Eleni Lambiri ( el, Ελένη Λαμπίρη, 9 February 1889 – 30 March 1960) was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
conductor and composer.
She is often regarded as the first female Greek
composer.
Life and career
Eleni Lambiri was born in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
, daughter of the composer
Georgios Lambiris Georgios (, , ) is a Greek name derived from the word ''georgos'' (, , "farmer" lit. "earth-worker"). The word ''georgos'' (, ) is a compound of ''ge'' (, , "earth", "soil") and ''ergon'' (, , "task", "undertaking", "work").
It is one of the mo ...
and granddaughter of the poet
Andreas Laskaratos. She studied composition with
Edoardo Sacredote at the Athens Conservatory (from 1907 to 1908). In fact she was the first woman who studied composition at the Athens Conservatory, earning her the title of the first Greek female composer.
Subsequently, she studied composition with
Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Leipzig University Church, as a professor a ...
and conducting with
Hans Scheidt in the Royal Conservatory of
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
(from 1908 to 1911), graduating in 1911. In 1913 the operetta «To apokriatiko oneiro» (A dream in carnival), with a libretto by
Gregorios Xenopoulos
Gregorios Xenopoulos ( el, Γρηγόριος Ξενόπουλος; December 9, 1867 – 14 January 1951) was a novelist, journalist and playwright from Zakynthos. He was lead editor in the magazine ''The Education of Children'' (Η Διάπλα� ...
and music by Eleni Lambiri was performed at the Panellinion Τheatre.
After completing her studies, she worked in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...
as a conductor. On 15 January 1915 she registered the author's rights of the opereta «Isolma», at the Milan regional registry (number of registry 64794). «Isolma» was an operetta in three acts fully composed and written by Eleni Lambiri. This opereta has been recorded in 1958, by Totis Karalivanos as conductor and Spiros Kapsaskis as choir director. In about 1925 she returned to
Patras, Greece, where she worked as director of the Patras Conservatory until 1953. At the same time she wrote the music criticism for the local newspaper of Patras «Neologos Patron». She died at the Municipal Hospital of Athens.
Works
Selected works include:
* ''To apokriatiko oneiro'' (A Dream in Carnival) 1913, opereta
* ''Isolma'' 1915, opereta
* ''Ballad'' for soprano and piano, 1933, (now lost)
* String quartet in A major
* Serenata for flute violin and viola
* Symphony for large orchestra in B minor
* ``Iratzi N,`` opera, in libretto L.Orsini
[Ta Nea Kefallinias kai Ithakis 3/9/1960 issue number 172]
References
1889 births
1960 deaths
20th-century classical composers
Women classical composers
Greek classical composers
Ionian School (music)
Music educators
Musicians from Athens
Women music educators
20th-century women composers
20th-century Greek musicians
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