Antonio Videgain García (10 March 1869 – 9 February 1944) was a Spanish conductor and composer, who dedicated his career to writing

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of ...

s, such as ''A vuelo de pájaro''''A vuelo de pájaro'' at archive.org
/ref> and ''El vals coqueto''.

Biography

Although the details of his early years are not entirely certain, Videgain was born in

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...

and spent his childhood and adolescence in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. He began music lessons with his father and continued his education with

Ruperto Chapí Ruperto Chapí y Lorente (27 March 1851 – 25 March 1909) was a Spanish composer, and co-founder of the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers. Biography Chapí was born at Villena, the son of a Valencian barber. He trained in his home to ...

and

Tomás Bretón Tomás Bretón y Hernández (29 December 1850 – 2 December 1923) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Biography Tomás Bretón was born in Salamanca. He completed his musical studies at the School of Fine Arts in his hometown, where he ea ...

. By the age of 12, he was already playing among the first violins of the Teatro Principal orchestra in

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. Thirteen years later, he became the director of an operette (musical) and zarzuela company, making his debut in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

with a production of

Jerónimo Giménez Jerónimo (European Portuguese and Spanish) or Jerônimo (Brazilian Portuguese) may refer to: * Jerónimo (name), a given or surname, Jerome in English ** Jeronimo (singer) (born 1990), Dutch pop singer and actor * Jeronimo (band), German band of ...

. A scholarship permitted Videgain to enrol at the Conservatoire, where he received the first prize for

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

and

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

. After graduation, he traveled to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and then returned to Spain, settling in

. In 1892 he was born Antonio Videgain Reparaz his son, was a famous singer of

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and sang in EEUU (

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

) in the 1930s. In 1899, he was named director of Teatro Romea de

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

, and shortly afterwards, of the

Teatro de la Zarzuela The Teatro de la Zarzuela is a theatre in Madrid, Spain. The theatre is today mainly devoted to zarzuela (the Spanish traditional musical theatre genre), as well as operetta and recitals. History The theatre was designed by architect Jerónimo ...

commissioned him to write the openings to his zarzuelas, but they are lost. As a conductor of the Sociedad de Conciertos de Cadiz, Videgain helped cultivate the tastes of audiences in Cadiz for symphonic music. According to "those who have seem him conduct and have transmitted to us the memory of his performances of great strength and great enthusiasm. he obtained with imperceptible gestures what he wanted from the orchestra." Videgain also collaborated with the leading authors of ''

sainete A sainete (farce or titbit) was a popular Spanish comic opera piece, a one-act dramatic vignette, with music. It was often placed at the end of entertainments, or between other types of performance. It was vernacular in style, and used scenes of lo ...

s'' (a comic genre found in Spanish theatre), including

Salvador Videgain Gómez Salvador Videgain Gómez (1845–1906) was a Spanish actor, singer, Record producer, producer and composer. Private life Videgain was born in Málaga in 1845. He is of Spanish, English, Irish and Basque people, Basque ancestry. Videgain married a ...

Antonio Reparaz Antonio Reparaz (3 October 1831 – 14 April 1886) was a Spanish composer who gained renown for the success of his many operas. Career The son of a military musician, Reparaz was born in Cádiz, Andalucia. As a child he sang in the choir of th ...

, the

Quintero brothers Serafín Álvarez Quintero (March 26, 1871 – April 12, 1938) and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero (January 20, 1873 – June 14, 1944) were Spanish dramatists. Biography Quintero brothers, photograph by Kaulak Born in Utrera, Seville Province in 18 ...

, Joaquín Arqués, and Rafael Calleja, also writers to obtain the

libretti A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

for his zarzuelas. He co-wrote the music of a number of his works with others conductor, who hailed him the "musician of impossible" because of his sense of

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

and easy

melodies A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

. He died in

Works

In 1895, he wrote ''A vuelo de pájaro'', based on a text by Enrique de María, journalist-director of The Fogón

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, and in 1898, ''El vals coqueto'' in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

. Following the success of this piece, he set to music another ''sainete'' with the same characters, which became one of his most famous works: ''Buscando compañia'' in 1907, ''Películas nacionales'' or ''La gran apoteosis'' in 1917. This work was played around Spain and visited cities such as

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

, Toledo,

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

, Avila,

and

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

. But he was lost his wife Virgilia Reparaz, daughter great master of opera,

. He travelled to

in the 1890s with zarzuelas, not returning to Spain before 1926. He later returned to Argentina where he died. The best known works he conducted were ''Molinos de Viento'', ''La alegría del batallón'', ''La mazorca roja'',''La borracha'', ''La reja de la Dolores'', ''La tempranica'', ''Doloretes'', ''La revoltosa'', ''El amigo melquiades'', ''El pollo tejada'', ''El famoso Colirón'', ''El cabo Pinocho'', ''Las mujeres'', ''El mundo comedia es o el baile de Luis Alonso'', and ''De vuelta del vivero'' .

Last years

Towards the end of his life, he lived in a precarious economic situation due to the Second World War. But he could alleviate it by obtaining the position of a church musician. He did not die in poverty as he received part of the inheritance from his parents' farm in the best neighborhood of Madrid.

Notes and references

* ''La auténtica vida e historia del teatro'' (2005),

Juan José Videgain Juan José Videgain (born 30 July 1975) is a Spanish writer, actor and director. Most of Videgain's books have reached cult status thanks to their weird sense of humor in Spain. He is from an old theatrical family in Spain. Salvador Videgain is ...

book biography. * ''El teatro'' 15-27 vols. (1902). * ''Date of company Antonio Videgain UNED'
www.uned.es/centro-investigacion-SELITEN@T/pdf/signa/2.pdf
* Lybrary national of Urugua
www.periodicas.edu.uy/o/Revista_Biblioteca_Nacional/pdfs/Revista_Biblioteca_Nacional_a1_n1_1966.pdf
* ''Dates of company Antonio Videgain in Cervantesvirtual'

* ''El heraldo de Madrid'' (1888-1926). * ''El país'' (1890-1926). * ''La españa artística'' (1888-1910). * ''El adelanto de Salamanca'' (1899). * ''Eco de Cartagena'' (1896-1922). * Poliestemia https://books.google.com/books?id=sqTjOn15WBQC&dq=antonio+videgain&pg=PA105

* https://books.google.com/books?id=keWZAAAAIAAJ&q=antonio+videgain * Alacant https://books.google.com/books?id=0lldAAAAMAAJ&q=antonio+videgain * https://books.google.com/books?id=I-yA8DWEProC&q=antonio+videgain * ''Teatralerias, tres siglos de la escena'', (2018) Madrid: P & V, biography of him. {{DEFAULTSORT:Videgain, Antonio 1869 births 1944 deaths 19th-century Spanish male musicians 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Spanish male musicians 20th-century Spanish musicians Spanish male classical violinists Spanish male conductors (music) Spanish classical composers Spanish classical violinists Spanish conductors (music) Spanish emigrants to Argentina Spanish male classical composers Spanish Romantic composers

Antonio Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...