Gian Carlo Menotti, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1944

Gian Carlo Menotti (July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-born American composer and librettist who wrote the classic Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular taste. Events 1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A libretto is the text used in an extended Musical work such as an Opera, Operetta, Masque, sacred or secular Oratorio and Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Amahl and the Night Visitors is an Opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English Libretto by the Composer. He won the Pulitzer Prize for two of them, The Consul (1950) and The Saint of Bleecker Street (1955). The Pulitzer Prize, ˈpʊlɨtsɚ PULL-it-sər is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in Newspaper journalism, The Consul is an Opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera The Saint of Bleecker Street is an Opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti to an original English Libretto by the composer He founded the noted Festival dei due mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) in 1958 and its American counterpart, Spoleto Festival USA, in 1977. For the Spoleto Festival USA see Spoleto Festival USA and for the Spoleto Festival Melbourne see Melbourne International Arts Festival. Events January 28 - Little Richard begins attending classes at Oakwood College in Huntsville Alabama January Spoleto Festival USA is an annual 17-day Festival of the Arts which produces Opera, and presents Dance, Theater, classical music Events Bohemian Rhapsody is named 'The Best Single Of The Last 25 Years' by BPI.

Life and career

Born in Cadegliano-Viconago, Italy, Lake Maggiore and the Swiss border, Menotti was the sixth child of Alfonso and Ines Menotti. Cadegliano-Viconago is a Comune (municipality in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 60 km northwest ^[1] Menotti began writing songs when he was seven years old, and at eleven wrote both the libretto and music for his first opera, The Death of Pierrot. He began his formal musical training at Milan's Verdi Conservatory in 1923. Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Events November 11 - Premiere of John Foulds 's World Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

After the death of his father, Menotti and his mother emigrated to the United States, and he enrolled at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music where he studied composition under Rosario Scalero. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia Pennsylvania that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma Bachelor of Music ^[2] Fellow students at Curtis included Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes Samuel Osborne Barber II ( March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American Composer of Orchestral, Opera, The latter became Menotti's partner in life and in work, with Menotti crafting the libretto for Barber's most famous opera, Vanessa, which premiered in 1958, at the Metropolitan Opera. Vanessa is an Opera in three (originally four acts by Samuel Barber with an original English Libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti. The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. As a student, Menotti spent much of his time with the Samuel Barber family in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The Borough of West Chester is the County seat of Chester County Pennsylvania, United States. After graduation, the two men bought a house together in Mount Kisco, New York which they shared for over forty years and named "Capricorn". Mount Kisco is both a village and a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. ^[3] It was at Curtis that Menotti wrote his first mature opera, Amelia al Ballo (Amelia Goes to the Ball), to his own Italian text. The Island God (which he suppressed, though its libretto was printed by the Metropolitan Opera and can be found in many libraries) and The Last Savage were the only other operas he wrote in Italian, the rest being in English. The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Like Wagner, he wrote the libretti of all his operas. His most successful works were composed in the 1940s and 1950s. Menotti also taught at the Curtis Institute of Music. The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia Pennsylvania that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma Bachelor of Music

In 1958, he founded the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy; he founded its companion festival in Charleston, South Carolina in 1977. For the Spoleto Festival USA see Spoleto Festival USA and for the Spoleto Festival Melbourne see Melbourne International Arts Festival. For the festival in South Carolina see Spoleto Festival USA. Spoleto ( Latin Spoletium) is an ancient city in the Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Spoleto Festival USA is an annual 17-day Festival of the Arts which produces Opera, and presents Dance, Theater, classical music Charleston is a city in Charleston county in the US state of South Carolina. For three weeks each summer, Spoleto is visited by nearly a half-million people. ^[4] These festivals were intended to bring opera to a popular audience and helped launch the careers of such artists as singer Shirley Verrett and choreographers Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp. Shirley Verrett (born May 31 1931) is an American Operatic Mezzo-soprano and Soprano. Paul Taylor (born July 29, 1930) is one of the foremost American Choreographers of the 20th century. Twyla Tharp (born July 1 1941) is a American Dancer and Choreographer. ^[5] He left Spoleto USA in 1993 to take the helm of the Rome Opera. This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993. Events January The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma ( Rome Opera House) is an Opera house in Rome, Italy.

In 1974, Menotti adopted Francis "Chip" Phelan, an American actor and figure skater^[6][7] he had known since the early 1960s. Francis "Chip" Menotti (born Francis Phelan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States in 1938 is an actor and former figure skater who was the president In the same year, Menotti bought a Scottish manor, Yester House,^[8] the ancestral home of the marquesses of Tweeddale, at the foot of Lammermuir in Scotland. Marquess of Tweeddale is a title of the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1694 for the 2nd Earl of Tweeddale The Lammermuir Hills, usually simply called the Lammermuirs ( An Lomair Mòr in Gaelic) (occasionally Anglicised Lammermoors) in southern

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". Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to artists in the performing arts See also 1991 in music (UK Musical groups established in 1991 Record labels In addition to composing operas to his own texts, on his own chosen subject matter, Menotti directed most productions of his work.

Menotti died on February 1, 2007 at the age of 95 in a hospital in Monte Carlo, Monaco, where he had a home. Monte-Carlo ( Occitan: Montcarles, Monégasque: Monte-Carlu) is one of Monaco 's various administrative areas sometimes erroneously For other uses see Monaco (disambiguation Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco ( French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque

In June and July of 2007 the Festival of Two Worlds, which Menotti founded and oversaw until his death, dedicated the 50th Anniversary of the Festival to his memory. For the Spoleto Festival USA see Spoleto Festival USA and for the Spoleto Festival Melbourne see Melbourne International Arts Festival. Menotti works performed during the festival included Maria Golovin, Landscapes and Remembrances, Missa O Pulchritudo, and The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore.

Compositions

Menotti wrote the libretti for two of Samuel Barber's operas, Vanessa and A Hand of Bridge, as well as revising the libretto for Antony and Cleopatra. Samuel Osborne Barber II ( March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American Composer of Orchestral, Opera, Vanessa is an Opera in three (originally four acts by Samuel Barber with an original English Libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti. A Hand of Bridge, opus 35 is an Opera composed by Samuel Barber with Libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, is possibly the shortest opera Antony and Cleopatra is an Opera in three acts by American composer Samuel Barber. Amelia was so successful that NBC commissioned an opera specifically for the new medium of radio, The Old Maid and the Thief, which was the first such work ever written for, and performed on the radio. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's In Art, a commission is the hiring and payment for the creation of a piece often on behalf of another Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. The Old Maid and the Thief is a one act opera by Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti, written and premiered in 1939 Following this, he wrote a ballet, Sebastian (1944), and a piano concerto (1945) before returning to opera with The Medium and The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois. Ballet is a formalized form of Dance with its origins in the French court further developed in France and Russia as a Concert dance Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events The Motion Picture Daily Fame Poll designates Bing Crosby "Top Male Vocalist" for the ninth straight year The Medium is a short (one hour long two-act dramatic Opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. The Telephone is an English-language Comic opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti, both words and music

His first full-length opera, The Consul, was premiered in 1950. The Consul is an Opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera Events January 3 - Sam Phillips launches Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis Tennessee. It won both the Pulitzer Prize for Music and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Musical Play of the Year (the latter in 1954). The 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 The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of twenty-two Drama Critics from daily Newspapers, Magazines and Wire services Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) In 1951, Menotti wrote his beloved Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors for NBC. Events July 11 - Disc jockey and music promoter Alan Freed broadcasts his first Rhythm and blues radio programme from station WJW in Amahl and the Night Visitors is an Opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English Libretto by the Composer. It was the first opera ever written for television in America,^[9] and first aired on Christmas Eve, 1951. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic It was such a success that it became an annual Christmas tradition. It remains Menotti's most popular work to this day. Menotti won a second Pulitzer Prize for his opera The Saint of Bleecker Street in 1955. The Saint of Bleecker Street is an Opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti to an original English Libretto by the composer

Menotti also wrote several ballets and numerous choral works. Of these, the most notable is his cantata The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi, written in 1963. A cantata (derived from the Italian word 'cantare' meaning 'to sing' is a vocal composition with an instrumental Accompaniment and often Events January 1 - The Beatles start a 5 day tour in Scotland to support the release of their new single "Love Me Do" He also wrote a violin concerto, symphonies, and a stage play, The Leper. The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member It was in the field of opera, however, that he made his most notable contributions to American cultural life.

Chronology

• Amelia al Ballo (1937)
• The Old Maid and the Thief, radio opera (1939)
• The Island God (1942)
• The Medium (1946)
• The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois (1947)
• The Consul (1950)
• Amahl and the Night Visitors, television opera (1951)
• The Saint of Bleecker Street (1954)
• The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore (1956)
• Maria Golovin (1958)
• Labyrinth television opera (1963)
• The Last Savage (1963)
• Martin's Lie (1964)
• Help, Help, the Globolinks! (1968)
• The Most Important Man (1971)
• Tamu-Tamu (1973)
• The Egg (1976)
• The Hero (1976)
• The Trial of the Gypsy (1978)
• Chip and his Dog, on commission for the CCOC (1979)
• La Loca (1979)
• Missa 'O Pulchritudo' (1979)
• A Bride from Pluto (1982)
• The Boy Who Grew Too Fast (1982)
• Goya (1986)
• The Wedding (Giorno da Nozze) (1988)
• Goya [rev. Events January 21 - Paul Sacher conducts the world premiere of Béla Bartók 's Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta The Old Maid and the Thief is a one act opera by Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti, written and premiered in 1939 Events Publication of Music Here and Now, book by Ernst Krenek March 23 – Béla Bartók 's Violin Concerto Events Bunk Johnson makes his first recordings Capitol Records founded by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, and The Medium is a short (one hour long two-act dramatic Opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Events February 8 - Béla Bartók 's Piano Concerto No 3 is premiered posthumously by György Sándor with The Telephone is an English-language Comic opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti, both words and music Events August 7 - Carlo Bergonzi makes his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème at the Arena Argentina in Catania The Consul is an Opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera Events January 3 - Sam Phillips launches Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis Tennessee. Amahl and the Night Visitors is an Opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English Libretto by the Composer. Events July 11 - Disc jockey and music promoter Alan Freed broadcasts his first Rhythm and blues radio programme from station WJW in The Saint of Bleecker Street is an Opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti to an original English Libretto by the composer Events Frank Sinatra wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in From Here to Eternity, 1953 resuscitating his singing Events The Malt Shop Era Begins With Love Is Strange By Mickey & Sylvia January 1 - Blue Suede Shoes Maria Golovin is an English language Opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti. Events January 28 - Little Richard begins attending classes at Oakwood College in Huntsville Alabama January Events January 1 - The Beatles start a 5 day tour in Scotland to support the release of their new single "Love Me Do" Events January 1 - Top of the Pops premieres on BBC television Events January 4 - Guitarist Jimi Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with Events February 5 - Eric Burdon & War disbanding They never performed togeather again until April 21 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall Events January-February January 9 - Mick Jagger 's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug bust putting an abrupt end Events January-February January 5 - Bob Dylan releases Desire January 6 - Peter Frampton Events January: May - The Bee Gees dominate the singles and album charts as Saturday Night Fever becomes a cultural phenomenon The Canadian Children's Opera Chorus (CCOC was founded in 1968 by Ruby Mercer and Lloyd Bradshaw. See also Musical groups established in 1979 Record labels established in 1979 1979 in music (UK See also 1982 in music (UK Musical groups established in 1982 Record labels established in 1982 The Boy Who Grew Too Fast is a "one-act Opera for young people" with music and Libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti. See also Musical groups established in 1986 Record labels established in 1986 Events January This is a list of notable events in Music that took place in the year 1988. ] (1991)
• The Singing Child (1993)

(Source: usopera.com)

Books

By Menotti

• Amahl and the Night Visitors: Vocal Score. See also 1991 in music (UK Musical groups established in 1991 Record labels This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993. Events January G. Schirmer, Inc, 1986. ISBN 0-881-88965-2.
• The Telephone: Vocal Score. G. Schirmer, Inc, 1986. ISBN 0-793-55370-9.
• The Medium: Vocal Score. G. Schirmer, Inc, 1986. ISBN 0-793-51546-7.
• Mass for the Contemporary English Liturgy. G. Smirmer, Inc, 1990. ISBN 8-84088-16249-8

About Menotti

• Wlaschin, Ken. Gian Carlo Menotti on Screen: Opera, Dance and Choral Works on Film, Television and Video. McFarland & Company, 1999. Library Binding: ISBN 0-786-40608-9
• Gruen, John. Menotti: A Biography. Hardcover. Macmillan Pub Co, 1978. ISBN 0-025-46320-9.

References

1. ^ Time.com, Feb. 1, 2007
2. ^ Gian Carlo Menotti
3. ^ Menotti, Gian Carlo: Biography and Much More from Answers.com
4. ^ Time.com, Feb. 1, 2007
5. ^ Time Magazine, Milestones section, February 19, 2007 issue
6. ^ Gian Carlo Menotti Biography - Discography, Music, Lyrics, Album, CD, Career, Famous Works, and Awards
7. ^ Gian Carlo Menotti - Obituaries, News - Independent.co.uk
8. ^ Overview of Yester House
9. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/02/02/db0201.xml Telegraph obituary. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Last accessed 02/02/07

See Also

• Leonard Kastle - a student of Menotti's

[1] - Gian Carlo Menotti of Panamá

External links

• Art of the States: Giancarlo Menotti