Gianfranco Masini (26 November 1937 – 18 June 1993) was an Italian orchestra conductor, primarily known for conducting opera. During the course of his career he was a principal conductor at the
Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste and at the
Arena di Verona Festival. He appeared in numerous opera houses in Europe and North America as a guest conductor and was the principal guest conductor of the
Stadttheater Bonn
Theater Bonn (also known as the Stadttheater Bonn) is the municipal theatre company of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is an organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts. It operates several performance ...
in 1990. At the time of his death, he was the principal conductor and artistic director of
Montpellier Opera.
['' The Independent'' (30 June 1993)]
"Obituary: Gianfranco Masini"
Retrieved 18 March 2016.
Masini was born in
Reggio Emilia
Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...
, Italy and studied composition and conducting in the conservatories of Parma and
Bologna, followed by further studies in Vienna with
Hermann Scherchen
Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor.
Life
Scherchen was born in Berlin. Originally a violist, he played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens. He conducted in Riga ...
. He made his conducting debut in 1966 with ''
La bohème'' at the Teatro Municipale di Reggio Emilia. In addition to his live performances, Masini made several full-length opera recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Philips and Ricordi. His last performances were conducting ''
La forza del destino
' (; ''The Power of Fate'', often translated ''The Force of Destiny'') is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, ' (1835), by Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas, wi ...
'' at Montpellier Opera in early June 1993. He resigned for health reasons shortly thereafter and died in his native city at the age of 55. In 2013, the 20th anniversary of his death, the auditorium at the Achille Peri Conservatory in Reggio Emilia was named in his honour.
[City of Reggio Emilia]
"Lunedì 22 aprile l'Auditorium del 'Peri' sarà intitolato a Gianfranco Masini"
Retrieved 18 March 2016 .
References
1937 births
1993 deaths
Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini alumni
Italian male conductors (music)
People from Reggio Emilia
20th-century Italian conductors (music)
20th-century Italian male musicians
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