces. He also publ. various theoretical works.

Bibliography

A. Coli, Vita di B. A. da Correggio (Milan, 1834); R. Finzi, Celebrazione del musicista B. A. (1769–1832) nel secondo centenario della nascita (Reggio Emilia, 1969).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire