Gardelli, Lamberto

Gardelli, Lamberto, distinguished Italian conductor; b. Venice, Nov. 8, 1915; d. Munich, July 17, 1998. He studied piano and composition at the Liceo Musicale Rossini in Pesaro, and then completed his training in Rome with Zanella, Ariani, Petrassi, and Bustini. He was an assistant to Serafin in Rome, where he made his conducting debut at the Opera with La Traviata in 1944; then he conducted at the Royal Opera in Stockholm (1946–55). From 1955 to 1961 he was conductor of the Danish Radio Sym. Orch., and then conducted at the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest (1961–65) and at the Glyndebourne Festivals (1964–65; 1968). In 1964 he made his first appearance in the U.S. conducting I Capuleti e i Montecchi at N.Y/s Carnegie Hall. On Jan. 30, 1966, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. conducting Andrea Chenier; he remained on its roster until 1968. He made his first appearance at London’s Covent Garden in 1969 conducting Otello, and returned for the 1970–71, 1975–76, and 1979–80 seasons. From 1970 to 1975 he was music director of the Bern City Theater. From 1973 he also conducted at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. He later was chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orch. (1983–88) and of the Danish Radio Sym. Orch. in Copenhagen (1986–89). Gardelli acquired a notable reputation as an interpreter of the Italian operatic repertory. He himself composed 4 operas.

Bibliography

P. Csák, A mi L. G.nk (Budapest, 1996).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire