Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Although he was not an international conducting star, Gianandrea Gavazzeni was one of the most respected and dependable of opera conductors, considered one of the great preservers of the authentic Verdi tradition at La Scala. He was also a composer, but renounced that career.
At the age of 11 he entered the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, studying piano there from 1921 to 1924. In 1925, he entered Milan Conservatory, remaining there through 1931. His primary area of study was composition, mainly under Ildebrando Pizzetti.
He started his musical career in the traditional entry-level job of répétiteur (i.e., individual coach who ensures that singers are prepared according to the conductor's interpretation), as a pianist, and as a journalist in the field of music.
When he had an opportunity to conduct, he began to champion the music of his fellow composers Pizzetti, Luigi Dallapiccola, Gian-Francesco Mailipiero, and Goffredo Petrassi, the leading modernists on the Italian scene at the time, having also supported them in his journalistic writings.
Gavazzeni composed actively at this time. His oratorio Canti per Sant'Alessandro (1934) and an opera, Paolo e Virginia (1935), were performed and well received. He wrote additional orchestral and vocal music. But in 1949, as his conducting career was taking off, he not only announced his retirement as a composer, but also banned any further performances of his works.
In 1948 he first conducted at La Scala Opera in Milan, where he continued to conduct frequently through 1977. He was the artistic director of that house from 1965 to 1972. He also often conducted at Maggio Musicale of Florence. His British debut was at the 1957 Edinburgh Festival, conducting a guest appearance of the smaller La Scala touring company called La Piccolo Scala. He appeared at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1965, leading Anna Bolena by Donizetti, and at the Metropolitan Opera (his U.S. debut) in 1976. He conducted widely in Europe, including several appearances at the Bol'shoi in Moscow, and in Canada and the U.S. He was best known for his interpretations of operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, and the verismo school.
He continued his notable career as a music journalist. His Musicians of Europe (Musicisti d'Europe, Milan, 1954) was a notable summing up of the immediate post-War classical music scene, and biographical/musical studies of Bellini and Donizetti are also well respected.
© TiVo
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Discography
78 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Rossini: Il turco in Italia
Maria Callas, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on Oct 29, 2024
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
DONIZETTI: L'ELISIR D'AMORE
Opera - Released by Nar Classical on Apr 12, 2023
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Ponchielli : La Gioconda
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Jan 1, 1958
The Qobuz Essential DiscographyAvailable in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Mascagni: L'amico Fritz
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jul 1, 2000
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Verdi · rigoletto
Ettore Bastianini, Renata Scotto, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on Jan 1, 1960
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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La Battaglia di Legnano
Opera - Released by Myto Historical on Aug 24, 2011
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Verdi: La battaglia di Legnano & La forza del destino
Opera - Released by Myto Historical on Aug 24, 2011
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Operatic Recital
Carlo Bergonzi, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1958
The Qobuz Essential DiscographyAvailable in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Pietro Mascagni: Parisina Atto IV, Guardando la Santa Teresa del Bernini, Intermezzi e Sinfonie da opere
Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Released by Materiali Sonori on Dec 4, 2015
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1978
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Rossini: Il turco in Italia (1954 - Gavazzeni) - Callas Remastered
Maria Callas, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1955
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Anita Cerquetti Recital
Anita Cerquetti, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin
Opera Extracts - Released by Decca on Apr 30, 2019
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Giordano: Andrea Chénier
Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Ettore Bastianini, Fiorenza Cossotto, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1970
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Verdi: Rigoletto (Mono Version)
Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Ettore Bastianini, Renata Scotto
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1960
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
15 Great Singers - Antonietta Stella
Antonietta Stella, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Bruno Bartoletti, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Tullio Serafin
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1993
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
BELLINI: NORMA
Opera - Released by Nar Classical on Apr 12, 2023
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Bellini: Il Pirata
Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Coro e Orchestra della Radiotelevisione Italiana, Roma
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1971
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Verdi: Rigoletto
Ettore Bastianini, Alfredo Kraus, Renata Scotto, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin , Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Opera - Released by Urania Records on Jan 1, 1960
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Children (Remastered 2024)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Orchestra Sinfonica Di Roma Della RAI, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Released by Urania Records on Oct 31, 2024
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Children (Remastered 2024)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Orchestra Sinfonica Di Roma Della RAI, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Released by Urania Records on Oct 31, 2024
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo