Giulio Gatti-Casazza (3 February 1869 – 2 September 1940) was an Italian opera manager. He was general manager of La Scala in

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

, from 1898 to 1908 and later 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 oper ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

from 1908 to 1935.

Biography

Gatti-Casazza was born on 3 February 1869 in

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

, in northeastern Italy. In 1893 he succeeded his father as manager of the municipal theatre in Ferrara. He was manager of La Scala from 1898 to 1908, before his move to

, when he became general manager of the

from 1908 to 1935. Under his leadership the Metropolitan enjoyed a prolonged era of artistic innovation and musical excellence. He brought with him conductor Arturo Toscanini, who became the company's principal conductor and led performances of Verdi, Wagner and others that set high standards for the Metropolitan which have endured to the present day. The Viennese composer Gustav Mahler also was a Met conductor during Gatti-Casazza's first two seasons and in later years conductors

Tullio Serafin Tullio Serafin (1 September 18782 February 1968) was an Italian conductor and former Musical Director at La Scala. Biography Tullio Serafin was a leading Italian opera conductor with a long career and a very broad repertoire who revived many 19t ...

and

Artur Bodanzky Artur Bodanzky (also written as Artur Bodzansky) (16 December 1877 – 23 November 1939) was an Austrian-American conductor particularly associated with the operas of Wagner. He conducted Enrico Caruso's last performance at the Metropolitan Oper ...

led the company in the Italian and German repertories respectively. Affectionately called "Gatti" by friends and colleagues, Gatti-Casazza's prodigious artistic and organizational skills attracted the best singers and conductors to the Metropolitan, and, on 10 December 1910, hosted its first World premiere, ''

La Fanciulla del West ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' follow ...

'' by

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 ...

. Many noted singers of the era appeared at the Met under Gatti-Casazza's leadership, including

Rosa Ponselle Rosa Melba Ponzillo, known as Rosa Ponselle (January 22, 1897 – May 25, 1981) was an American operatic soprano. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the 20t ...

Emmy Destinn Emmy Destinn ( (); 26 February 1878 – 28 January 1930) was a Czech operatic soprano with a strong and soaring lyric-dramatic voice. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera. Biography Destinn was born Emíl ...

Frances Alda Frances Davis Alda (31 May 1879 – 18 September 1952) was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic lyric soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique ...

, Amelita Galli-Curci,

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, ...

Lily Pons Alice Joséphine Pons (April 12, 1898 – February 13, 1976), known professionally as Lily Pons, was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer, she s ...

; Enrico Caruso,

Jacques Urlus Jacques Urlus (6 January 1867 in Hergenrath, Rhine Province - 6 June 1935 in Noordwijk, Netherlands), was a Dutch dramatic tenor. He sang to great critical acclaim at major opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic, and his recordings of the musi ...

Giovanni Martinelli Giovanni Martinelli (22 October 1885 – 2 February 1969) was an Italian operatic tenor. He was associated with the Italian lyric-dramatic repertory, although he performed French operatic roles to great acclaim as well. Martinelli was one of t ...

, Beniamino Gigli,

Feodor Chaliapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...

Titta Ruffo Titta Ruffo (9 June 1877 – 5 July 1953), born as Ruffo Cafiero (double forename) Titta, was an Italian operatic baritone who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" ("voice of the lion"), he was greatly admi ...

Giacomo Lauri-Volpi Giacomo Lauri-Volpi (11 December 1892 – 17 March 1979) was an Italian tenor with a lyric voice of exceptional range and technical facility. He performed throughout Europe and the Americas in a top-class career that spanned 40 years. Caree ...

, and

Lauritz Melchior Lauritz Melchior (20 March 1890 – 18 March 1973) was a Danish-American opera singer. He was the preeminent Richard Wagner, Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s and has come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type. Late i ...

. For his accomplishments Gatti-Casazza was one of the first Italians (and the first Italian living in the United States) to be featured on the cover of ''Time'' magazine. He was on the weekly's cover twice; on 5 November 1923, and again on 1 November 1926. In 1910, he married the soprano

. They divorced in 1928 and he married the Met's ''

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

'' Rosina Galli. He retired in 1935 and spent the last years of his life in his native Italy. He died on 2 September 1940 in

Ferrara, Italy Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

Cultural depictions

* ''

The Great Caruso ''The Great Caruso'' is a 1951 biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mario Lanza as Enrico Caruso. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate producer from a screenpla ...

'' (1951); portrayed by Eduard Franz * ''

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...

'' (1983); portrayed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

Biography

Cultural depictions

See also

References

Further reading