Flair for the flute led to international career
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| Leonardo De Lorenzo played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra |
Leonardo De Lorenzo, a brilliant flute player who passed on
his knowledge of the instrument to others through his books, was born on this
day in 1875 in Viggiano in the province of Potenza.
De Lorenzo started playing the flute at the age of eight and
then moved to Naples to attend the music conservatory of San Pietro a Majella.
He became an itinerant flautist until he was 16, when he
moved to America, where he worked in a hotel. He returned to Italy in 1896 to
do his military service in Alessandria and became a member of a military band
directed by Giovanni Moranzoni, whose son was to become a famous conductor of
the orchestra at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
De Lorenzo then began a career as a flautist and toured
Italy, Germany, England and South Africa, joining an orchestra in Cape Town for
a while. Eventually he returned to Naples to continue his studies.
When he travelled to America again, he became first flautist
of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Gustav Mahler. He was warned
never to answer back to Mahler, who had a reputation for being unpleasant.
Later, in his writing, he recalled that the only time he dared speak to Mahler
was after his name had been misspelled in the programme as ‘de Lorenzo’ with a
lower case ‘d’. He politely requested the correction saying: ‘De Lorenzo,
please, Maestro.’
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| Gustav Mahler, who was director of the New York Philharmonic when De Lorenzo was first flautist |
He also went on to play for the New York Symphony Orchestra
and for orchestras in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Rochester.
While playing in Minneapolis, he met Maud Peterson, a
pianist who frequently accompanied him, and they were later married.
De Lorenzo became professor for flute at the Eastman School
of Music and on his retirement concentrated on composing music for the flute
and writing about the instrument.
His compositions, Saltarella and Pizzica-pizzica are a
homage to the traditional music of his native town.
In 1951 he published the book, My Complete Story of the
Flute, after carrying out extensive research.
On August 29 1955 the Los Angeles Flute Club gave a concert
in which they performed his compositions to celebrate his 80th birthday.
De Lorenzo died at his home in Santa Barbara in 1962 at the
age of 86.
The International Flute Competition, Leonardo De Lorenzo, is
held every two years in his birthplace, Viggiano.
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| Musicians of Viggiano, as imagined in a book in 1853 |
Travel Tip:
Viggiano, where De Lorenzo was born, is a town in the
province of Potenza in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is well
known for its migrant street musicians and for harp making. Many street
musicians from Viggiano have gone on to play in orchestras in Europe, America
and Australia. Viggiano is also home to Europe’s biggest oil field.
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| The Church of San Pietro a Majella in Naples |
Travel tip:
San Pietro a Majella, the Naples Music Conservatory,
occupies the former monastery adjoining the church of San Pietro a Majella at
the western end of Via Tribunali in Naples. Formerly housed in the monastery of
San Sebastiano, the Music Conservatory moved to its present location in 1826.
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