| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Menotti began writing songs when he was 7 and at 11 wrote both the libretto and music for his first opera, The Death of Pierrot. He began formal training at Milan's Verdi Conservatory in 1923.
After the death of his father, Menotti and his mother came to the United States and he enrolled in Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music. Fellow students at Curtis included Leonard Bernstein, and Samuel Barber, who became Menotti's partner in life and in work, with Menotti crafting the libretto for Barber's most famous opera, Vanessa, which was commissioned to open the new Metropolitan Opera. It was at Curtis that he wrote his first mature opera, Amelia al Ballo (Amelia Goes to the Ball), to his own Italian text. The Island God and The Last Savage were the only other operas he wrote in Italian, the rest being in English. He wrote the libretti of all his operas. His most successful works were composed in the 1940s and 1950s.
He wrote the libretti to two Samuel Barber operas; Vanessa and A Hand of Bridge , as well as revising the latter for Antony and Cleopatra. Amelia was so successful that NBC commissioned an opera for radio; The Old Maid and the ThiefThe Old Maid and the Thief is an opera by Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti, written and premiered in 1939. It was the first opera ever composed specifically for performance on the radio. Menotti wrote the libretto himself; it was his first in was the first such work ever written. Following this, he wrote a ballet, Sebastian ( 1944Events World War II January January 4 The Battle of Monte Cassino begins. January 5 Murder of Danish playwright Kaj Munck January 17 British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River. January 20 The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin;), and a piano concerto ( 1945Events January January 5 The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland. January 7 British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge. January 12 World War II:) before returning to opera with The MediumThe Medium is a short (one hour long) two act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. The characters are: Monica [soprano] Toby [mute] Madama Flora (Baba) [contralto] Mrs. Gobineau [soprano] Mr. Gobineau [baritone] Mrs. Nolan [mezzo-sop and The Telephone .
His first full-length opera, The Consul , was premiered in 1950Events January January 5 US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with; it won both the Pulitzer Prize for MusicThe Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year. This was eventually converted into a full fledged prize. The winners in th and the New York Drama Circle Critics' Award for Musical Play of the Year (the latter in 1954Events January events January 14 The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation January 14 Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio. January 15 Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya January 20 The Nati). In 1951Events January events January 9 United Nations headquarters officially opens ( New York City). January 15 Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald," wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in We, Menotti wrote his beloved Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors for the Hallmark Hall of Fame. In 1958, he founded the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy ; he founded its companion festival, in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1977.
He left Spoleto USA in 1993 to take the helm of the Rome Opera . In 1984 Menotti was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor for achievement in the arts, and in 1991 he was chosen Musical America's "Musician of the Year." In addition to composing operas to his own texts, on his own chosen subject matter, Menotti directs most productions of his work.
Menotti also had a long intimate relationship with the conductor Thomas Schippers.
Menotti has written several ballets, and numerous choral works as well. He has also written a violin concerto, and a stage play (The Leper). It is in the field of opera, however, that he has made his most notable contributions to American cultural life. His operas include:
(Source: usopera.com)
Menotti, Gian-Carlo Menotti, Gian-Carlo Menotti, Gian-Carlo Menotti, Gian-Carlo Menotti