Pietro Mascagni[a] (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italiancomposer primarily known for hisoperas. His 1890 masterpieceCavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in theVerismo movement in Italian dramatic music. While it was often held that Mascagni, likeRuggero Leoncavallo, was a "one-opera man" who could never repeat his first success,L'amico Fritz andIris have remained in the repertoire in Europe (especially Italy) since their premieres.[7]
Mascagni wrote fifteen operas, anoperetta, several orchestral and vocal works, and also songs and piano music. He enjoyed immense success during his lifetime, both as a composer andconductor of his own and other people's music and created a variety of styles in his operas.
Mascagni was born on 7 December 1863 inLivorno,Tuscany, the second son of Domenico and Emilia Mascagni. His father owned and operated a bakery.Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti ("Nanni") was born the same year in the same city and became Mascagni's lifelong friend and collaborator.
In 1876, at the age of 13, Mascagni began musical studies with Alfredo Soffredini, who founded theInstituto Musicale di Livorno (later calledIstituto Cherubini). Soffredini had just completed his musical studies inMilan. Also a native of Livorno, Soffredini was a composer, teacher and musical critic. Mascagni started composing rapidly: between 1879 and 1880, he wrote several works:Sinfonia in do minore,Prima sinfonia in fa maggiore,Elegia,Kyrie,Gloria andAve Maria.
The premiere of Mascagni's firstcantata,In Filanda, took place at the Istituto Cherubini on 9 February 1881. Performed at a musical contest in Milan, the cantata won the first prize. In the same year, Mascagni met the musiciansArrigo Boito andAmilcare Ponchielli in Milan.
In 1882, he composed hisCantata alla gioia from a text byFriedrich Schiller, followed byLa stella di Garibaldi for voice and piano, andLa tua stella. On 6 May Mascagni left Livorno for Milan. He passed the admission examination of theMilan Conservatory on 12 October. In Milan, Mascagni met the noted composerGiacomo Puccini, and was a student ofAmintore Galli, artistic director of theCasa Musicale Sonzogno [it].[8]
On 9 January 1883, Mascagni's sister, Maria, died. The cantataIn Filanda becamePinotta, and was proposed for the musical contest of the Conservatorio, but as his registration was late, it was not accepted.
In 1884, he composedBallata fortenor andpiano;M'ama non m'ama,scherzo forsoprano and piano;Messagio d'amore, andAlla luna.
In 1885, Mascagni composedIl Re a Napoli in Cremona, a romance for tenor andorchestra, on a text byAndrea Maffei. He left Milan without completing his studies. That year, he began touring as a conductor in the operetta companies of Vittorio Forlì, Alfonso and Ciro Scognamiglio, and, inGenoa, the company ofLuigi Arnaldo Vassallo.
Mascagni met the impresario Luigi Maresca in 1886 and started working with him. That December, Mascagni arrived inCerignola with Maresca's company. He was accompanied by Argenide Marcellina Carbognani (Lina), his future wife. Helped by the mayor Giuseppe Cannone, Mascagni soon left the company of Maresca, though not without problems.
He was appointed as the master of music and singing of the new philharmonia of Cerignola. His reputation grew. He also gave piano lessons. In February 1888, he began work on theMessa di Gloria. In July 1888, Casa Musicale Sonzogno announced in theTeatro Illustrato its second competition for a one-act opera, to be judged by a panel including Galli andAntonio Ghislanzoni. The following year, Mascagni completed his composition ofCavalleria rusticana on 27 May and sent the manuscript to Milan. Mascagni won against seventy-two other operas, includingNiccola Spinelli'sLabilia andVincenzo Ferroni [it]'sRudello.[9]
Mascagni married Lina Carbognani on 3 February 1889. The next day their first son, Domenico Mascagni ("Mimì"), was born. Their son Dino was born on 3 January 1891. A daughter, Emi, was born in 1892.
On 21 February 1890, Mascagni was summoned to Rome to present his opera. The première ofCavalleria rusticana, winner of the Sonzogno contest, was held 17 May at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. It had outstanding success, and the opera was soon performed in both the north and south of Italy:Florence,Turin,Bologna,Palermo,Milan,Genoa,Naples,Venice andTrieste.
Mascagni premiered hisL'amico Fritz, his second most successful opera, on 31 October 1891 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.I Rantzau premiered on 10 November at the Teatro La Pergola, in Florence, under his personal direction.
The composer next completedSilvano (1894). On 16 February 1895, he premieredGuglielmo Ratcliff at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan. On 15 MarchSilvano was premiered at the same theatre. That year, Mascagni accepted the directorship of theLiceo Rossini inPesaro and moved his family there.
On 2 March 1896, Mascagni conducted the première ofZanetto at the Liceo. He continued his composing and directing. On 29 June 1898 inRecanati, Mascagni conducted the première of hissymphonic poem,AGiacomo Leopardi. Mascagni began a collaboration withLuigi Illica, a librettist. Their first work,Iris, was premiered on 22 November at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.
In 1900, Mascagni toured Moscow andSt. Petersburg and, on 17 January 1901,Le maschere was premiered in six Italian theatres.Giuseppe Verdi died on 27 January and the following month Mascagni commemorated Verdi's passing. That same year, he conducted Verdi'sRequiem in Vienna.
Mascagni composed theincidental music forHall Caine's play,The Eternal City in August 1902; the première of the play with Mascagni's music took place in London on 2 October.
In 1902 and 1903, he toured in Canada and the United States, (in particularMontreal, New York City,Philadelphia,Boston and San Francisco), where he conducted many of his and other composers' works. The tour was mostly a fiasco, except for the visit to San Francisco where Mascagni was extremely well received.
In 1903, Mascagni left Pesaro after problems with the authorities. He became director of theScuola Musicale Romana, in Rome. In the same year, he signed a contract with the French editorPaul de Choudens.
Amica, based on a poem by Choudens with a French libretto byPaul Collin,[10] was premiered on 16 March 1905, in Monte-Carlo. That year, he had disputes withRuggero Leoncavallo andGiacomo Puccini. He also had the Livornese première ofLe maschere.
Mascagni was director of the Costanzi for the season beginning in August 1909.
On 4 April 1910, Mascagni began a relationship with Anna Lolli. In October he was reconciled with Puccini.
Mascagni ceased his activity as director of the Scuola Musicale Romana in 1911. That May he left forBuenos Aires, beginning a seven-month tour in South America. The première ofIsabeau took place in Buenos Aires on 2 June.
The Italian première ofIsabeau was held simultaneously at La Scala in Milan (conductorTullio Serafin) and atLa Fenice inVenice (conductor Mascagni) in 1912. On 28 March, he began to work onParisina in Bellevue, near Paris, sometimes with his daughter Emi, his mistress Anna Lolli, and the librettistGabriele d'Annunzio.
Parisina was premiered in Milan on 15 December of that year. Almost all the important Italian composers of the time were present, among them Puccini,Umberto Giordano andRiccardo Zandonai. The new work was premiered in Livorno and Rome in 1914. On 28 July, the events occurred that shortly led to World War I: Puccini and Mascagni were against the involvement of Italy in this war, in which Mascagni's son Dino was later made a prisoner.
In 1915 Mascagni wrote music for Nino Oxilia's movieRapsodia Satanica; the custom was for silent films to be accompanied live in a theatre by organ, piano, or an orchestra, often using a prepared score (sometimes with original music) with cues for the conductor or musician. Mascagni had a quarrel regarding the rights of Louise de la Ramée'sTwo Little Wooden Shoes(I due Zoccoletti), which inspired both Puccini and Mascagni. The subject was retained by Mascagni forLodoletta. The latter opera was premiered on 30 April 1917 in Rome. The Livornese première of the opera was on 28 July withBeniamino Gigli as Flammen.
Sì, Mascagni's operetta, which he had been manoeuvred into writing by the impresarioCarlo Lombardo, was premiered on 13 December in Rome.
In 1920 Mascagni composedIl piccolo Marat, which was premiered in Rome on 2 May 1921, followed by a premiere inBuenos Aires in September. The composer returned to South America for a tour beginning in May 1922.
In 1923, he composedVisione Lirica. Mascagni appeared on the cover ofTimeon 6 September 1926.
He moved to the Grand Hotel Plaza in Rome in 1927, a place he would not leave until his death.
Pinotta was premiered inSan Remo on 23 March 1932. He joined the PNF (Fascist party), following the example of many contemporary musicians, includingGiordano.
Nerone was premièred in Milan on 16 January 1935, followed by the première in Livorno on 24 August.
In 1940, celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of his most popular opera,Cavalleria rusticana, took place all over Italy, often with Mascagni conducting. The opera was recorded forLa Voce del padrone ("His Master's Voice") at La Scala under the direction of Mascagni, who recorded a special spoken introduction. EMI later reissued the recording on LP and CD.
In 1942, after an audience withPope Pius XII, newspapers quoted Mascagni, aRoman Catholic, as saying that histuberculosis-stricken niece was cured after receiving a rosary and silver medal blessed by the pope.[11]
In April 1943, Mascagni appeared for the last time at La Scala to conductL'amico Fritz. By that time he had to conduct sitting on a chair. The last season of Mascagni at theRome Opera (Cavalleria rusticana andL'amico Fritz) was 1944–45.
Mascagni died on 2 August 1945 in his apartment at the Grand Hotel Plaza in Rome. The funeral ceremony was on 4 August. The Italian authorities were not present. In 1951, his body was transferred from Rome to Livorno, where Mascagni finally received an official homage. On 7 December 1963, the centenary of Mascagni's birth, a plaque was erected in Rome on the Albergo del Sole where Mascagni stayed during the premiere ofCavalleria rusticana.
Le maschere (17 January 1901 Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa – Teatro Regio, Turin – Teatro alla Scala, Milan – Teatro La Fenice, Venice – Teatro Filarmonico, Verona – Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
During his long career, Mascagni contemplated writing many operas. The following is an incomplete list of such projects, which never saw the light of day:
Zilia, probably on a libretto by Felice Romani (c. 1877)
Scampolo, probably on a libretto by Dario Niccodemi (c. 1921)
I Bianchi ed i Neri, on a libretto by Mario Ghisalberti (c. 1938)
^Di Cesare, Maria Carmela (1998). "Galli, Amintore".Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani [Biographical Dictionary of Italians] (in Italian). Vol. 51. Retrieved5 January 2024.
^Greenwald, Helen M. (2023). "Coupling: Mascagni and Leoncavallo".Royal Opera House Programme for Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci.Royal Opera House:30–35.
^Flury, Roger (2001).Pietro Mascagni – A Bio-Bibliography. London: Greenwood Press.ISBN0-313-29662-6.
