Spyridon-Filiskos Samaras (also Spyros, Spiro Samára; el, Σπυρίδων Σαμάρας) () was a Greek

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

particularly admired for his

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libret ...

who was part of the generation of composers that heralded the works of

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

. His compositions were praised worldwide during his lifetime and he is arguably the most important composer of the Ionian School. He composed also the Olympic Hymn on lyrics of

Kostis Palamas Kostis Palamas ( el, Κωστής Παλαμάς; – 27 February 1943) was a Greek poet who wrote the words to the Olympic Hymn. He was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and one of the cofounders of the so-called N ...

. Among his works are the operas '' Flora mirabilis'' (1886) and '' Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle'' (1905).

Biography

Samaras was born in

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

. His mother was from

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

and his father Skarlatos Samaras, a diplomat from Siatista. As a young man, he studied with

Spyridon Xyndas Spyridon Xyndas or Spiridione Xinda ( el, Σπυρίδων Ξύνδας; June 8, 1812 – November 25, 1896) was a Greek composer and guitarist, whose last name has also been transliterated as "Xinta", "Xinda", "Xindas" and "Xyntas". Biography X ...

(Σπυρίδων Ξύνδας). From 1875 to 1882 he studied at the

Athens Conservatory The Athens Conservatoire () is the oldest educational institution for the performing arts in modern Greece. It was founded in 1871 by the non-profit organization Music and Drama Association. History Initially, the musical instruments that were ta ...

with Federico Bolognini,

Angelo Mascheroni Angelo Mascheroni (1855 in Bergamo, Italy – 1905) was a pianist composer, conductor, and music teacher, brother of the conductor Edoardo Mascheroni. He is most famous for his "Eternamente" for voice and violin, sung by Enrico Caruso; his tw ...

and Enrico Stancampiano. His first

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

''Torpillae'' (now lost) was premiered in Athens in 1879. He went to Paris in 1882 to study at the Paris Conservatoire and became a favorite of

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and '' Werther ...

. His other instructors included

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and '' Sylvia'' (1876) and the opera ''Lakm� ...

Théodore Dubois Clément François Théodore Dubois (24 August 1837 – 11 June 1924) was a French Romantic composer, organist, and music teacher. After study at the Paris Conservatoire, Dubois won France's premier musical prize, the Prix de Rome in 1861. He bec ...

, and

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

. He worked successfully as a composer in Paris for three years and then migrated to Italy in 1885. Η πριγκήπισσα της Σασσών

Samaras quickly became an important figure in the opera scene in Italy. His opera '' Flora mirabilis'' première in Milan in 1886 and in 1888 '' Medgé'' was successfully staged at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome with French opera star Emma Calvé in the title role. He became closely associated with Edoardo Sonzogno, a Milanese publisher. Sonzogno founded the Teatro Lirico Internazionale and chose Samaras' '' La martire'' for the theater's opening on 22 September 1894. The opera had premiered previously that year in Naples and is based on a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") 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 li ...

by Luigi Illica with many naturalistic elements, which gave space to Samaras' musical personality for an equal treatment. Samaras' works enjoyed wide distribution; his operas were staged in Paris, Monte Carlo, Cologne, Berlin, Vienna, Malta, Bucharest, Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, Cairo, Greece and Italy. He wrote fifteen stage works, the last three on texts by

Paul Milliet Paul Milliet (14 February 1848 – 21 November 1924) was a French playwright and librettist of the Parisian Belle Époque. His opera librettos include Jules Massenet's ''Hérodiade'' (1881) and ''Werther'' (1892), Alfred Bruneau's ''Kérim'' ( ...

; ''Storia d'amore o La biondinetta'' (1903), ''Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle'' (1905) and '' Rhea'' (1908). He returned to Greece in 1911, thinking that he would be appointed director of the

Athens Conservatoire The Athens Conservatoire () is the oldest educational institution for the performing arts in modern Greece. It was founded in 1871 by the non-profit organization Music and Drama Association. History Initially, the musical instruments that were ta ...

. However he was not, partly because of the "National School controversy". The composers of the so-called "National School" considered the composers of the Ionian School, like Samaras, too much Italian influenced. He supported himself by composing operettas aiming at satisfying a variety of audiences, rather than continuing in his usual creative vein. His last opera, ''Tigra'', although started about this time and containing some of his best music, was never finished. Samaras was chosen by Demetrius Vikelas for composing the

Olympic Anthem french: Hymne Olympique, italic=no , alt_title = , en_alt_title_2 = , image = Olympic Hymn title.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = , prefix = Official , country = the Olympic Games and ...

, on lyrics by

. The Anthem was first performed during the opening ceremony of the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

, the first modern

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

. It was declared the official anthem of the Olympic movement by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

in 1958 and has been used at every opening ceremony since the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...

. He died, aged 55, in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

. A bust of Samaras was toppled in Corfu in August 2020.

Compositions

Complete stage works

Opera

* ''Torpillae'', incidental music for a play, words by Gavziilidis and K. Triandafyllos, Athens, 1879. * ''Olas'', opera in 4 Acts, libretto by Fravassili, now lost, 1882. * ''Flora mirabilis'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by Ferdinando Fontana,

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

, Milan, 1886. * ''Medge'', opera in 4 Acts, libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, Teatro Constanzi, Rome, 1888. * ''Messidor'', opera after

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

' novel ''

Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge ''Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge'' (translated as ''The Knight of Maison-Rouge: A Novel of Marie Antoinette'' or ''The Knight of the Red House'') was written in 1845 by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is related to a series referred to as the , though te ...

'', written before 1891, now lost. * ''Lionella'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by Fontana, lost except for ''Hungarian Rhapsody, orch'',

, Milan, 4 April 1891. * ''La martire'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by Luigi Illica, Teatro Lirico Internazionale, Milan, 1894. * ''La furia domata'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by E. A. Butti and G. Macchi after

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunk ...

'', Teatro Lirico Internazionale, Milan, 1895. * ''Storia d’amore o La biondinetta'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by

, Teatro Lirico Internazionale, Milan, 1903. * ''Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle'', opera in 4 Acts, French libretto by

after the play by Dumas, in Italian at Teatro Politeama, Genoa, 1905. * ''Rhea'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by Paul Milliet, Teatro Verdi, Florence, 1908. * ''Tigra'', opera in 3 Acts unfinished, libretto R. Simoni, 1911, only Act 1 exists.

Operetta

* ''Pólemos en polémo'', operetta in 3 Acts, libretto by G. Tsokopoulos and I. Delikaterinis, Athens, 10 April 1914. * ''I pringípissa tis Sassónos'', operetta in 3 Acts, libretto by N.I. Laskaris and P. Dimitrakopoulos, Athens, 21 Jan 1915. * ''I Kritikopoúla'', operetta in 3 Acts, libretto by Laskaris and Dimitrakopoulos, Athens, 30 March 1916.

Selected piano music

* ''Scènes Orientales, Quatre Suites caractéristiques'', Paris, 1882 * ''Bohémienne'', 1888

References

*George Leotsakos. The ''

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', edited by Stanley Sadie (1992), and

External links

* * *
Piano reduction of «Mademoiselle de Belle Isle» (Harvard University)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samaras, Spyridon 1861 births 1917 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century male musicians Conservatoire de Paris alumni Greek classical composers Greek classical musicians Greek opera composers Ionian School (music) Male classical composers Male opera composers Musicians from Corfu Operetta composers Pupils of Léo Delibes Romantic composers 19th-century Greek musicians 20th-century Greek musicians