Basilio Basili (21 March 1804 – 1895) was an Italian tenor and composer. Basili was born in

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ri ...

. In 1827 he moved to

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 ...

, where he debuted on 14 September at the

Teatro de La Cruz The Teatro de la Cruz was, during its nearly 200-year existence, the principal theater for comedy in Madrid. History Founded by the Hermandad de la Soledad in 1584, it soon became the premier venue of its time for Spanish comedy. In 1743, it was ...

singing ''Otello'' by

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

. He moved permanently to Madrid in 1837, where he was a professor and served as a conductor and an occasional composer. In 1839, he made his Spanish opera debut at the Teatro de La Cruz. In 1844 he was appointed Director and Chorus Master of the Italian opera in Madrid.Operone
/ref> Later, he presented and directed a number of performances at the Ventadour of Paris, both music for orchestra and in the opera, revolving around mainly Italian and Castilian Spanish folk music. He was married to Teodora Lamadrid, sister of the famous singer , whose husband was baritone Francisco Salas. The latter was leader of the Teatro de la Cruz in 1840–1846, and for his company Basilio composed several operas including ''El contrabandista'', ''El ventorrillo de Crespo'', ''La pendencia'', ''El diablo predicador'' (claimed to be his greatest success, with text by , 1846). Basilio Basili was one of those who attempted to revive the tradition of Spanish musical theatre. In 1847, along with Hilarion Eslava and other musicians, he founded "Espana Musical," a group committed to promoting the cause of Spanish national music. In 1877 he moved 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 ...

upon the invitation of the "Comisión de la Escuela de Musica" in

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

and also gave piano lessons. In Buenos Aires he published several of his compositions. In 1885 he made a long trip to the United States and died in New York in 1895.

References

Italian operatic tenors 1804 births 1895 deaths Italian male composers Italian expatriates in Spain Italian expatriates in Argentina People from Macerata 19th-century Italian composers 19th-century Italian male opera singers {{Italy-opera-singer-stub