Zandonai, Riccardo

Zandonai, Riccardo, Italian composer; b. Sacco di Rovereto, Trentino, May 30,1883; d. Pesaro, June 5,1944. He was a pupil of Gianferrari at Rovereto (1893-98), then studied with Mascagni at the Liceo Rossini in Pesaro. He graduated in 1902; for his final examination he composed a symphonic poem for Solo Voices, Chorus, and Orch., // ritorno di Odisseo. He then turned to opera, which remained his favored genre throughout his career. His first opera was La coppa del re (c. 1906), which was never performed. After writing the children’s opera Vuccelino d’oro (Sacco di Rovereto, 1907), he won notable success with his third opera, II grillo del focolare, after Dickens’s The Cricket on the Hearth (Turin, Nov. 28, 1908). With his next opera, Conchita, after the novel La Femme et le pantin by Pierre Louys (Milan, Oct. 14,1911), he established himself as an important Italian composer; the title role was created by the soprano Tarquinia Tarquini, whom Zandonai married in 1917. Conchita received its American premiere in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 1912; as La Femme et le pantin it was given at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on March 11,1929. Zandonai’s reputation was enhanced by subsequent works, notably Francesca da Rimini, after Gabriele d’Annunzio (Turin, Feb. 19, 1914; Metropolitan Opera, N.Y., Dec. 22, 1916), but a previous opera, Melenis (Milan, Nov. 13,1912), was unsuccessful. During World War I, Zandonai participated in the political agitation for the return of former Italian provinces; he wrote a student hymn calling for the redemption of Trieste (1915). His other operas were La via della finestra (Pesaro, July 27,1919; rev. version, Trieste, Jan. 18,1923), Giulietta e Romeo (Rome, Feb. 14,1922), I Cavalieri di Ekebù (Milan, March 7, 1925), Giuliano (Naples, Feb. 4, 1928), Una partita (Milan, Jan. 19, 1933), La farsa amorosa, after Alarcón’s El sombrero de tres picos (Rome, Feb. 22,1933), and // bacio (1940-44; unfinished). Among his orch. works were Serenata medioevale for Cello, Harp, 2 Horns, and Strings (1909), Terra nativa, 2 suites, Primavera in Val di Sole (1914-15) and Autonnofra i monti (Patria lontana) (1917-18), Concerto romantico for Violin and Orch. (1919), Ballata eroica (1929), Fra gli alberghi delle Dolomiti (1929), Quadri di Segantini (1930-31), II flauto notturno for Flute and Small Orch. (1934), Concerto andaluso for Cello and Small Orch. (1934), Colombina overture (1935), Rapsodia trentina (1936), and Biancaneve (1940). Other compositions included works for band, Messa da Requiem for Chorus (1915) and various other choral works, several vocal works with orch., and some chamber music. In 1939 he was appointed director of the Liceo Rossini in Pesaro, remaining there for the rest of his life.

Bibliography

V. Bonajuti Tarquini, R. Z. nel ricordo dei suoi intimi (Milan, 1951); G. Barbián, R. Maricini, et al, A R. Z. (Trento, 1952); B. Cagnoli, R. Z. (Trento, 1978); R. Chiesa, ed., R. Z.(Milan, 1984); A. Bassi, R. Z.(Milan, 1989).

—Nicholas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire