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Ciro Pinsuti (9 May 1829 – 10 March 1888) was anAnglo-Italiancomposer. Educated in music for a career as apianist, he studied composition underRossini. From 1848 he made his home in England, where he became a teacher of singing, and in 1856 he was made a professor at theAcademy of Music in London.[1]
Pinsuti composed numerous songs and part-songs which achieved popularity in the Victorian era. He also composed three operas, which were produced in Italy, but which are rarely performed today.[1] He is most remembered for his popular parlour songs such as "I Fear no Foe" and the "Bedouin love song".
He was born inSinalunga nearSiena, Italy, the son of Maddalena Formichi and G. Battista Pinsuti, who was the music teacher of the local orchestra. After studying music with a friend of his father, he made his first public appearance on 7 March 1840 at the age of ten in the Civic Theatre of Perugia playing the violin in the orchestra.[2] After the season, his father took him to Rome, where he played for several important Roman families, and gaining access to theAccademia di Santa Cecilia.
British MPHenry Drummond saw Ciro performing and proposed to his father that he would pay for Ciro's tuition at the conservatory of Naples, provided that Ciro came to London to perform. Pinsuti remained in London for five years, after which he chose to study withGioachino Rossini at theBologna Conservatory. Rossini, who befriended Pinsuti, advised him to return to London after finishing his studies, as Britain represented the best prospects for his future career.[3]
Having returned to London, Pinsuti gave music lessons during the day, while performing his own compositions at evening soirees. TheRoyal Academy of Music in London appointed him as a singing teacher. He was also given posts in Italy, becoming an honorary member of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 1876, he was given an official position on the Sinalunga city council, a position he held until his death, even though his commitment was necessarily subject to his many other activities. In 1879 he conducted Verdi'sIl Trovatore at the theatre in Sinalunga, now named after him, and supported the local orchestra, which was led by his brother, Domenico Pinsuti. In 1885 his operaMargherita was staged in Venice and then in Sinalunga.[4]
Ciro Pinsuti died in Florence on March 10, 1888; his life was celebrated at his official funeral on April 10, 1888 in St. Martin's, Sinalunga.[4]
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Pinsuti composed three operas:
Margherita, performed for the first time atTeatro La Fenice in Venice in 1882 and three years later in the Municipal Theatre of Sinalunga in 1885. This work is a lyrical drama in four acts, with libretto written by A. Zanardini.
Il mercante di Venezia (The Merchant of Venice), performed for the first time at theTeatro Comunale di Bologna on 8 November 1873. This is an opera in four acts based on the play by Shakespeare, with libretto by G. T. Cimino.
Mattia Corvino (Matthias Corvinus), performed for the first time at theTeatro alla Scala in Milan on March 24, 1877, a lyrical drama in a prologue and three acts. The libretto was byCarlo D'Ormeville.
In Britain and America Pinsuti was best known for his parlour songs. One of these ballads titled "Beatrice - Kind and so modest", was a setting of Dante's sonnet XXVI fromLa Vita Nuova. His song "I fear no foe", to words by E. Oxenford, was popular and widely-sung in Britain. Other widely recorded songs included the "Bedouin love song" and "Welcome, pretty primrose".[6] Performers who recorded his songs includedPeter Dawson,J. W. Myers,Clarence Whitehill andJules Levy. His ariail libro santo was recorded byMagda Olivero. The choral songGood night, good night, beloved has been recorded byThe Sixteen.[7]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pinsuti, Ciro".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 629.