Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian
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 Defi ...
and
teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
. He is best known for his comic
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 librett ...
s such as '' Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by
Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: * Carlo (name) * Monte Carlo * Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince ...
, including ''
Le donne curiose ''Le donne curiose'' (English: ''The Inquisitive Women'') is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to a text by after Carlo Goldoni's play . Performance history The first dramatic work by Wolf-Ferrari to achieve more than local notice ...
'' (1903), ''
I quatro rusteghi ''I quatro rusteghi'' (''The Four Curmudgeons'', ''The Four Ruffians'', in Edward J. Dent's translation ''School for Fathers'', also translated by James Benner as ''Foolish Fathers'' ) is a comic opera in three acts, music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferra ...
'' (1906) and ''
Il campiello ''Il campiello'' (''The Little Square'') is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. The libretto was by Mario Ghisalberti, after the famous comedy of the same name written for the 1756 Venetian Carnival by the great Venetian playwright, C ...
'' (1936).


Life

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was born in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
in 1876, the son of German painter August Wolf and Emilia Ferrari, from Venice. He added his mother's maiden-name, Ferrari, to his surname in 1895. Although he studied piano from an early age, music was not the primary passion of his young life. As a teenager Wolf-Ferrari wanted to be a painter like his father; he studied intensively in Venice and
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
and traveled abroad to study in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
. It was there that he decided to concentrate instead on
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
, taking lessons from
Josef Rheinberger Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (17 March 1839 – 25 November 1901) was a Liechtensteiner organist and composer, residing in Bavaria for most of his life. Life Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, whose father was the treasurer for Aloys II, Prince of Liecht ...
. He enrolled at the Munich conservatory and began taking counterpoint and composition classes. These initially casual music classes eventually completely eclipsed his art studies, and music took over Wolf-Ferrari's life. He wrote his first works in the 1890s. At age 19, Wolf-Ferrari left the conservatory and traveled home to Venice. There he worked as a choral conductor, married, had a son called Federico Wolf-Ferrari, and met both
Arrigo Boito Arrigo Boito (; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) (whose original name was Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito and who wrote essays under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, best ...
and
Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
. In 1900, having failed to have two previous efforts published, Wolf-Ferrari saw the first performance of one of his
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 librett ...
s, ''Cenerentola'', based on the story of Cinderella. The opera was a failure in Italy, and the humiliated young composer moved back to Munich. German audiences would prove more appreciative of his work; a revised version of ''Cenerentola'' was a hit in Bremen in 1902, while the cantata ''La vita nuova'' brought the young composer international fame. Wolf-Ferrari now began transforming the wild and witty farces of the 18th-century Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni into comic operas. The resulting works were musically eclectic, melodic, and utterly hilarious; every single one became an international success. In fact, until the outbreak of World War I, Wolf-Ferrari's operas were among the most performed in the world. In 1902 he became professor of composition and director of the Liceo Benedetto Marcello. In 1911 Wolf-Ferrari tried his hand at full-blooded
Verismo In opera, ''verismo'' (, from , meaning "true") was a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini. ''Verismo'' as an ...
with ''
I gioielli della Madonna ''I gioielli della Madonna'' (English: ''The Jewels of the Madonna'') is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to an Italian libretto by and Enrico Golisciani, based on news accounts of a real event. It was first performed at the on ...
''; a story of passion, sacrilege and madness. It was quite popular in its day and for a period after, especially in Chicago, where the great Polish soprano
Rosa Raisa Rosa Raisa (30 May 189328 September 1963) was a Polish-born and Italian-trained Russian-Jewish dramatic operatic soprano who became a naturalized American. She possessed a voice of remarkable power and was the creator of the title role of Pucci ...
made it a celebrated vehicle.
Maria Jeritza Maria Jeritza (born Marie Jedličková; 6 October 1887 – 10 July 1982) was a dramatic soprano, long associated with the Vienna State Opera (1912–1934 and 1950-1953) and the Metropolitan Opera (1921–1932 and 1951). Her rapid rise to fame, ...
(and, later,
Florence Easton Florence Easton (25 October 1882 – 13 August 1955) was a popular English dramatic soprano in the early 20th century. She was one of the most versatile singers of all time. She sang more than 100 parts, covering a wide range of styles and ...
) triumphed in it at the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
, in an all-out spectacular production in 1926. World War I, however, was a nightmare for Wolf-Ferrari. The young composer, who had been dividing his time between Munich and Venice, suddenly found his two countries at war with each other. With the outbreak of the War, he moved to Zurich and composed much less, though he still wrote another comedy, ''
Gli amanti sposi ''Gli amanti sposi'' is an opera giocosa in 3 acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to a libretto by Luigi Sugana, Giuseppe Pizzolato, Enrico Golisciani and Giovacchino Forzano, after Carlo Goldoni's '' Il ventaglio'' (1765). It premiered 19 February 192 ...
'' (1916). A new melancholy vein appeared in his post-war work; his operas grew darker and more emotionally complex. He did not really pick up his rate of output until the 1920s, when he wrote ''
Das Himmelskleid ''Das Himmelskleid'' (''La veste di cielo'') is a 1927 German-language opera in 3 acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari after " Donkeyskin" by Charles Perrault. It premiered 21 April 1927 at the Nationaltheater, Munich. Recording Angelina Ruzzafante, Si ...
'' (1925) and '' Sly'' (1927), the latter based on
William 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 drunken ...
''. In 1939 he became professor of composition at the
Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Mo ...
in
Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...
. In 1946 he moved again to Zürich before returning to his home city of Venice. He died in Venice at Palazzo Malipiero and is buried in the Venetian cemetery Island of San Michele.


Music

As well as his operas, Wolf-Ferrari wrote a number of instrumental works, mainly at the very beginning and very end of his career. Only his
violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
has ever been performed with anything approaching regularity, though he also wrote ''Idillio-concertino'' (essentially a chamber
symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
), various pieces of
chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
including a
piano quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...
and two
piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. The term can also refer to a group of m ...
s, three
violin sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple baroque form with no fixed fo ...
s and a number of works for the organ amongst others. In recent years, a recovery of his instrumental music has been underway by the pianist Costantino Catena, who has recorded his piano works, sonatas for violin and piano, sonata for cello and piano and piano quintet for the
Brilliant Classics Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also ...
label. Wolf-Ferrari's work is not performed very widely (with the exception of several of his overtures and his ''Jewels of the Madonna'' intermezzo) although he is generally thought of as probably the finest writer of Italian comic opera of his time. His works often recall the
opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...
of the 18th century, although he also wrote more ambitious works in the manner of
Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece '' Cavalleria rusticana'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ...
, which are thought of less well.


Works


Operas

::See List of operas by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari


Other vocal works

*''La vita nuova'', cantata 1902 *4 Rispetti, Op. 11 *4 Rispetti, Op. 12 *Canzoniere, Op. 17


Orchestral

* Serenade for Strings in E flat major * Idillio-concertino in A major for Oboe and small orchestra, Op. 15 (1932) * Suite-concertino in F major for Bassoon and small orchestra, Op. 16 (1933) * Venezianische Suite (Suite Veneziana) in A minor, Op.18 * Triptychon (Trittico) op.19 * Divertimento in D major op.20 * Arabesken (Arabeschi) für Orchester op.22 (after a theme of Ettore Tito) * Violin Concerto in D, Op. 26 ''Guila Bustabo in ammirazione'' (1943) * Sinfonia Brevis in E flat major op.28 * Concertino in A flat major for English horn and small orchestra, Op. 34 (1947)


Chamber music

* String Sextet in C minor (1894/95, also as a string trio)In manuscript, mentioned by Hamann in his ''Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari'', (Schneider, 1986). Performed in several concerts in Germany in 2011. - see http://www.kathrintenhagen.de/en/schedule.html * Sinfonia da Camera Op. 8 (1901) * Sonata No.1 for Violin & Piano in G minor, Op.1 (1895) * Sonata No.2 for Violin & Piano in A minor, Op.10 (1901) * Sonata No.3 for Violin & Piano in E major, Op.27 (1943) * Sonata for Cello & Piano in G major, Op.30 (1945) * String Duo in G minor for Violin & Cello, Op.33b (1946) * String Duo, "Introduzio mnjkkjkne e Balletto", for Violin & Cello, Op.35 (1948) * String Trio in B minor for Violin, Viola & Cello, WoO. (1894) * String Trio in A minor for Violin, Viola & Cello, Op.32 (1945) * String Quartet in E minor, Op.23 (1940) * String Quintet in C major for 2 Violins, 2 Violas & Cello, Op.24 (1942) * Piano Trio No.1 in D major, Op.5 (1898) * Piano Trio No.2 in F major, Op.7 (1900) * Piano Trio "Sonata" for in F major for 2 Violins & Piano, Op.25 (1943) * Piano Quintet in D major, Op.6 (1901)


Sources

''Wolf-Ferrari, Ermanno'' by John C G Waterhouse, in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed.
Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
(London, 1980) ''Wolf-Ferrari, Ermanno'' by John C G Waterhouse, in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992)


References


External links


Wolf-Ferrari.com
Biography, current performances, publications, discography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf-Ferrari, Ermanno 1876 births 1948 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Italian male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century Italian male musicians Burials at Isola di San Michele Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers Italian opera composers Italian people of German descent Italian Romantic composers Male opera composers Musicians from Venice Pupils of Josef Rheinberger