Luciano Chailly (

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 ...

, 19 January 1920 –

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 ...

, 24 December 2002) was an Italian composer and arts administrator of French descent. He was an eclectic and prolific composer in the post-war Italy, combining tonal,

polytonal Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key (music), key simultaneity (music), simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one di ...

, and

twelve-tone The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition. The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale ...

techniques. Grew up under fascism, Chailly remained

apolitical Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased p ...

and was a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

. As he witnessed the brutality of war by serving in second World War, several compositions reflect his repudiation of war. Chailly was best known for his operas, many of which were composed to

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 ...

Dino Buzzati Dino Buzzati-Traverso (; 14 October 1906 – 28 January 1972) was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for ''Corriere della Sera''. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel '' The Tartar St ...

. He was the father of conductor

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and of La Scala. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions at the Gewandhausorchester (2005–20 ...

, harpist and composer

Cecilia Chailly Cecilia Chailly (born February 2, 1960) is an Italian harpist, composer, singer and writer. Biography Chailly was born in Milan, Italy into a family of Romagnol and French descent. She is the daughter of the composer Luciano Chailly, and sister ...

, and journalist and film director Floriana Chailly.

Life

Luciano Chailly graduated in violin in Ferrara in 1941; he pursued academic studies in literature at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

in 1943 and composition at the

Milan Conservatory The Milan Conservatory, also known as the Conservatorio di Milano and the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, is a Music school, college of music in Milan, Italy. History The conservatory was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital ...

with Renzo Rinaldo Bossi in 1945. He took further specialization classes in Salzburg with

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

in 1948, from whom he drew his major musical influence. From 1951 to 1967 he worked in the

Rai (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

branch of Milan as a chief music assistant, which put him in contact with prominent contemporary performers, including

Maria Callas Maria Callas (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised ...

. He met the writer

in 1954. He wrote the opera libretti for five of his novels: ''Ferrovia soprelevata'', ''Procedura penale'', ''Il mantello'', ''Era proibito'', ''L'aumento''. Chailly also wrote the music for some of his subjects: the ballet ''Fantasmi al Grand Hotel'' and the play ''Drammatica fine di un noto musicista''. From 1962, following the launch of

Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting '' TG2'' news bulletins, ta ...

, he was appointed director of music programs, composing music for television dramas, including those based on the novels ''

The Idiot ''The Idiot'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–1869. The titl ...

'' of Fyodor Dostoevsky and '' Mastro-don Gesualdo'' of Giuseppe Verga, for documentaries and for films, such as Madre ignota directed by Gian Vittorio Baldi. In this period, he also composed the ''Missa Papae Pauli'' in honour of

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

. He had been the artistic director of

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was a church). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's ''Europa r ...

of Milan (from 1968 to 1971 and again from 1977), Teatro Regio of Turin (1972), the Angelicum of Milan (1973–1975),

Verona Arena 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 ...

(1975–1976),

Teatro Carlo Felice The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the side of Piazza De Ferrari. History The hall is named for King Carlo Felice, a ...

of Genoa (1983–1985) and of

RAI National Symphony Orchestra The RAI National Symphony Orchestra () is an Italian symphony radio orchestra, owned by the public radio and television company RAI. Its primary concert venue is the Auditorium RAI in the Piazza Rossaro in Turin. Its concerts are broadcast on Ra ...

of Turin (1989–1990). In 1980, the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber music, chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert ...

commissioned him a work which resulted in the ''Newton Variations'' for orchestra. Subsequently, he set to music an adaptation of the play ''

The Bald Soprano ''La Cantatrice chauve '' – translated from French as ''The Bald Soprano'' or ''The Bald Prima Donna'' – is the first play written by Romanian-French playwright Eugène Ionesco. Nicolas Bataille directed the premiere on 11 May 1950 at th ...

'' by Eugène Ionesco, staged at the ' in the presence of Ionesco himself. His last work was a ''Te Deum'' for choir and orchestra, finished in 2001.

References

External links

Biography and interview
at Classical Music Daily {{DEFAULTSORT:Chailly, Luciano Italian classical composers Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers Italian people of French descent Musicians from Ferrara 1920 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Italian musicians 20th-century Italian male musicians Milan Conservatory alumni