Vitale, Edoardo

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Vitale, Edoardo

Vitale, Edoardo, Italian conductor; b. Naples, Nov. 29, 1872; d. Rome, Dec. 12, 1937. He studied composition with Terziarii at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he then taught harmony (1893-97). He was only 14 when he began conducting operettas at Rome’s Teatro Metastasio. From 1897 he conducted throughout Italy. After conducting at Milan’s La Scala (1908-10), he was chief conductor of the Rome Opera (1913-26). He conducted the first Italian performances of Elektra (1904) and Boris Godunov (1909). He also led many premieres, including Mascagni’s Parisinaand Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini,and revived many works. In 1897 he married the soprano Lina Pasini.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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