Ettore Panizza (born Héctor Panizza; 12 August 187527 November 1967) was an Argentine conductor and

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 def ...

, one of the leading conductors of the early 20th century. Panizza possessed technical mastery and was popular and influential during his time, widely admired by Richard Strauss and

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

, among others.

Biography

Panizza was born in

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 ...

, of Italian parents. His birth name was Héctor Panizza but throughout his career he was known as Ettore. Panizza studied first with his father, who was a cellist at the old Teatro Colón, and later in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. He made his debut as assistant conductor at the Rome Opera in 1897. He was closely associated with La Scala in Milan (where he conducted, along with Toscanini, titles like Wagner's '' Ring'' in 1926), the Royal Opera House in London, the Metropolitan Opera in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

- where he succeeded Tullio Serafin as principal conductor of Italian repertoire, working for eight seasons with names like Rosa Ponselle and Enrico Caruso - and mainly at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires where his opera ''

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

'' was premiered during the inaugural season. He conducted Puccini's '' Turandot'' with the ending by Franco Alfano after the world premiere at La Scala on 25 April 1926 conducted by

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

, who stopped at the point where Puccini had ceased writing before his death. He worked at the Teatro Colón in 1908, 1909, 1921, 1927 ( Claudia Muzio as Tosca and in ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

''), 1929 (''Turandot'' with Rosa Raisa), 1930, 1934 ('' Carmen'' with Gabriela Besanzoni), 1935, 1936, 1939 ('' Boris Godunov'', '' La traviata'', ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', ''Turandot'', '' Aida'' with Bizancio with Gina Cigna), 1942 (Aida and '' Simon Boccanegra'' with Zinka Milanov and Leonard Warren), 1943 ('' Falstaff''), 1944 (''Bizancio''), 1945 (''Aurora''), 1946, 1947 ('' Tosca'' and '' Andrea Chénier'' with Maria Caniglia and Beniamino Gigli), 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952 ('' Madama Butterfly'' with Victoria de los Ángeles), 1954 and 1955. He also worked with singers such as Alessandro Bonci, Nellie Melba and Ezio Pinza. He also made guest appearances in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and European capitals such as

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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 ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He heard British soprano Eva Turner in 1924 as Madama Butterfly and recommended her to Toscanini, launching her impressive international career (as also did the young conductor Antonino Votto). Among the many premieres he conducted were '' Francesca da Rimini'' and '' Conchita'' by Riccardo Zandonai, '' Sly'' by

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as ''Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by ...

, and '' The Island God'' by Gian Carlo Menotti. He also conducted many local premieres in London, New York, and Milan such as Mussorgsky's '' Khovanshchina'' and Respighi's '' La campana sommersa''. Panizza composed four operas; ''Il fidanzato del mare'' (1897), ''Medio Evo Latino'' (1900), ''

'' (1908), his most successful work (the tenor aria "Alta en el cielo" in the second Spanish version became the patriotic song school children sing to the flag) and ''Bizancio'' (1939). He published his autobiography ''Medio Siglo de Vida Musical'' in 1952. Panizza died in Milan in 1967.

Recordings

* Verdi - ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...

'' - Giovanni Martinelli, Elisabeth Rethberg - 1938, Naxos Historical 8.111018-19 * Verdi - '' La traviata'' - Rosa Ponselle, Fredrick Jagel,

Lawrence Tibbett Lawrence Mervil Tibbett (November 16, 1896 – July 15, 1960) was an American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone with large, deep, and dark-timbred voice. His dynamic range (in ...

- Metropolitan Opera * Verdi - ''La traviata'' - Bidu Sayão, Bruno Landi, Thelma Votipka, Alessio De Paolis, 1942 * Verdi - '' Simon Boccanegra'' - Elisabeth Rethberg, Giovanni Martinelli, Lawrence Tibbett, Ezio Pinza, Leonard Warren. Met 1939 * Verdi - '' Aida'' - Zinka Milanov, Arthur Carron, Richard Bonelli, Bruna Castagna, Norman Cordon; 1939 * Verdi - '' Il trovatore'' - Stella Roman, Bruna Castagna, Arthur Carron (or Charles Kullman), Norman Cordon; 1941 * Verdi - '' Un ballo in maschera'' - Stella Roman, Giovanni Martinelli, Bruna Castagna, Josephine Antoine, Norman Cordon, Nicola Moscona; 1942 * Ponchielli - '' La Gioconda'' - Zinka Milanov, Giovanni Martinelli, Metropolitan 1939 * Puccini - '' Madama Butterfly'' - Licia Albanese, Charles Kullman, Irra Petina; 1941 * Puccini - '' Tosca'' - Grace Moore, Frederick Jagel, Alexander Sved, 1942 * Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 4 * Felipe Boero - excerpts from opera ''El Matrero'' *

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

- '' The Marriage of Figaro''. Ezio Pinza, John Brownlee, Licia Albanese, Jarmila Novotná, Elisabeth Rethberg - Metropolitan 1940

References

Sources

* * Enzo Valenti Ferro, ''Los Directores: Teatro Colón 1908-1984'' (Buenos Aires: Ediciones de Arte Gaglianone, 1985): 23-6. * MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Panizza, Ettore." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996.

External links

Biographical notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panizza, Ettore 1875 births 1967 deaths Composers from Buenos Aires Argentine conductors (music) Argentine male conductors (music) Argentine composers Argentine people of Italian descent