NEW - Nino Sanzogno – conductor
Orchestra leader introduced audiences to new composers
The talented conductor and composer Nino Sanzogno, who was much admired for his elegance and the precision of his conducting, was born Giovanni Giuseppe Luigi Sanzogno on this day in 1911 in Venice. He led the premieres of many important operas at Teatro alla Scala in Milan and also became well known for championing new music. Sanzogno learnt the violin and developed a love of music from a young age. He went on to study under musicians such as Hermann Scherchen and Gian Francesco Malipiero and later went to Vienna to learn more about conducting from Scherchen. His career took off when he was given the opportunity to lead the Gruppo Strumentale Italiano, who performed at concerts in Italy and abroad. In 1937, Sanzogno became the main conductor at the opera house Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Read more…
_______________________________________
Antonio Meucci - inventor of the telephone
Engineer from Florence was 'true' father of communications
Antonio Meucci, the Italian engineer who was acknowledged 113 years after his death to be the true inventor of the telephone, was born on this day in 1808 in Florence. Until Vito Fossella, a Congressman from New York, asked the House of Representatives to recognise that the credit should have gone to Meucci, it was the Scottish-born scientist Alexander Graham Bell who was always seen as the father of modern communications. Yet Meucci’s invention was demonstrated in public 16 years before Bell took out a patent for his device. This was part of the evidence Fossella submitted to the House, which prompted a resolution in June, 2002, that the wealth and fame that Bell enjoyed were based on a falsehood. It has even been suggested that Bell actually stole Meucci’s invention and developed it as his own while the Italian died in poverty, having been unable to afford the patent. Meucci’s story began when he was born in the San Frediano area of Florence, which was then part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the first of nine children fathered by a policeman, Amatis Meucci, and his wife, Domenica. Read more…
______________________________________
Catherine de’ Medici – Queen of France
Florentine girl was the mother of three French kings
Catherine de’ Medici, who married King Henry II of France and gave birth to the three subsequent Kings of France, was born on this day in 1519 in Florence. Because of her influence over France during the period of the French-Huguenot wars, Catherine is said to have been one of the most important people in Europe during the 16th century. She was the daughter of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne, but within a month of her birth, both her parents had become ill and died. Her paternal grandmother, Alfonsina Orsini cared for her initially, but after her death, Catherine was brought up by her aunt, Clarice de’ Medici. After her uncle, Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici, was elected Pope Clement VII in 1523, he hosted Catherine in stately surroundings in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence. Read more…
________________________________________
Giannino Marzotto - racing driver
Double Mille Miglia winner from a famous family
Giannino Marzotto, a racing driver who twice won the prestigious Mille Miglia and finished fifth at Le Mans, was born on this day in 1928 in Valdagno, a town situated in the mountains about 30km (19 miles) northwest of Vicenza. He was the great, great grandson of Luigi Marzotto, who in 1836 opened a woollen factory that evolved into the Marzotto Group, one of Italy’s largest textile manufacturers. Marzotto worked for the company after he retired from motor racing, at one point filling the position of managing director and later company president, before giving up those roles to develop other businesses. He was one of five sons of Count Gaetano Marzotto, who was the major figure in the Marzotto company in the 20th century, transforming the family business into an international entity and building the Città Sociale, a town adjoining Valdagno characterised by wide, tree-lined boulevards which he built to provide a pleasant and well-appointed community for the workers at the Marzotto factory. With this wealthy background, Giannino was able to indulge his passion for cars. Read more…
______________________________________
.jpg)
Roberto Calvi – banker
.jpg)
Mystery remains over bizarre death of bank chairman
Roberto Calvi, dubbed 'God’s Banker' by the press because of his close association with the Vatican, was born on this day in 1920 in Milan. In 1982 his body was found hanging from scaffolding beneath Blackfriars Bridge close to London’s financial district. His death is a mystery that has never been satisfactorily solved and it has been made the subject of many books and films. Calvi was the chairman of Banco Ambrosiano in Milan, which had direct links to Pope John Paul II through his bodyguard, Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, who was also head of the Vatican Bank, which had shares in Ambrosiano. Calvi had been missing for nine days before his body was found by a passer-by in London. At first police treated his death as suicide but a year later a second inquest overturned this and delivered an open verdict. In October 2002, forensic experts commissioned by an Italian court finally concluded Calvi had been murdered. Calvi had become chairman of Ambrosiano, Italy’s largest private bank, in 1975 and had built up a vast financial empire. But three years later the Bank of Italy issued a report claiming Ambrosiano had illegally exported several million lire. Read more…
_________________________________________
Book of the Day: Italian Opera Houses and Festivals, by Karyl Charna Lynn
Karyl Charna Lynn has written six books on opera houses, companies, and architecture, including The National Trust Guide to Great Opera Houses in America and Opera Companies and Houses of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. She is also a feature writer for Opera Now and Opera-Opera.
No comments:
Post a Comment