Piero Bellugi (14 July 1924 – 10 June 2012) was an Italian
orchestral conductor
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties ...
.
Life
Bellugi was born in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
, in Tuscany, on 14 July 1924. He took a diploma in violin at the
Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini
The Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini is located in piazza delle Belle Arti in Florence. The conservatory, among the most important in Italy, is named after the Florentine composer Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842).
History
The conservatory occupies p ...
in that city, studying under . He studied
conducting under
Paul van Kempen
Paul van Kempen (16 May 1893 – 8 December 1955) was a Dutch conductor.
Personal life
Van Kempen was born in Zoeterwoude, Netherlands. He studied at the Amsterdam conservatory from 1910 to 1913, including composition and conducting with Ju ...
at the
Accademia Musicale Chigiana
The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Class ...
in
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
and under
Igor Markevitch
Igor Borisovich Markevitch (russian: Игорь Борисович Маркевич, ''Igor Borisovich Markevich'', uk, Ігор Борисович Маркевич, ''Ihor Borysovych Markevych''; 27 July 1912 – 7 March 1983) was a Russian- ...
at the summer academy of the
Universität Mozarteum Salzburg
Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Moz ...
in Austria. In 1951, with the help of a study grant, he travelled to the United States, where he studied under
William Steinberg
William Steinberg (Cologne, August 1, 1899New York City, May 16, 1978) was a German-American conductor.
Biography
Steinberg was born Hans Wilhelm Steinberg in Cologne, Germany. He displayed early talent as a violinist, pianist, and composer, ...
and
Rafael Kubelík
Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer.
Son of a well-known violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague, and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of ...
, and at the
Berkshire Music Center at
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...
under
Leonard Bernstein. On 10 August 1951 he conducted a performance of ''
Ma mère l'oye'' by
Maurice Ravel there.
From 1954 to 1956 he was conductor of the
Tri-City Symphony Orchestra in
Davenport, Iowa. Between 1956 and 1961 he was resident conductor of the
Oakland Symphony Orchestra and of the
Portland Symphony Orchestra The Portland Symphony Orchestra was established in 1923 in Portland, Maine as the Amateur Strand Symphony Orchestra. Started by a small group of musicians who had sent out invitations to join their organization to people in the area, they had their ...
.
From 1960 he received invitations to conduct in Europe, and conducted the orchestra of the
Rundfunk der DDR
Rundfunk der DDR (, 'GDR Broadcasting'; from about 1948 to 1972 Deutscher Demokratischer Rundfunk, 'German Democratic Broadcasting') was the collective designation for radio broadcasting organized by the State Broadcasting Committee in the Germa ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, and the orchestra of
La Scala in Milan, where his first performance was in the ''
Serse
''Serse'' (; English title: ''Xerxes''; HWV 40) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in London on 15 April 1738. The Italian libretto was adapted by an unknown hand from that by Silvio Stampiglia (1 ...
'' of
George Frideric Handel in 1962. He conducted the first performances of
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
's ''Symphony No. 10'' in 1961 and of the ''Settimo Concerto'' of
Goffredo Petrassi
Goffredo Petrassi (16 July 1904 – 3 March 2003) was an Italian composer of modern classical music, conductor, and teacher. He is considered one of the most influential Italian composers of the twentieth century.Petrassi, Goffredo. (2008). ...
in 1965. From 1969 to 1974 he was the resident conductor of the
Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI, at that time one of four orchestras of the
RAI
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...
, the national broadcaster. In 2004 he was appointed artistic director of the
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II.
It is the biggest in Italy, and one of the largest of Europe (at the time of its i ...
, the opera house of
Palermo. As a guest he conducted the
Aix-en-Provence Festival
The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental ...
, the
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
, the
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia) is an Italian symphony orchestra based in Rome. Resident at the Parco della Musica, the orchestra primarily performs its Rome concerts in ...
in Rome, the
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...
and the
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...
.
Piero Bellugi taught master-classes at several institutions including the
Accademia Musicale Chigiana
The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Class ...
in Siena, the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, and the
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...
in Boston. From 1996 he gave classes at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence. He was also a permanent conductor of the
Orchestra Giovanile Italiana
The Orchestra Giovanile Italiana (OGI, ''Italian Youth Orchestra'') is the national youth orchestra of Italy. It was founded in 1984 by Piero Farulli at the Fiesole School of Music.
Conductors that have worked with the OGI include Claudio Abba ...
and the Toscanini Orchestra of Parma.
He died in Florence on 10 June 2012.
Family
In 1954 he married
Ursula Herzberger. Their son
David Bellugi was a
recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
virtuoso. He had five children in all.
References
Further reading
*Music World. ''The New York Times'', 15 July 1962, page 71.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellugi, Piero
1924 births
2012 deaths
Italian conductors (music)
Italian male conductors (music)
Mozarteum University Salzburg alumni
Oregon Symphony
Musicians from Florence