Elio Battaglia (born 3 November 1933 in Palermo), is an Italian baritone, singing teacher, and author and lecturer in music. He was the founder and director of the course entitled, ''Il Lied Tedesco'' ("German Song"), which ran in

Acquasparta Acquasparta is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Terni (Umbria, central Italy). It is located on a hill above the Naia Valley and the river of the same name, facing the Monti Martani mountain range. It also sits between two hot springs, th ...

, Italy, from 1973 to 2005, and then in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

from 2007 to 2008.

Early life and education

Born in Palermo, Italy, Battaglia was educated at the schools of Adami Corradetti and

Erik Werba Erik Werba (23 May 1918 – 9 April 1992) was an Austrian classical pianist who is especially known as an accompanist of singers. He was also a music critic, conductor, composer, author and academic teacher. Career Werba was born in Baden bei ...

, before earning a diploma in singing from the Benedetto Marcello conservatoire in Venice. He then went on to study for a Doctorate in Lieder and

Oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

from

University of Music and Performing Arts The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

in Vienna.

Career

Battaglia is best renowned as a singing teacher, of opera, oratorio and art song, and was the first Italian teacher to specialise in German Lieder. In 2004, he gave

master class A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is als ...

es at the

Music Academy of the West The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California. Overview The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...

in Santa Barbara, California, hosted by

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the Natio ...

. Across Europe, his master classes have been hosted by institutions including the Accademia Musicale Pescarese since 1984 and the Mozarteum since 1993. Between 1967 and 1997, he taught singing at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica Giuseppe Verdi in Turin. He has given advanced master classes and courses in universities and conservatoires internationally, including in the United States, the former USSR, China, Japan, Korea and Europe. In Italy he has organised and held advanced vocal courses and seminars in Turin, ( Teatro Regio, Conservatorio G.Verdi), Sienna (Accademia Chigiana), Parma (Festival Verdi), Rome (Università La Sapienza), Tolentino (Teatro Vaccaj), Napoli (Conservatorio S.Pietro a Majella), Catania (Istituto Bellini), and Milan (Conservatorio G.Verdi). He is often invited to sit on judging panels in international competitions such as the Hugo Wolf International Lied Competition in Vienna, Austria and Stuttgart, Germany, and was, in 2005, the jury chairman for the 2005 Renata Tebaldi Competition in San Marino. As an author, he has written many essays and articles regarding vocal art and has edited the new teachers' edition of ''The Practical Method of Italian Singing'' by

Nicola Vaccai Nicola Vaccai (15 March 1790 – 5 or 6 August 1848) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas, and a singing teacher. Life and career as a composer Born at Tolentino, he grew up in Pesaro, and studied music there until his parents sent hi ...

. He also edited an Anthology of the German Lieder. Battaglia is often considered to be a world leader in singing teaching and an expert regarding the works of Hugo Wolf. Italian music critic and author Massimo Mila (who writes for La Stampa and

l'Unità ''l'Unità'' (, lit. 'the Unity') was an Italian language, Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, ...

) wrote of Maestro Battaglia: "...thanks to his passionate teaching style and large numbers of resident students, he has almost turned the Turin Conservatory into a branch office of the Vienna University of Music and Dramatic Art." Battaglia's teaching was so influential that for the 1991–1992 opera season's opening night at Teatro Regio in Torino, conductor

Maurizio Benini Maurizio Benini (born 1952) is an Italian conductor and composer. He made his debut in 1998 in ''L'elisir d'amore'' at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. ''Gramophone'' notes his "spirit and finesse" at conducting. He has also conducted opera perform ...

cast Humperdinck's ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

'' entirely from Battaglia's studio of singers. No event like this had ever happened before in Italy. In 1987, he was awarded the Hugo Wolf Medal from the International Hugo Wolf Society of Vienna for his artistic achievements.

Sources

*Bach-cantatas.com
Elio Battaglia (Baritone)
*The Lieder Sound Archive

(in Italian)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battaglia, Elio Living people Italian operatic baritones Musicians from Palermo University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni 1933 births