Anthony di Bonaventura (November 12, 1929 – November 12, 2012) was an American pianist and Professor of Music at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
's College of Fine Arts for 40 years. He was the director of a Piano Institute at
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...
Piano Institute (1978–2003) and then at
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...
(2004–12).
Early life
Anthony di Bonaventura was born on November 12, 1929 in
Follansbee,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
. He was the son of Ferdinando di Bonaventura, a barber, and Rosaria "Rose" (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Santomo) di Bonaventura.
Anthony began piano studies at the age of three and gave the first professional concert at the age of four. Then he won a scholarship to New York's Music School Settlement at six.
At thirteen, he appeared as a soloist with the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
.
At sixteen, he became a pupil of
Isabelle Vengerova
Isabelle Vengerova ( be, Ізабэла Венгерава; 7 February 1956) was a Russian, later American, pianist and music teacher.
She was born Izabella Afanasyevna Vengerova (Изабелла Афанасьевна Венгерова) in M ...
and later entered the
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship.
Hi ...
, where he continued his studies with Vengerova and graduated with highest honors.
Career
Enthusiastic acclaim by critics and audiences came early in his career. After his Washington debut,
Paul Hume of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
' wrote: "He can stand with the great players of Mozart's keyboard music." His brilliant performances in an early European tour led to his selection by the great conductor
Otto Klemperer
Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...
to perform the complete Beethoven Concerti at the London Beethoven Festival.
Di Bonaventura gave performances in 28 countries, including appearances with the
London Philharmonic
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
,
Vienna Symphony
The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, german: Wiener Symphoniker) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Konzerthaus, Vienna, Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikv ...
,
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
,
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
,
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...
,
Chicago Symphony,
Royal Philharmonic
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works.
The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
,
Pittsburgh Symphony
The ''Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra'' (''PSO'') is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.
History
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an Americ ...
,
San Francisco Symphony, and the
Vienna Symphony
The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, german: Wiener Symphoniker) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Konzerthaus, Vienna, Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikv ...
. He has given solo recitals at
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
,
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
,
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
,
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
,
Concertgebouw
The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls i ...
, and
Musikverein, as well as performances at festivals of Spoleto, Ann Arbor, Saratoga, Bergen, Lucca, Zagreb, and Donaueschingen.
World premieres of specially written works by Berio, Kelemen, Persichetti, and Ginastera. Recordings for Columbia, RCA Connoisseur Society, and Sine Qua Non.
Many distinguished composers such as
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...
,
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...
,
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas.
Biography
Ginastera was born in Buen ...
,
Milko Kelemen
Milko Kelemen (30 March 1924 – 8 March 2018) was a Croatian composer.
Life
Milko Kelemen was born in Slatina, Croatia (then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). He studied under Stjepan Šulek in Zagreb, under Olivier Messiaen in Paris ...
and
Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, he was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own wo ...
wrote works especially for him. He premiered Ligeti's Piano Concerto (1986), Ginastera's Piano Sonata No. 2 (1992), Berio's ''Points on the Curve to Find'' (1975), Persichetti's Piano Concerto (1968), and other works. Anthony served as the Director of the Summer Piano Institute, Colby College and later
West Chester University
West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...
.
In 1991, he performed the Netherlands premiere of
Witold Lutosławski
Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyman ...
's Piano Concerto with the composer conducting, followed by performances also conducted by Lutoslawski with the
Boston Symphony
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
, Polish National Radio Symphony and
San Francisco Symphony in 1993, on the occasion of the composer's 80th birthday.
Legacy
He made a number of recordings. His recording of
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
's
''Études'' has been described by ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' as "one of the wonders of the world". Other recordings include 14 of Scarlatti's Keyboard Sonatas, and Rachmaninoff's Preludes. Op. 32.
Among his notable pupils were Fabio Parrini,
Horia Mihail, Aidas Puodziukas and his protégé
Konstantinos Papadakis.
Claude Labelle, Russell Hirshfield, Maurícy Martin, Claudia Knafo, Victor Cayres, Ellie Perrone.
Personal life
In 1953,
he married
Sara Roosevelt Whitney (1932-2021), daughter of
Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney
Betsey Maria Cushing Whitney (May 18, 1908 – March 25, 1998) was an American philanthropist, a former daughter-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later wife of U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St James's, John Hay Whitney.
Early li ...
and
James Roosevelt II (1907–1991), the eldest son of
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and
First Lady
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
.
Before their divorce in 1972, they had five children together:
* Anthony Peter ''Christopher'' Di Bonaventura (b. 1954),
* Andrea Isabella Di Bonaventura (b. 1956),
* Peter John Di Bonaventura (b. 1957)
* Sarina Rosaria Di Bonaventura (b. 1959)
* Betsy Maria Di Bonaventura (b. 1963).
Bonaventura died on November 12, 2012 in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, aged 83, and was predeceased by his second wife Muriel Applebee di Bonaventura.
His brother was symphony conductor Mario di Bonaventura, and his nephew is film producer
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Lorenzo di Bonaventura (; born January 13, 1957) is an American film producer and founder and owner of Di Bonaventura Pictures. He is best known for producing the G.I. Joe and ''Transformers'' film series. The films he produced have earned over ...
.
References
External links
Recordings released by Centaur Records, Inc.recording of Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Binghamton Philharmonic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Bonaventura, Anthony
1929 births
2012 deaths
American classical pianists
Male classical pianists
American male pianists
Colby College faculty
Piano pedagogues
American music educators
Curtis Institute of Music alumni
Boston University faculty
West Chester University faculty
Roosevelt family
20th-century classical pianists
20th-century American pianists