Chapi (y Lorente), Ruperto
Chapi (y Lorente), Ruperto
Chapi (y Lorente), Ruperto, Spanish composer; b. Villena, near Alicante, March 27, 1851; d. Madrid, March 25, 1909. He studied at the Cons, of Madrid, and received a stipend from the Spanish Academy for further study in Rome (1874). He wrote some operas (La hija de Jefte, La hija de Garcilaso, etc.), but discovered that his talent found more suitable expression in the lighter zarzuela, in which form his first success was won with La Tempestad (Tivoli, March 11, 1882). His work is noted for elegance, grace, and exquisite orchestration. Of one of his zarzuelas (La revoltosa, Apolo, Nov. 25, 1897), Saint-Saëns remarked that Bizet would have been proud to sign his name to the score. His last zarzuela, Margarita la Tornera (Madrid, Feb. 24, 1909), was produced shortly before his death. Chapi wrote 155 zarzuelas and 6 operas. In 1893 he founded the Sociedad de Autores, Compositores y Editores de Musica.
Bibliography
A. Salcedo, R. G, Su vida y sus obras (Madrid, 1929); J. Aguilar Gomez, R. C. y su obra lirica (Alicante, 1973).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire