Lamberto Gardelli | |
|---|---|
 Gardelli in 1962 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 8 November 1915 (1915-11-08) |
| Died | 17 July 1998 (1998-07-18) (aged 82) Munich, Germany |
Lamberto Gardelli (8 November 1915 – 17 July 1998) was an Italian naturalized Swedishconductor,[1] particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory, especially the works ofGiuseppe Verdi.
Born inVenice, Italy, Gardelli studied withAmilcare Zanella and Adriano Ariani at the Liceo Musicale Rossini inPesaro, and later at theAccademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He started his career as a pianist (appearing in public at the age of eight) and double-bass player in Italy. In addition to vocal studies he took composition classes withGoffredo Petrassi, and later spent eight years as an assistant toSerafin, also working withMascagni during this period.[2]
He made his conducting debut at theRome Opera withLa traviata in 1944. Professionally, he continued to have a major career in Europe in addition to making recordings of many neglected operas.
Gardelli was permanent guest conductor with the Royal Swedish Orchestra from 1946–1955, and conductor at theRoyal Swedish Opera from 1947, working with singers such asJussi Björling andBirgit Nilsson. He also conducted at theDrottningholm Theatre, and eventually adopted Swedish nationality and became a Court conductor.[2] He was a conductor of the Danish Radio Orchestra from 1955–1961, then music director at theHungarian State Opera from 1961 until 1966 and continued to appear in Budapest up until the 1990s.[1] He made guest appearances at theGlyndebourne Festival from 1964 (withMacbeth, which was filmed), theRoyal Opera House in London (during the period 1969–1982), theMetropolitan Opera in New York (debut 1966) and Deutsche Oper Berlin. He was chief Conductor of theMunich Radio Orchestra from 1982 to 1985 and of theDanish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1986 until 1988.
Later in his career in Budapest he was noted for performances ofBruckner andMahler symphonies. He "showed a firm command of a work's structure and used expressive nuance with discernment, eschewing any hint of excess".[3]
He was made an "Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" in 1995, by theMinistère de la Culture (France).
He composed five operas, of which onlyL'impresario delle Americhe of 1959 was performed (Hungarian TV, 1982),[1] while a post-RomanticRequiem was well received at performances in Budapest.[3]
Gardelli died on 17 July 1998 inMunich, Germany,[4] at the age of 82.
Gardelli was considered a specialist in the works of Verdi and he made several recordings of that composer's operas in the 1960s and 1970s, conducting pioneering recordings of the neglected early operas with record companies such asPhilips and Orfeo. These includedAlzira,Attila,Stiffelio,I masnadieri,Ernani,Oberto,Un giorno di regno,Il corsaro, as well as more well-known works such asNabucco,Macbeth,La traviata,La forza del destino.
While not limiting himself to Verdi, he recorded the first complete French version ofRossini'sGuillaume Tell andGiordano'sFedora with the rarely recordedMagda Olivero. He made studio recordings of four Respighi operas withHungaroton. He was also mentor to several noted sopranos, includingLucia Aliberti andSylvia Sass. His non-operatic recordings include orchestral works byG. Bizet,H.D. Koppel,F. Mendelssohn,I. Pizzetti andO. Respighi.
Some of his full opera recordings[5] include:
| Cultural offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief Conductor, Münchner Rundfunkorchester 1982–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Principal Conductor, Danish National Symphony Orchestra 1986–1988 | Succeeded by |
