Gui, Vittorio

Gui, Vittorio, eminent Italian conductor; b. Rome, Sept. 14, 1885; d. Florence, Oct. 16, 1975. He studied composition with Falchi at the Liceo Musicale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and also attended the Univ. of Rome. On Dec. 7, 1907, he made his debut conducting La Gioconda at Rome’s Teatro Adriano. After conducting in Naples, he appeared at Milan’s La Scala (1923-25; 1932-34). In 1925 he was a founder and conductor of the Teatro di Torino. In 1928 he organized the Orch. Stabile in Florence, which served as the foundation of the famous Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, which he instituted in 1933; he also was a conductor at the Teatro Comunale there. In 1938-39 he conducted at London’s Covent Garden, and returned there in 1952. He was chief conductor of the Glyndebourne Festivals from 1952 to 1960, and then was its artistic counsellor from 1960 to 1965. Gui continued to conduct in Italy until the close of his long life, making his final appearance only a few weeks before his death at the age of 90. He was one of the leading Italian conductors of his day, excelling not only in opera but also in symphonic music. He also composed the operas David (Rome, 1907) and Fata Malerba (Turin, May 15, 1927), the orch. works Giulietta e Romeo (1902), Il tempo che fu (1910), Scherzo fantastico (1913), Fantasia bianca (1919), and Giornata difesta (1921), chamber music, and songs. Gui publ. the study Nerone di Arrigo Boito (Milan, 1924) and a vol. of critical essays Battute d’aspetto (Florence, 1944).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire