Music database

Musician

Luigi Illica

Luigi Illica

born on 9/5/1857 in Castell'Arquato, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

died on 16/12/1919 in Castell'Arquato, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Luigi Illica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Luigi Illica (9 May 1857 16 December 1919) was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini (usually with Giuseppe Giacosa), Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian composers. His most famous opera librettos are those for La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Andrea Chénier.

Illica was born at Castell'Arquato. His personal life sometimes imitated his libretti. The reason he is always photographed with his head slightly turned is because he lost his right ear in a duel over a woman. When silent films based on Illica's operas were made, his name appeared in large letters on advertisements because distributors could only guarantee that his stories would be used, and not that they would be accompanied by the music of the appropriate composer.

As a playwright of considerable quality, he is today remembered through one of Italy's oldest awards, the Luigi Illica International Prize founded in 1961, which goes to world famous opera singers, opera conductors, directors and authors. The Award is now awarded every two years and alternates with the Illica Opera Stage International Competition, which offers prizes and debut opportunities to young singers.

Librettos

The dates given are those of creations.

  • Il vassalo di Szegith[1] (Smareglia, 1884)
  • La Wally (Catalani, 1892)
  • Cristoforo Colombo (Franchetti, 1892)
  • Manon Lescaut[2] (Puccini, 1893)
  • Cornelius Schütt (Smareglia, 1893)
  • Le martire (Samaras, 1894)
  • Nozze istriane (Smareglia, 1895)
  • La Bohème [3] (Puccini, 1896)
  • Andrea Chénier (Giordano, 1896)
  • Iris (Mascagni, 1898)
  • Tosca [3] (Puccini, 1900)
  • Anton (Galeotti, 1900)
  • Medioevo Latino (Panizza, 1900)
  • Le maschere (Mascagni, 1901)
  • Il cuore della fanciulla (Buongiorno, 1901)
  • Lorenza (Mascheroni, 1901)
  • Germania (Franchetti, 1902)
  • Nadeya (Cesare Rossi, 1903)
  • Siberia (Umberto Giordano; 1903)
  • Madama Butterfly [3] (Puccini, 1904)
  • Cassandra (Gnecchi, 1905)
  • Tess (Erlanger, 1906)
  • Aurora (Panizza, 1908)
  • Il principe Zilah (Franco Alfano, 1909)
  • Hellera (Italo Montemezzi, 1909)
  • La Perugina (Edoardo Mascheroni, 1909)
  • Isabeau (Mascagni, 1911)
  • Giova a Pompei [4] (Alberto Franchetti & Umberto Giordano, 1921)

Notes

  1. with Francesco Pozza
  2. with Ruggero Leoncavallo, Marco Praga, Giuseppe Giacosa and Domenico Oliva
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 with Giuseppe Giacosa
  4. with E. Romagnoli

External links


This page was last modified 11.01.2013 01:03:03

This article uses material from the article Luigi Illica from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.