View source for Luigi Mancinelli

{{short description|Italian composer}}

[[File:Luigi Mancinelli by F. Garibotti - Archivio Storico Ricordi ICON010552 B.jpg|thumb|upright|Mancinelli by F. Garibotti]]
'''Luigi Mancinelli''' ({{IPA|it|luˈiːdʒi mantʃiˈnɛlli}}; 5 February 1848 – 2 February 1921) was an Italian [[Conducting|conductor]], [[cello|cellist]]  and composer. His early career was in Italy, where he established a reputation in [[Perugia]] and then [[Bologna]]. After  1886 he worked mostly in other countries, as principal conductor at the [[Royal Opera House|Royal Opera House, Covent Garden]] in London and at the [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|"Old Metropolitan"]] Opera House in New York, and in other appointments in Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.

Mancinelli was highly regarded not only in the Italian repertory, in which he first came to prominence, but also in German and French opera. Despite his high reputation as a conductor, his compositions met with limited success, and none of them entered the regular repertoire.

==Life and career==
===Early years===
Mancinelli was born in [[Orvieto]] in central Italy.<ref name=grove/> He studied organ and [[cello]] with his elder brother, Marino (who later became a well-known conductor in Italian opera houses) and then played as a cellist in the Orvieto cappella and the orchestra of the [[Teatro della Pergola]] in [[Florence]].<ref name=baker>Kuhn, pp. 2255–2256</ref> In Florence he studied  composition with [[Teodulo Mabellini]]. In 1874 he moved to the [[Teatro Morlacchi]] in [[Perugia]], as principal cellist and assistant [[maestro concertatore]].<ref name=grove>Libby, Dennis, and Julian Budden. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000017592 "Mancinelli, Luigi"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2001. Retrieved 11 September 2020 {{subscription required}}</ref> He made his conducting debut there in ''[[Aida]]'' when the regular conductor was unable to appear, owing to temporary inebriety.<ref name=baker/> The impresario Vincenzo Jacovacci was present, and engaged Mancinelli for the Teatro Apollo, Rome, where he conducted until 1881.<ref name=grove/> He quickly built a reputation; in 1877 [[Arrigo Boito|Boito]] called him the ideal interpreter of ''[[Mefistofele]]'', and he was regarded by Giovannina Lucca, the holder of the Italian rights to [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] operas, as [[Angelo Mariani (conductor)|Angelo Mariani's]] successor as Italy's leading Wagner conductor.<ref name=grove/> Wagner himself rated Mancinelli highly.<ref name=grove/>

===International career===

In July 1878 Mancinelli conducted in Paris for the first time.<ref name=grove/><ref>[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k276786x.r=Mancinelli?rk=42918;4 "Petit Courrier de l'Exposition"], ''Le Figaro'', 9 July 1878, p. 2</ref> In Italy he worked principally in [[Bologna]], conducting opera at the [[Teatro Comunale di Bologna|Teatro Comunale]], serving as [[Kapellmeister|maestro di cappella]] at the basilica of [[San Petronio, Bologna|San Petronio]] and teaching at the [[Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini|Liceo Musicale]], where his students included [[Giacomo Orefice]].<ref>Kuhn, pp. pp. 2661–2662</ref> Throughout his career Mancinelli composed in addition to conducting.  His first opera, ''Isora di Provenza'' (1884) was successful in Bologna but failed in Naples two years later. After that, Mancinelli's career was chiefly out of Italy. In June 1886 he conducted a concert in London, consisting of [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Beethoven's Fifth Symphony]] and a selection of his own compositions.<ref>"Music", ''The Graphic'', 26 June 1886, p. 687</ref> Having resigned his posts in Bologna,<ref name=grove/> he accepted an invitation from the impresario [[Augustus Harris]] to join [[Alberto Randegger]] as conductor of a season in June and July 1887 at the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]] with a starry international cast and a wide repertoire of Italian, French, Austrian and German operas.<ref name=dl/>{{refn|The repertoire comprised ''Aida'', ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'', ''[[La traviata]]'', ''[[Rigoletto]]'', ''[[Les Huguenots]]'', ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'', ''[[Carmen]]'', ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' and ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]''.<ref name=dl>"Music", ''The Graphic'', 18 June 1887, p. 642; "Royal Italian Opera, Drury-Lane", ''The Era'', 25 June 1887, p. 14; and "Royal Italian Opera, Drury Lane", ''The Times'', 25 July 1887, p. 12</ref>|group=n}}
[[File:Mancinelli Luigi.jpg|thumb|left|Mancinelli in later years]]
Harris took over the management of the [[Royal Opera House|Royal Opera House, Covent Garden]] in 1888, and appointed Mancinelli its chief conductor, a post he held until 1905.<ref name=grove/> He rapidly improved musical standards. Within weeks of his appointment, a French critic commented, "Under M. Mancinelli's baton, his orchestra has achieved the homogeneity that it lacked at first; now it is worthy of Covent Garden".<ref>"[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2804254/f3.item.r=Mancinelli Correspondance Anglaise"], ''Le Figaro'', 13 June 1888, p. 3</ref> When Harris and Mancinelli took over, the house was officially known as "The Royal Italian Opera House", and operas of any nationality were sung in Italian – ''[[The Magic Flute|Die Zauberflöte]]'' being given as ''Il flauto magico'' etc.<ref>"Royal Italian Opera: Il flauto magico", ''The Era'', 30 June 1888, p. 7</ref> Gradually the policy was changed so that generally operas were sung in the language in which they were originally written.<ref>Parker, p. 39</ref> By the 1890s Mancinelli was conducting performances of ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'' and ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]'' in French and ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' in German, although ''[[Die Meistersinger]]'' continued to be given in Italian translation until 1899, by which time Mancinelli had largely ceded the German repertoire to guest conductors from Germany, in this case [[Karl Muck]].<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'' 1 July 1897, p. 6; and "Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 29 May 1899, p. 13</ref> Among the British premieres conducted by Mancinelli was Verdi's final opera, ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'', in May 1894. The production featured alterations that Verdi had made to the score since the world premiere in [[Milan]] a year earlier, but some of Mancinelli's tempi raised critical eyebrows.<ref>"Royal Opera", ''The Times'', 21 May 1894, p. 7; "Verdi's 'Falstaff'", ''The Musical Standard'', 26 May 1894, pp. 431–432; and "''Falstaff'' at Covent Garden", ''The Saturday Review'', 26 May 1894, pp. 552–553</ref>

Mancinelli was chief conductor at the [[Teatro Real|Madrid opera]], 1887–1893, and at the [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|Metropolitan Opera House]] (the "Old Met"), New York, 1893–1903. At the latter he conducted mostly Italian or French operas, including some relative rarities such as ''[[Semiramide]]'', ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice]]'', ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]'' and ''[[L'Africaine]]''.<ref name=met>Search result for [http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm "Mancinelli"], Metropolitan Opera Archives. Retrieved 11 September 2020. (Direct link to page not available: use of "key word search" facility from site front page brings up the required information.)</ref> In the German repertoire, he conducted ''Lohengrin'', ''Die Meistersinger'' and ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (all given in Italian, as was the Met's practice at the time).<ref name=met/> As at Covent Garden, Mancinelli introduced ''Falstaff'', but with a starrier cast than in London, including [[Victor Maurel]] in the title role and [[Emma Eames]] and [[Zélie de Lussan]] as Alice and Nannetta Ford.<ref>Search result for [http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm "Falstaff"], Metropolitan Opera Archives. Retrieved 11 September 2020</ref> He conducted the first Met performance of what became the familiar double-bill of ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'' and ''[[Pagliacci]]'', although on that occasion the latter was given first.<ref name=met/> Other operas that received their Met premieres under Mancinelli include ''The Magic Flute'', ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' and ''[[La bohème]]''.<ref name=met/>

Mancinelli conducted opera in Italy until 1911 and during seasons at the [[Teatro Nacional de São Carlos]], Lisbon, from 1901 to 1919–20. In 1905 he was at the [[Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro)|Rio de Janeiro opera]] and in May 1908 he conducted ''Aida'', inaugurating the new [[Teatro Colón]], Buenos Aires, returning there in 1909, 1910 and 1913.<ref name=baker/>

==Personal life==
In 1881, Mancinelli married Luisa Cora, in [[Turin]].<ref name=Marquis>[https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinamerica02marq/page/746/mode/2up MANCINELLI, Luigi], in ''[[Who's Who in America]]'' (1901-02 edition), via [[archive.org]]</ref>

He died in Rome on 2 February 1921, aged 72.<ref name=baker/>

==Works==
[[File:Portrait of Luigi Mancinelli.jpg|thumb|upright|Luigi Mancinelli]]

Although Mancinelli was regarded by contemporaries as a conductor who also composed, he took his compositions with great seriousness, and was disappointed that they made little impact on the public. His "tragica lirica" ''Ero e Leandro'', premiered at the [[Norfolk and Norwich Festival|Norwich Festival]] in 1896, was later given in Madrid, London, New York, and several Italian cities, but did not sustain a place in the repertory.<ref name=grove/> ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' comments that Mancinelli's lack of success as a composer:
{{blockindent|was probably caused partly by a dramatic temperament strongly at variance with the dominating currents in Italian opera at the time, as manifested in the ''[[verismo]]'' school and [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]. This is evident also in his rather abstract treatment of his characters, a tendency emphasised by his lack of facility in creating memorable melodies.<ref name=grove/>|}}

===Operas===
[[File:Isora di Aix (soprano), figurino di Alfredo Edel per Isora di Provenza (1884) - Archivio Storico Ricordi ICON008106.jpg|thumb|Isora di Aix, costume design by [[Alfredo Edel]] for ''Isora di Provenza'' Act 2 (1884).]]
* ''Isora di Provenza'' (3 acts, A. Zanardini; Bologna, 1884)
* ''Ero e Leandro'' (3 acts, [[Arrigo Boito]]; Norwich Festival, 1896)
* ''Paolo e Francesca'' (1 act, Arturo Colautti; Bologna, 1907)
* ''Sogno di una notte d'estate'' (3 acts, Fausto Salvatori; 1919)

===Other stage works===
* ''Messalina'' (Prelude and intermezzo for the drama by [[Pietro Cossa]], 1876)
* ''Cleopatra'' (Symphonic intermezzi for the drama by [[Pietro Cossa]], 1877)
* ''Tizianello'' (Five pieces for the comedy by E. Lombroso, 1880)
* ''Isaia'' ([[Cantata]], words by [[Giuseppe Albini (philologist)|Giuseppe Albini]], 1887)

===Film scores===
* ''Frate Sole'' (Scored for chorus and orchestra from the tale by {{ill|Mario Corsi|it}}, Tespi-films, Rome; 1918)
* ''[[Giuliano l'Apostata]]'' (Scored for chorus and orchestra from the tale by [[Ugo Falena]], Bernini-films, Rome; 1920)

==Notes, references and sources==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n}}

===References===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book|last=Kuhn|first=Laura|title=[[Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians]]|edition=8th|year=2001 |location=New York|publisher=Schirmer|isbn=978-0-02-866091-2}}
* {{cite book |last= Parker| first=E. D. |title= Opera under Augustus Harris| year= 1900| location=London | publisher=Saxon | url=https://archive.org/details/operaunderaugust00parkrich/page/n9/mode/2up|  oclc=21923947}}

==External links==
* {{IMSLP|id=Mancinelli, Luigi}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Luigi Mancinelli}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mancinelli, Luigi}}
[[Category:1848 births]]
[[Category:People from Orvieto]]
[[Category:1921 deaths]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini]]
[[Category:Italian classical composers]]
[[Category:Italian conductors (music)]]
[[Category:Italian male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:Italian cellists]]
[[Category:Italian opera composers]]
[[Category:Italian male opera composers]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian musicians]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian male musicians]]