Editing Amilcare Ponchielli (section)

==Life and work==
Born in Paderno Fasolaro (now [[Paderno Ponchielli]]) near [[Cremona]], then [[Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia]], Ponchielli won a scholarship at the age of nine to study music at the [[Milan Conservatory]], writing his first [[symphony]] by the time he was ten years old.<ref name="wire" />

In 1856, he wrote his first [[opera]]—based on [[Alessandro Manzoni]]'s novel ''[[The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)|The Betrothed]]'' (''I promessi sposi'')—and it was as an opera composer that he eventually found fame.

His early career was disappointing. Manoeuvred out of a professorship at the Milan Conservatory that he had won in a competition, he took small-time jobs in small cities and composed several operas, none successful at first. In spite of his disappointment, he gained much experience as the bandmaster (''capobanda'') in [[Piacenza]] and Cremona, arranging and composing over 200 works for wind band. Notable among his "original" compositions for band are the first-ever concerto for [[euphonium]] (Concerto per Flicornobasso, 1872), fifteen variations on the popular Parisian song "Carnevale di Venezia", and a series of festive and funeral marches that resound with the pride of the [[Italian unification|newly unified Italy]] and the private grief of his fellow Cremonese. The turning point was the big success of the revised version of ''I promessi sposi'' in 1872, which brought him a contract with the music publisher [[G. Ricordi & Co.]] and the musical establishment at the Conservatory and at [[La Scala]]. The role of Lina in the revised version was sung by [[Teresina Brambilla]], whom he married in 1874. Their son Annibale became a music critic and minor composer.<ref>Mattera, Angelo (1971). [http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/teresa-brambilla_%28Dizionario_Biografico%29/ "Brambilla, Teresa"]. ''[[Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani]]'', Vol. 13. Treccani. Online version retrieved 1 February 2015 {{in lang|it}}.</ref> The ballet ''Le due gemelle'' (1873) confirmed his success.

The following opera, ''[[I Lituani]]'' (''The Lithuanians'') of 1874, had a three-night run in 1903 at La Scala, where the casting was particularly poorly reviewed; it was scheduled for performances in 1939 that did not take place because the [[Second World War]] broke out,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Concert: I LItuani|website=Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre |date=6 July 2020 |url= https://www.opera.lt/en/whatss-on/i-lituani-e77}}</ref> and it was not performed again until 1979, when [[RAI]] recovered the score.<ref name="2005_liner_notes">Battaglia, Fernando (2005). CD booklet. In ''Amilcare Ponchielli: I Lituani (Turin RAI Symphony Orchestra & Chorus feat. conductor: Gianandrea Gavazzeni)'' (pp. 16–18) [CD liner notes]. [[Bologna]], Italy: Bongiovanni.</ref> It has been revived several times since then.<ref name="150years_xii">{{cite book
| author = Marsh, Robert C.
| editor = Pellegrini, Norman
| title = 150 Years of Opera in Chicago
| publisher = [[Northern Illinois University]] Press
| location = [[DeKalb, Illinois]]
| isbn = 0-87580-353-9
| chapter = Author's Preface
| year = 2006
| no-pp = true
| page = xii}}</ref> <!--may be correct, in which case needs reinstating with source and clarification: was also well received, being performed later at [[Saint Petersburg]] (as ''Aldona'' on 20 November 1884).--> His best-known opera is ''[[La Gioconda (opera)|La Gioconda]]'' (1876), which his librettist [[Arrigo Boito]] adapted from the same play by [[Victor Hugo]] that had been previously set by [[Saverio Mercadante]] as ''[[Il giuramento]]'' in 1837 and [[Antônio Carlos Gomes|Carlos Gomes]] as ''Fosca'' in 1873. The opera contains the famous ballet [[Dance of the Hours]] as the third act finale. It was first produced in 1876 and revised several times. The version that has become popular today was first given in 1880.

In 1876, he started working on ''[[I Mori di Valenza]]'', although the project dates back to 1873. It was an opera that he never finished, although it was completed later by [[Arturo Cadore]] and performed posthumously in 1914.

[[File:Amilcare Ponchielli grave Milan 2015.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A marble gravestone on the wall of a crypt|Ponchielli's grave at the [[Monumental Cemetery of Milan]], Italy.]]
After ''La Gioconda'', Ponchielli wrote the monumental biblical melodrama in four acts, ''Il figliuol prodigo'', given in Milan at La Scala on 26 December 1880, and ''Marion Delorme'', from another play by Victor Hugo, which was presented at La Scala on 17 March 1885. In spite of their rich musical invention, neither of these operas met with the same success, but both exerted great influence on the composers of the rising generation, such as [[Giacomo Puccini]], [[Pietro Mascagni]], and [[Umberto Giordano]].

In 1881, Ponchielli was appointed ''maestro di cappella'' of the [[Bergamo Cathedral]], and from the same year, he was a professor of composition at the Milan Conservatory, where among his students were Puccini, Mascagni, [[Emilio Pizzi]], and [[Giovanni Tebaldini]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pfitzinger |first1=Scott |title=Composer genealogies : a compendium of composers, their teachers, and their students |date=2017 |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=9781442272255<!-- |access-date=14 March 2023-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Amilcare Ponchielli Biography |url=https://www.shsu.edu/academics/music/ponchielli/amilcare-ponchielli/biography.html |publisher=Sam Houston State University |language=en}}</ref>

He died of [[pneumonia]] in Milan in 1886 and was interred in the city's [[Monumental Cemetery of Milan|Monumental Cemetery]].<ref>Caldini, Sandro 2001, [http://www.idrs.org/publications/controlled/DR/DR24.1.pdf/Amilcare.pdf "Amilcare Ponchielli’s ''Capriccio''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912224737/http://www.idrs.org/publications/controlled/DR/DR24.1.pdf/Amilcare.pdf |date=12 September 2014 }}, in ''The Double Reed'', Vol. 24, No. 1</ref><ref name="wire">{{cite web |title=Composer Profile: Amilcare Ponchielli, Child Prodigy Turned Composer of 'La Gioconda' |url=https://operawire.com/composer-profile-amilcare-ponchielli-child-prodigy-turned-composer-of-la-gioconda/ |website=OperaWire |access-date=14 March 2023 |date=31 August 2018}}</ref>