Guarino, Piero

Guarino, Piero, Italian pianist, conductor, pedagogue, and composer; b. Alexandria, Egypt, June 20, 1919; d. Rovereto, May 23, 1991. He studied piano and composition at the Athens Cons. (1936-39) before pursuing his training at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome; he completed advanced studies with Casella and Bonucci. From 1939 he was active as a pianist and conductor. After serving as director of the Alexandria Cons. (1950-60), he was director of the chamber orch. of the Accademia Musicale Napoletana (1962-73); he also taught at the Salzburg Mozarteum (1963-67) and the Perugia Cons. (1965-66). He then was director of the Sassari Cons. (1969-75) and the Parma Cons. (1975-89).

Works

DRAMATIC Opera : Vettura-letto (chamber opera, 1969). ORCH.: Sym. for Strings (1946); Piano Concerto (1947); Jeu parti for Chamber Orch. (1966); Omaggio a dementi for Student Orch. (1972). CHAMBER: Gagliarda, Sarabanda e Giga for Viola and Piano (1941); Sonata da camera for Cello and Piano (1943); Introduzione, aria e finale for Violin and Piano (1944); 12 Pezzi for 10 Instruments (1945); Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1945); Divertimento su un Capriccio di Piatti for 4 Cellos or 4 Groups of Cellos (1974); various piano pieces. VOCAL: De Profundis for 2 Women’s Voices and String Orch. (1965); Salve Regina for Chorus (1977); Schlaflied for Women’s Chorus (1978); Quattro Haiku for Soprano and Piano (1987).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire