Antonio Videgain García (10 March 1869 – 9 February 1944) was a Spanish conductor and composer, who dedicated his career to writing

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...

s, such as ''A vuelo de pájaro''''A vuelo de pájaro'' at archive.org
/ref> and ''El vals coqueto''.

Biography

Although the details of his early years are not entirely certain, Videgain was born in

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Located in southwestern Iberia, it lies on the Campi� ...

and spent his childhood and adolescence in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. He began music lessons with his father and continued his education with

Ruperto Chapí Ruperto Chapí y Lorente (27 March 1851 – 25 March 1909) was a Spanish composer, and co-founder of the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers. Biography Chapí was born at Villena, the son of a loc ...

and

Tomás Bretón Tomás Bretón y Hernández (29 December 1850 – 2 December 1923) was a Spanish Conducting, conductor and composer. Biography Tomás Bretón was born in Salamanca. He completed his musical studies at the School of Fine Arts in his hometown, w ...

. By the age of 12, he was already playing among the first violins of the Teatro Principal orchestra in

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

. Thirteen years later, he became the director of an

operette (musical) ''Operette'' is a musical in two acts composed, written and produced by Noël Coward. The show is a period piece, set in the year 1906 at the fictional "Jubilee" theatre. The story concerns an ageing Viennese operetta star, who warns the young ...

and zarzuela company, making his debut in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

with a production of

Jerónimo Giménez Jerónimo (European Portuguese and Spanish) or Jerônimo (Brazilian Portuguese) may refer to: * Jerónimo (name), a given or surname, Jerome in English ** Jeronimo (singer) (born 1990), Dutch pop singer and actor ** Jerônimo, a Brazilian indigeno ...

. A scholarship permitted Videgain to enrol at the Conservatoire, where he received the first prize for

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

and

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

. After graduation, he traveled to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and then returned to Spain, settling in

. In 1892 he was born Antonio Videgain Reparaz his son, was a famous singer of

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and sang in EEUU (

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

) in the 1930s. In 1899, he was named director of Teatro Romea de

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

, and shortly afterwards, of the

Teatro de la Zarzuela The Teatro de la Zarzuela is a theatre in Madrid, Spain. The theatre is today mainly devoted to zarzuela (the Spanish traditional musical theatre genre), as well as operetta and recitals. History The theatre was designed by architect Jerónim ...

commissioned him to write the openings to his zarzuelas, but they are lost. As a conductor of the Sociedad de Conciertos de Cadiz, Videgain helped cultivate the tastes of audiences in Cadiz for symphonic music. According to "those who have seem him conduct and have transmitted to us the memory of his performances of great strength and great enthusiasm. he obtained with imperceptible gestures what he wanted from the orchestra." Videgain also collaborated with the leading authors of ''

sainete A sainete (farce or titbit) was a popular Spanish comic opera piece, a one-act dramatic vignette, with music. It was often placed at the end of entertainments, or between other types of performance. It was vernacular in style, and used scenes of lo ...

s'' (a comic genre found in Spanish theatre), including

Salvador Videgain Gómez Salvador Videgain Gómez (1845–1906) was a Spanish actor, singer, producer and composer. Private life Videgain was born in Málaga in 1845. He is of Spanish, English, Irish and Basque ancestry. Videgain married actress Antonia García de Videg ...

, Antonio Reparaz, the

Quintero brothers Serafín Álvarez Quintero (March 26, 1871 – April 12, 1938) and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero (January 20, 1873 – June 14, 1944) were Spanish dramatists. Biography Quintero brothers, photograph by Kaulak Born in Utrera, Seville Province in ...

, Joaquín Arqués, and

Rafael Calleja Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California Fiction * ''Rafael'' (TV series), a Mexican telenovela * ''Rafaël'' (film), a 2018 Dutch film People * Rafael (footballer, born 1978) ( ...

, also writers to obtain the

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 ...

for his zarzuelas. He co-wrote the music of a number of his works with others conductor, who hailed him the "musician of impossible" because of his sense of

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...

and easy

melodies A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...

. He died in

Works

In 1895, he wrote ''A vuelo de pájaro'', based on a text by Enrique de María, journalist-director of The Fogón

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, and in 1898, ''El vals coqueto'' in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

. Following the success of this piece, he set to music another ''sainete'' with the same characters, which became one of his most famous works: ''Buscando compañia'' in 1907, ''Películas nacionales'' or ''La gran apoteosis'' in 1917. This work was played around Spain and visited cities such as

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

, Avila,

and

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

. But he was lost his wife Virgilia Reparaz, daughter great master of opera, Antonio Reparaz. He travelled to

in the 1890s with zarzuelas, not returning to Spain before 1926. He later returned to Argentina where he died. The best known works he conducted were ''Molinos de Viento'', ''La alegría del batallón'', ''La mazorca roja'',''La borracha'', ''La reja de la Dolores'', ''La tempranica'', ''Doloretes'', ''La revoltosa'', ''El amigo melquiades'', ''El pollo tejada'', ''El famoso Colirón'', ''El cabo Pinocho'', ''Las mujeres'', ''El mundo comedia es o el baile de Luis Alonso'', and ''De vuelta del vivero'' .

Last years

Towards the end of his life, he lived in a precarious economic situation due to the Second World War. But he could alleviate it by obtaining the position of a church musician. He did not die in poverty as he received part of the inheritance from his parents' farm in the best neighborhood of Madrid.

Notes and references

* ''La auténtica vida e historia del teatro'' (2005),

Juan José Videgain Juan José Videgain (born 30 July 1975) is a Spanish writer, actor and director. Most of Videgain's books have reached cult status thanks to their weird sense of humor in Spain. He is from an old theatrical family in Spain. Salvador Videgain is ...

book biography. * ''El teatro'' 15-27 vols. (1902). * ''Date of company Antonio Videgain UNED'
www.uned.es/centro-investigacion-SELITEN@T/pdf/signa/2.pdf
* Lybrary national of Urugua
www.periodicas.edu.uy/o/Revista_Biblioteca_Nacional/pdfs/Revista_Biblioteca_Nacional_a1_n1_1966.pdf
* ''Dates of company Antonio Videgain in Cervantesvirtual'

* ''El heraldo de Madrid'' (1888-1926). * ''El país'' (1890-1926). * ''La españa artística'' (1888-1910). * ''El adelanto de Salamanca'' (1899). * ''Eco de Cartagena'' (1896-1922). * Poliestemia https://books.google.com/books?id=sqTjOn15WBQC&dq=antonio+videgain&pg=PA105

* https://books.google.com/books?id=keWZAAAAIAAJ&q=antonio+videgain * Alacant https://books.google.com/books?id=0lldAAAAMAAJ&q=antonio+videgain * https://books.google.com/books?id=I-yA8DWEProC&q=antonio+videgain * ''Teatralerias, tres siglos de la escena'', (2018) Madrid: P & V, biography of him. {{DEFAULTSORT:Videgain, Antonio 1869 births 1944 deaths 19th-century Spanish male musicians 20th-century Spanish conductors (music) 20th-century Spanish male musicians Spanish male classical violinists Spanish male conductors (music) Spanish classical composers Spanish classical violinists Spanish emigrants to Argentina Spanish male classical composers Spanish Romantic composers

Antonio Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top ...