Giuseppe Menegatti (6 September 1929 – 17 September 2024) was an Italian theatre director. He is best known for directing productions with his wife, ballerina

Carla Fracci Carolina "Carla" Fracci (; 20 August 1936 – 27 May 2021) was an Italian prima ballerina, actress and ballet director. Considered one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, she was a leading dancer of La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan, ...

, but also directed first performances in Italian of plays by Beckett and

Babel Babel is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon and may refer to: Arts and media Written works Books *Babel (book), ''Babel'' (book), by Patti Smith * Babel (2012 manga), ''Babel'' (2012 manga), by Narumi Shigematsu * Babel (20 ...

Life and career

Giuseppe Menegatti was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

on 6 September 1929. He attended performances of the

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (literal English translation: 'Florence Musical May') is an annual Italian arts festival in Florence, including a notable opera festival, under the auspices of the Opera di Firenze. The festival occurs between late A ...

as a young boy; he remembered that he received a ticket for Verdi's ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'' for his tenth birthday, in a performance with the young

Giulietta Simionato Giulietta Simionato (born Giulia Simionato; Forlì, Romagna, 12 May 1910 – Rome, 5 May 2010) was an Italian mezzo-soprano. Her career spanned the period from the 1930s until her retirement in 1966. Life As a girl she studied in a boarding s ...

as Maddalena. He developed a passion for opera. The Silvio D'Amico National Academy in Rome awarded him a scholarship. In the mid-1950s he was called by

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later ...

as assistant director. He collaborated during his career with

Eduardo De Filippo Eduardo De Filippo OMRI (; 26 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan language, Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and ...

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

Giorgio Strehler Giorgio Strehler (; ; 14 August 1921 – 25 December 1997) was an Italian stage director, theatre practitioner, actor, and politician. Strehler was one of the most significant figures in Italian theatre during his lifetime, described by Mel Gu ...

and

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (; 12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019) was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post–World War II e ...

. He directed operas, ballets and plays by important authors, including, in 1964, the Italian premieres of Samuel Beckett's '' All That Fall'' and ''

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

'' and that of Isaac Babel's ''

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'', with actors including

Paola Borboni Paola Borboni (1 January 1900 – 9 April 1995) was an Italian stage and film actress whose career spanned nearly eight decades of cinema. Early life Borboni was born on 1 January 1900 in Parma, Italy. Career Borboni made her stage deb ...

, Lydia Alfonsi and . He directed almost all shows of his wife, ballerina

. He showed her versatility in dramatic ballets, some based on plays including ''The Macbeths'' in 1969, ''The Seagull'' in 1970, ''Mirandolina'' in 1983 and ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' in 1995, based on opera such as ''The Sicilian Vespers'' in 1992, and some based on historic biographies such as ''Nijinsky: Memories of Youth'' in 1989, ''Alma Mahler G. W.'' in 1994, and ''Zelda, Save Me a Waltz'' in 1998. He assisted his wife in managing the ballet of the

Arena di Verona The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre located in the historic center of Verona, an iconic symbol of the Venetian city alongside the figures of Romeo and Juliet. It stands as one of the grand structures that defined Roman architecture and i ...

in 1996/97. Menegatti authored productions that combined dance, spoken language and song. He directed for television, such as ''The Ballerinas'', a ballet-drama in two parts in which

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...

and Fracci played roles in scenes from the history of ballet. He recreated ballets whose choreography had been lost, especially in the 2000s when he and his wife managed the Rome Opera Ballet, for example Ballets Russes ballets such as ''

The Red Poppy ''The Red Poppy'' () or sometimes ''The Red Flower'' () is a ballet in three acts and eight tableaux with an apotheosis, with a score written by Reinhold Glière and libretto by Mikhail Kurilko. This ballet was created in 1927 as the first Sovie ...

''.

Personal life

Menegatti married Carla Fracci in 1964; they had a son, Francesco, born in 1969. She died on 27 May 2021. After her death he moved to Rome where their son lived. Menegatti died in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on 17 September 2024, at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menegatti, Beppe 1929 births 2024 deaths Italian theatre directors People from Florence