Umberto Giordano facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Umberto Giordano
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Umberto Giordano (1896) by Gaetano Esposito
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| Born | 28 August 1867 |
| Died | 12 November 1948 (aged 81) Milan, Italy
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| Occupation | Composer |
Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (born August 28, 1867 – died November 12, 1948) was an important Italian composer. He was famous for writing operas, which are like plays where the story is told mostly through singing and music. His most well-known opera is called Andrea Chénier, which he wrote in 1896.
Giordano was born in a town called Foggia in southern Italy. He studied music at the Conservatoire of Naples with a teacher named Paolo Serrao.
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Early Works and Style
Giordano wrote his first opera, Marina, for a competition. This competition was important because it helped start a new style of Italian opera called verismo. This style focused on realistic stories about everyday people, often showing strong emotions.
Even though Marina didn't win the competition, it was noticed by the music publishers Casa Sonzogno. They liked it enough to ask Giordano to create a full opera based on it. This new version was called Mala vita and was performed in Rome in 1892. It was also performed successfully in other European cities like Vienna and Berlin. Later, Giordano rewrote it again and called it Il Voto.
Giordano then tried writing an opera with a more romantic story, called Regina Diaz (1894). However, this opera was not very successful and only played a couple of times.
Famous Operas
After moving to Milan, Giordano returned to the verismo style. This is when he created his most famous work, Andrea Chénier (1896). This opera tells the story of a French poet named André Chénier. It became a huge success and is still performed around the world today.
Two years later, he wrote another successful opera called Fedora (1898). This opera was based on a play by Victorien Sardou. A very famous young singer named Enrico Caruso performed in Fedora, which helped make it even more popular. Fedora is also still performed today.
Some of Giordano's later operas are not as well known, but they are still respected by music experts. One of these is La cena delle beffe (1924). Umberto Giordano passed away in Milan when he was 81 years old.
Legacy
Giordano's hometown of Foggia has honored him in several ways. The most important theater in Foggia is named after Umberto Giordano. There is also a square in Foggia named after him. This square has statues that represent characters and scenes from his most famous operas.
Operas
Here is a list of the operas Umberto Giordano composed:
- Marina (1888)
- Mala vita (February 21, 1892, Teatro Argentina, Rome)
- Regina Diaz (March 5, 1894, Teatro Mercadante, Naples)
- Andrea Chénier (March 28, 1896, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- Fedora (November 17, 1898, Teatro Lirico, Milan)
- Il Voto (a new version of Mala Vita) (September 6, 1902, Teatro Bellini, Naples)
- Siberia (December 19, 1903, Teatro alla Scala, Milan, updated in 1927)
- Marcella (November 9, 1907, Teatro Lirico, Milan)
- Mese mariano (March 17, 1910, Teatro Massimo, Palermo)
- Madame Sans-Gêne (January 25, 1915, Metropolitan Opera, New York)
- Giove a Pompei (July 6, 1921, Teatro La Pariola, Rome)
- La cena delle beffe (December 20, 1924, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- Il re (January 12, 1929, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- La festa del Nilo (this opera was not finished)
