Franco Leoni

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Franco Leoni (24 October 1864 – 8 February 1949^[1]) was an Italian opera composer.

Leoni was born in Milan, Italy andstudied music at the Milan Conservatory under Ponchielli and Dominicetti. He wrote some large-scale sacred choral works, but emigrated to England after the success of his first opera, Raggio di Luna, in 1890. In England, he produced some decidedly un-Italian works, such as Rip van Winkle, based on the story by Washington Irving (1897), and Ib and Little Christina after the 1855 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen (1901).

His opera L'Oracolo is considered his most popular work and the only one readily available on CD (in a 1977 recording). It was produced at Covent Garden in 1905 with Antonio Scotti portraying the opium dealer, Cim-Fen. Scotti brought the opera to America, where it enjoyed a long run at the Metropolitan Opera starting in 1915. Many reviews cite his performance as being downright evil, certainly rivaling his Scarpia. He chose to perform in it for his 1933 farewell from the Met, but L'Oracolo has not often been heard since.

Ah-Joe's First Act soprano solo was recorded in Italian by Dorothy Warenskjold in the 1950's, and in English by Frances Alda, before 1920. Tito Gobbi made a recording of the work in 1977 with Joan Sutherland and the National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Richard Bonynge.

After Leoni returned to Italy in 1917, he composed several other operas, about which little is known. He also wrote the cantatas Sardanapalus, The Gate of Life, and Golgotha, and composed many songs.

[edit] Major works

Operas

Raggio di Luna (5 June 1890, Milan) Libretto by Camillo Zanoni. Opera in 2 acts
Rip Van Winkle (4 Sept 1897, Covent Garden Theatre, London). Opera in 2 acts
Ib and Little Christina (after H. C. Andersen), London, Savoy, 14 Nov 1901. Opera in 3 parts
L'Oracolo (28.6.1905 Covent Garden Theatre, London). Tragic Opera in 1 Act, words by Camillo Zanoni, after the play, The Cat and the Cherub, by Chester Bailey Fernald.
Tzigana (E. Moschini), Genoa, 3 Feb 1910
Francesca da Rimini (M. Crawford), Paris, (Favart), 1914
Le baruffe chiozzotte (after C. Goldoni), Milan, 2 Jan 1920
La terra del sogno (Linati), Milan, 10 Jan 1920
Falene (C. Linati), Milan, 1920
Massemarello, (Details unknown; unperformed)

Other Works

The Gate of Life. Dramatic Cantata. Verse written by Schapcott Wensley. (1897)
Golgotha. Words from the text of the New Testament, narrated in music (for soli, chorus and orchestra). (Chappell, 1910).