Valente, Vincenzo
Valente, Vincenzo
Valente, Vincenzo, Italian composer; b. Corigliano Calabro, Feb. 21,1855; d. Naples, Sept. 6,1921. At the age of 15 he wrote a song, Ntuniella,which became popular. He continued writing Neapolitan songs of great appeal (Basta ca po’, Comme te voglio amà!, Canzone cafona, Mugliera comme fa, Ninuccia, Tiempe felice, L’acqua,etc.), about 400 in all. He also brought out operettas: I Granatieri (Turin, Oct. 26, 1889), La Sposa di Charolles (Rome, March 3, 1894), Rolandino (Turin, Oct. 15, 1897), L’usignuolo (Naples, May 10,1899), Lena (Foggia, Jan. 1, 1918), L’Avvocato Trafichetti (Naples, May 24, 1919), and Nèmesi (posthumous, Naples, July 23, 1923). His son, Nicola Valente (b. Naples, Aug. 28, 1881; d. there, Sept. 16,1946), was also a composer of Neapolitan songs and light operas.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire