Stefano Donaudy (February 21, 1879 – May 30, 1925) was an Italian composer. Born in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

to a French father and an Italian mother, he was active in the 1890s and early 20th century, at a time when Palermo enjoyed a period of relative splendour under the influx of rich Anglo-Sicilian families such as the

Florio The Florio family was a prominent entrepreneurial Italian family who started many lucrative activities in Sicily involving the export of Sicilian products (such as Marsala wine) in the 19th century, in some ways redeeming Sicily from feudal immo ...

s and Whitakers. A variety of sources date both his first opera ''Folchetto'' and one of his most popular songs, ''Vaghissima sembianza'', to 1892, when he was only 13. After studies with the director of Palermo's Conservatoire,

Guglielmo Zuelli Guglielmo Zuelli (20 October 1859 – 17 October 1941) was an Italian composer, conductor, and music educator.Slonimsky, p. 1952 As a composer he achieved fame for his first opera ''Fata del Nord'' which premiered in Milan in 1884. Both his fi ...

, Donaudy made a living as singing teacher, coach and accompanist for some of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

's wealthiest families, while actively pursuing a career as a composer. He wrote mostly vocal music, dividing his efforts between opera and song, though he also wrote chamber and orchestral music. Practically all his song texts and

libretti A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

were supplied by or written at four-hands with his brother, Alberto Donaudy. Donaudy's most famous collection is ''36 Arie di Stile Antico'', first published by

Casa Ricordi Casa Ricordi is a publisher of primarily European classical music, classical music and opera. Its classical repertoire represents one of the important sources in the world through its publishing of the work of the major 19th-century Italian com ...

in 1918 with revisions in 1922, but using material composed from 1892 onward. Donaudy's final opera was premiered at the

Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is a historic opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

on April 25, 1922: ''La Fiamminga'' was an unmitigated fiasco, and Donaudy was so hurt that he abandoned composition for the rest of his life. He died three years later, forty-six years old. Even less information is available on the rest of his output, which seems to include a cantata ''Il sogno di Palisenda'', written before 1902, one symphonic poem, several smaller works for orchestra and «a quartet of compositions» for violin and piano.

References

Sources

* Ricordi's ''36 Arie di stile antico'' (36 Airs dans le style ancien; 36 Arias in Ancient Style)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donaudy, Stefano 1879 births 1925 deaths Italian classical composers Italian people of French descent Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers Musicians from Palermo 19th-century Italian musicians 19th-century Italian male musicians