Piero Coppola

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Piero Coppola (born October 11, 1888 in Milan, died March 17, 1971 in Lausanne, Switzerland) was an Italian conductor, pianist and composer.

Coppola's parents were both singers.[1] He studied at the Milan Conservatory, graduating in piano and composition in 1910.[1] By 1911 he was already conducting opera at La Scala opera house in Milan.[1] That year he heard Debussy conduct his own compositions Ibéria and Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune in Turin, an experience that "had a decisive influence on his career".[2] He then worked in Brussels before spending the duration of World War I in Scandinavia.[1]

After the War, Coppola moved to France. Between 1923 and 1934 he was the artistic director of La Voix de son Maître, the French branch of The Gramophone Company. In 1924 he was asked by Sylvia Beach to make a recording of James Joyce reading from Ulysses: Coppola replied that the recording would have to be made at Beach's expense, would not have the HMV label on it and would not be listed in the catalog.[3] In the late 1920s and 1930s Coppola conducted recordings of many works of Debussy and Ravel, including the first recordings of Debussy's La mer and Ravel's Boléro. Coppola's conducting enjoyed the admiration of Debussy, although the composer never actually heard Coppola perform any of his works.[2] His work in French repertoire has been widely praised. His recordings of Debussy have been described as "without rival for the period", with his 1938 recording of Nocturnes eulogized as a "masterpiece"[4] and among the early recordings "closest to Debussy's thought".[5] His recording of Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1932.[4] Coppola also conducted the first recording of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, with Prokofiev himself as soloist.

From 1939 onwards Coppola worked in Lausanne. He composed two operas, a symphony, and some shorter works.[1]

Piero Coppola is no relation to Carmine Coppola or to Carmine's son Francis Ford Coppola.[6]

[edit] Recording premieres

[edit] Writings

  • Coppola, Piero [1944] (1982). Dix-sept ans de musique à Paris, 1922-1939 (in French). Geneva: Slatkine. ISBN 2050002084. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Johnston, Blair. Piero Coppola. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-07-05.
  2. ^ a b Timbrell, Charles (2003), “Debussy in performance”, in Tresize, Simon, The Cambridge Companion to Debussy, Cambridge University Press, pp. 270, ISBN 0521654785, <http://books.google.com/books?id=dxfALsh5wgUC&pg=PA270&vq=coppola&dq=%22piero+coppola%22&as_brr=3&sig=ho73AARsEzO7nGy3l5EqV17Cn4E> 
  3. ^ Beach, Sylvia (1991). Shakespeare and Company. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 170. ISBN 0803260970. 
  4. ^ a b Holoman, Dallas Kern (2004). The Societe des Concerts Du Conservatoire, 1828-1967. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 433. ISBN 0520236645. 
  5. ^ Briscoe, James R. (1999). Debussy in Performance. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 78. ISBN 0300076266. 
  6. ^ Cowie, Peter (1994). Coppola: A Biography. New York: Da Capo Press, 13. ISBN 0306805987. “Both of Francis's grandfathers sailed from southern Italy about the turn of the century” 
  7. ^ Wingfield, Paul (1999), “Janácek, musical analysis, and "Jeux de Vagues"”, in Wingfield, Paul, Janácek Studies, Cambridge University Press, pp. 188, ISBN 0521573572, <http://books.google.com/books?id=GHanbI1YeDMC&pg=PA188&vq=coppola&dq=%22piero+coppola%22+%22la+mer%22+1928&sig=vVgO3o2UoI_WOQSQ1QSXn-wNAFk> 
  8. ^ Woodley, Ronald (2000), “Syle and practice in the early recordings”, in Mawer, Deborah, The Cambridge Companion to Ravel, Cambridge University Press, pp. 236-237, ISBN 0521648564, <http://books.google.com/books?id=rLDc8oHUBi0C&pg=PA236&vq=coppola&dq=coppola+bolero&sig=dRzUzyao_DyP57xuFZPGAfy_2lU> 
Languages