Elsa Respighi (; 24 March 1894 – 19 March 1996) was an Italian

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

singer and composer. She was the wife and former pupil of

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...

. Respighi created a ballet and completed her husband's opera, but also composed a significant number of her own works after his death, including operas and choral works. She published a biography of her husband, and established the Fondo Respighi in Venice to promote music education in Italy.

Biography

Respighi was born Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo on 24 March 1894 in Rome. She studied solfege and piano privately, and then from 1905 at the Istitute Nazionale di Musica in Rome. She also studied at the Liceo di S. Cecilia from 1911, where she was taught piano by Giovanni Sgambati, harmony and counterpoint by Remigio Renzi and composition by Ottorino Respighi. She married Ottorino in 1919. From 1916 onwards Respighi published songs, although after her marriage her husband's career took precedence, and she didn't return to composing until after his death in 1936. The couple toured in the US, Europe and South America, where Respighi sang their compositions. As a

singer and composer herself, Elsa Respighi created ballets out of her husband's ''

Ancient Airs and Dances ''Ancient Airs and Dances'' () is a set of three orchestral suites by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, freely transcribed from original pieces for lute. In addition to being a renowned composer and conductor, Respighi was also a notable musico ...

'' suites, and completed his final opera ''Lucrezia'' in 1937. Throughout her long life she championed her husband's work unfailingly. In 1955 she produced a memoir of her encounters with some of the most influential cultural figures of the early twentieth century. She also published a biography of Respighi in 1962. In 1969 she established Fondo Respighi at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, to promote music education in Italy. She was also at the forefront of the 1979 Respighi Centenary celebrations, which saw a number of long-neglected works performed and recorded for the first time. Since then, several of her own works, chiefly for solo voice with accompaniment, have been given their premiere. Respighi is considered to have done her most significant work after her husband's death, with the 1938 ''Il pianto della Madonna'', and a number of operas, including one-act opera ''Alcesti'', and the three-act ''Samurai'' in 1945.

Death

She died one week short of her 102nd birthday in 1996.

Works

Elsa Respighi's works include: * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Respighi, Elsa Italian women classical composers Italian women centenarians Italian mezzo-sopranos 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century Italian women singers 1894 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Italian women composers Elsa Ottorino Respighi Pupils of Ottorino Respighi