Primo Casale (1904–1981) was an Italian-born Venezuelan conductor, composer, and violinist.
/ref> Casale was born in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Italy. He was first a violinist at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

and participated in recitals for Radio Audizioni Italiane. He came to Venezuela in 1948 and became one of the foremost teachers of composition in the country at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música Juan José Landaeta. His students include composer Alfredo del Monaco, winner of the Tomás Luis de Victoria Ibero-American Prize, and the internationally active conductors

Maria Guinand Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

and

Carmen Helena Téllez Carmen-Helena Téllez (25 September 1955, Caracas, Venezuela-10 December 2021, South Bend, Indiana) was a Venezuelan-American music conductor, producer, and composer. Reviewed as'' "a quiet force behind contemporary music in the United States to ...

. He also developed in Venezuela an intense activity as conductor, a career that had begun in Milan with a chamber orchestra that he himself had founded and which traveled through Italy and Germany. Casale was a broadcaster and promoter of the

opera in Venezuela In Venezuela, since the opening of the Teatro Municipal of Caracas, Teatro Caracas and, earlier, the Teatro Maderero (then called Teatro de la Zarzuela), there has been a great lyrical tradition ranging from serious opera to operetta, zarzuela, an ...

. In 1949 he founded the choir of the Caracas opera. This group, which played for several years without any financial support, made its debut with Elisir d' Amore on May 29, 1950. In 1969, on initiative of Rhazés Hernández López, performed the opera

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

José Ángel Montero José Ángel Montero (born Caracas October 2, 1832 - died Caracas August 24, 1881) was a Venezuelan opera composer, a contemporary of the Brazilian Antônio Carlos Gomes, Carlos Gomes. As ''maestro di capilla'' at the cathedral of Caracas he wrot ...

. Hernández López commissioned to Primo Casale the revision of the original manuscripts and its reorquestación, since some parts had gone astray. The direction of the orchestra was also in the hands of Casale. Despite his notable preference for the vocal genre, Casale also composed chamber and symphonic music. Among his most representative works: * La Perla, for voice and piano *La Domenica, for voice and piano. * 1ª Sonata, for violin and piano. *Il Canto del Creposcolo, for piano, celeste, violin I and II, viola, cello, contrabass; *Cuentos del Abuelo, for a quintet of metals; *Sonata in Do, for cello and piano. * Tres Movimientos Corales, for four-voice choir; * Motteto per 4 voci virili. * Ninna Nanna, for orchestra. * Cinque, for wood quintet ( National Composition Award, 1955). *Sonata for violin and piano ( National Composition Prize, 1957). *Sonata Concertante, for violin, viola, cello and piano (National Prize for Composition, 1964). * Cuatro Invenciones, for orchestra.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casale, Primo Venezuelan conductors (music) Male conductors (music) 1904 births 1981 deaths 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century male musicians Italian emigrants to Venezuela