Editing Pietro Mascagni

{{Short description|Italian composer (1863–1945)}}
{{More footnotes|date=May 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Pietro Mascagni
| image         = Pietro Mascagni 2.jpg
| caption       = Mascagni in 1903
| birth_name    = Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni
| birth_place   = [[Livorno]], Italy
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|df=y|1863|12|7}}
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=y|1945|8|2|1863|12|7}}
| death_place   = [[Rome]], Italy
| spouse       =  {{marriage|Lina Carbognani|1889}} 
| occupation    = [[Composer]]
}}
'''Pietro Mascagni'''{{Efn|Pronunciation: {{IPAc-en|m|æ|ˈ|s|k|æ|n|j|i}} {{respell|ma|SKAN|yee}}, {{IPAc-en|USalso|m|ɑː|ˈ|s|k|ɑː|n|j|i}} {{respell|mah|SKAHN|yee}},<ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref><ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|Mascagni|access-date=21 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/mascagni|title=Mascagni|work=[[Collins English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|access-date=21 May 2019}}</ref><ref>[https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/Mascagni,_Pietro "Mascagni, Pietro"]{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} (US) and {{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Mascagni,+Pietro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108151008/https://www.lexico.com/definition/mascagni,_pietro |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 November 2021 |title=Mascagni, Pietro |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Mascagni|access-date=21 May 2019}}</ref> {{IPA|it|ˈpjɛːtro maˈskaɲɲi|lang|It-Pietro Mascagni.ogg}}.}} (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian [[composer]] primarily known for his [[opera]]s. His 1890 masterpiece ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ''[[Verismo]]'' movement in Italian dramatic music. While it was often held that Mascagni, like [[Ruggero Leoncavallo]], was a "one-opera man" who could never repeat his first success, ''[[L'amico Fritz]]'' and ''[[Iris (opera)|Iris]]'' have remained in the repertoire in Europe (especially Italy) since their premieres.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Mar10/Mascagni_Fritz_4778358.htm|title=Mascagni L'amico Fritz DG 4778358 [CF]: Classical Music Reviews – March 2010 MusicWeb-International|first=MusicWeb|last=International|website=www.musicweb-international.com|access-date=23 March 2018}}</ref>

Mascagni wrote fifteen operas, an [[operetta]], several orchestral and vocal works, and also songs and piano music. He enjoyed immense success during his lifetime, both as a composer and [[Conductor (music)|conductor]] of his own and other people's music and created a variety of styles in his operas.

==Biography==

===Early life and education===
Mascagni was born on 7 December 1863 in [[Livorno]], [[Tuscany]], the second son of Domenico and Emilia Mascagni. His father owned and operated a bakery. [[Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti]] ("Nanni") was born the same year in the same city and became Mascagni's lifelong friend and collaborator.

In 1876, at the age of 13, Mascagni began musical studies with Alfredo Soffredini, who founded the ''Instituto Musicale di Livorno'' (later called ''Istituto Cherubini''). Soffredini had just completed his musical studies in [[Milan]]. Also a native of Livorno, Soffredini was a composer, teacher and musical critic. Mascagni started composing rapidly: between 1879 and 1880, he wrote several works: ''Sinfonia in do minore'', ''Prima sinfonia in fa maggiore'', ''Elegia'', ''Kyrie'', ''Gloria'' and ''Ave Maria''.

===Musical career: 1880–1889===
The premiere of Mascagni's first [[cantata]], ''In Filanda'', took place at the Istituto Cherubini on 9 February 1881. Performed at a musical contest in Milan, the cantata won the first prize. In the same year, Mascagni met the musicians [[Arrigo Boito]] and [[Amilcare Ponchielli]] in Milan.

In 1882, he composed his ''Cantata alla gioia'' from a text by [[Friedrich Schiller]], followed by ''La stella di Garibaldi'' for voice and piano, and ''La tua stella''. On 6 May Mascagni left Livorno for Milan.  He passed the admission examination of the [[Milan Conservatory]] on 12 October. In Milan, Mascagni met the noted composer [[Giacomo Puccini]], and was a student of [[Amintore Galli]], artistic director of the {{Interlanguage link|Casa Musicale Sonzogno|it|Sonzogno (editore musicale)}}.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Di Cesare |first=Maria Carmela |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/amintore-galli_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |title=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani |year=1998 |volume=51 |language=it-IT |trans-title=Biographical Dictionary of Italians |chapter=Galli, Amintore |access-date=5 January 2024}}</ref>

On 9 January 1883, Mascagni's sister, Maria, died. The cantata ''In Filanda'' became ''Pinotta'', and was proposed for the musical contest of the Conservatorio, but as his registration was late, it was not accepted.

In 1884, he composed ''Ballata'' for [[tenor]] and [[piano]]; ''M'ama non m'ama'', [[scherzo]] for [[soprano]] and piano; ''Messagio d'amore'', and ''Alla luna''.

In 1885, Mascagni composed ''Il Re a Napoli in Cremona'', a romance for tenor and [[orchestra]], on a text by [[Andrea Maffei]].  He left Milan without completing his studies. That year, he began touring as a conductor in the operetta companies of Vittorio Forlì, Alfonso and Ciro Scognamiglio, and, in [[Genoa]], the company of [[Luigi Arnaldo Vassallo]].

Mascagni met the impresario Luigi Maresca in 1886 and started working with him. That December, Mascagni arrived in [[Cerignola]] with Maresca's company. He was accompanied by Argenide Marcellina Carbognani (Lina), his future wife. Helped by the mayor Giuseppe Cannone, Mascagni soon left the company of Maresca, though not without problems.

He was appointed as the master of music and singing of the new philharmonia of Cerignola. His reputation grew. He also gave piano lessons. In February 1888, he began work on the ''Messa di Gloria.'' In July 1888, Casa Musicale Sonzogno announced in the ''Teatro Illustrato'' its second competition for a one-act opera, to be judged by a panel including Galli and [[Antonio Ghislanzoni]]. The following year, Mascagni completed his composition of ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'' on 27 May and sent the manuscript to Milan. Mascagni won against seventy-two other operas, including [[Niccola Spinelli]]'s ''Labilia'' and {{Interlanguage link|Vincenzo Ferroni|it|}}'s ''Rudello''.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Greenwald |first=Helen M. |year=2023 |title=Coupling: Mascagni and Leoncavallo |journal=Royal Opera House Programme for Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci |publisher=[[Royal Opera House]] |pages=30–35}}</ref>

Mascagni married Lina Carbognani on 3 February 1889. The next day their first son, Domenico Mascagni ("Mimì"), was born. Their son Dino was born on 3 January 1891. A daughter, Emi, was born in 1892.

===1890–1899===
[[File:PietroMascagni1.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Mascagni in c.&nbsp;1890]]
On 21 February 1890, Mascagni was summoned to Rome to present his opera. The première of ''Cavalleria rusticana'', winner of the Sonzogno contest, was held 17 May at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. It had outstanding success, and the opera was soon performed in both the north and south of Italy: [[Florence]], [[Turin]], [[Bologna]], [[Palermo]], [[Milan]], [[Genoa]], [[Naples]], [[Venice]] and [[Trieste]].

In December, [[Gustav Mahler]] conducted the opera in [[Budapest]]. Soon thereafter, the cities of [[Munich]], [[Hamburg]], [[St. Petersburg]], [[Dresden]] and [[Buenos Aires]] welcomed the opera. In March 1891, it was sung in [[Vienna]]. At age 26, Mascagni had become internationally famous.

Mascagni premiered his ''[[L'amico Fritz]]'', his second most successful opera, on 31 October 1891 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. ''[[I Rantzau]]'' premiered on 10 November at the Teatro La Pergola, in Florence, under his personal direction.

The composer next completed ''[[Silvano (opera)|Silvano]] '' (1894). On 16 February 1895, he premiered  ''[[Guglielmo Ratcliff]]'' at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan. On 15 March ''Silvano'' was premiered at the same theatre. That year, Mascagni accepted the directorship of the [[Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini"|Liceo Rossini]] in [[Pesaro]] and moved his family there.

On 2 March 1896, Mascagni conducted the première of ''[[Zanetto]]'' at the Liceo. He continued his composing and directing. On 29 June 1898 in [[Recanati]], Mascagni conducted the première of his [[symphonic poem]], ''A [[Giacomo Leopardi]]''. Mascagni began a collaboration with [[Luigi Illica]], a librettist. Their first work, ''[[Iris (opera)|Iris]],'' was premiered on 22 November at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.

Mascagni's father died in May 1899.

===1900–1909===
[[File:Amica-Mascagni-1905.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Amica (opera)|Amica]]'' poster, 1905, showing [[Geraldine Farrar]] who performed the title role in the [[Monte Carlo]] premiere.]]
In 1900, Mascagni toured Moscow and [[St. Petersburg]] and, on 17 January 1901, ''[[Le maschere]]'' was premiered in six Italian theatres. [[Giuseppe Verdi]] died on 27 January and the following month Mascagni commemorated Verdi's passing. That same year, he conducted Verdi's ''[[Requiem (Verdi)|Requiem]]'' in Vienna.

Mascagni composed the [[incidental music]] for [[Hall Caine]]'s play, ''The Eternal City'' in August 1902; the première of the play with Mascagni's music took place in London on 2 October.

In 1902 and 1903, he toured in Canada and the United States, (in particular [[Montreal]], New York City, [[Philadelphia]], [[Boston]] and San Francisco), where he conducted many of his and other composers' works. The tour was mostly a fiasco, except for the visit to San Francisco where Mascagni was extremely well received.

In 1903, Mascagni left Pesaro after problems with the authorities. He became director of the ''Scuola Musicale Romana'', in Rome. In the same year, he signed a contract with the French editor [[Paul de Choudens]].

[[Amica (opera)|''Amica'']], based on a poem by Choudens with a French libretto by [[Paul Collin]],<ref name = "Flury">{{cite book | last=Flury | first=Roger | title=Pietro Mascagni – A Bio-Bibliography | location=London | publisher=Greenwood Press | year=2001 | isbn=0-313-29662-6}}</ref> was premiered on 16 March 1905, in Monte-Carlo. That year, he had disputes with [[Ruggero Leoncavallo]] and [[Giacomo Puccini]]. He also had the Livornese première of ''Le maschere''.

Mascagni was director of the Costanzi for the season beginning in August 1909.

===1910–1919===
[[File:Pietro Mascagni Vanity Fair 17 April 1912.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Mascagni caricatured in [[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]], 1912]]
On 4 April 1910, Mascagni began a relationship with Anna Lolli. In October he was reconciled with Puccini.

Mascagni ceased his activity as director of the Scuola Musicale Romana in 1911. That May he left for [[Buenos Aires]], beginning a seven-month tour in South America. The première of ''[[Isabeau]]'' took place in Buenos Aires on 2 June.

The Italian première of ''Isabeau'' was held simultaneously at La Scala in Milan (conductor [[Tullio Serafin]]) and at [[La Fenice]] in [[Venice]] (conductor Mascagni) in 1912. On 28 March, he began to work on ''[[Parisina (Mascagni)|Parisina]]'' in Bellevue, near Paris, sometimes with his daughter Emi, his mistress Anna Lolli, and the librettist [[Gabriele d'Annunzio]].

''Parisina'' was premiered in Milan on 15 December of that year. Almost all the important Italian composers of the time were present, among them Puccini, [[Umberto Giordano]] and [[Riccardo Zandonai]]. The new work was premiered in Livorno and Rome in 1914. On 28 July, the events occurred that shortly led to World War I: Puccini and Mascagni were against the involvement of Italy in this war, in which Mascagni's son Dino was later made a prisoner.

In 1915 Mascagni wrote music for Nino Oxilia's movie ''[[Rapsodia Satanica]]''; the custom was for silent films to be accompanied live in a theatre by organ, piano, or an orchestra, often using a prepared score (sometimes with original music) with cues for the conductor or musician. Mascagni had a quarrel regarding the rights of Louise de la Ramée's ''Two Little Wooden Shoes ''(''I due Zoccoletti''), which inspired both Puccini and Mascagni. The subject was retained by Mascagni for ''[[Lodoletta]]''. The latter opera was premiered on 30 April 1917 in Rome.  The Livornese première of the opera was on 28 July with [[Beniamino Gigli]] as Flammen.

''[[Sì (operetta)|Sì]]'', Mascagni's operetta, which he had been manoeuvred into writing by the impresario [[Carlo Lombardo]], was premiered on 13 December in Rome.

===1920–1939===
In 1920 Mascagni composed ''[[Il piccolo Marat]]'', which was premiered in Rome on 2 May 1921, followed by a premiere in [[Buenos Aires]] in September. The composer returned to South America for a tour beginning in May 1922.

In 1923, he composed ''Visione Lirica''. Mascagni appeared on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' [[List of covers of Time magazine (1920s)|on 6 September 1926]].

He moved to the Grand Hotel Plaza in Rome in 1927, a place he would not leave until his death.

In 1930, Mascagni conducted ''[[La bohème]]'' in [[Torre del Lago]], as a homage to [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]], who had died in 1924. In 1931, ''Le maschere'' was performed at [[La Scala]].

''[[Pinotta]]'' was premiered in [[Sanremo|San Remo]] on 23 March 1932.  He joined the PNF ([[Fascist]] party), following the example of many contemporary musicians, including [[Umberto Giordano|Giordano]].

''[[Nerone (Mascagni)|Nerone]]'' was premièred in Milan on 16 January 1935, followed by the première in Livorno on 24 August.

In June 1936, Mascagni's son Dino died in [[Somalia]].

===Last years===
[[File:Roma - Lapide a Pietro Mascagni.jpg|right|thumb|Plaque dedicated to Mascagni in the Albergo del Sole, [[Piazza della Rotonda]], Rome]]
In 1940, celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of his most popular opera, ''Cavalleria rusticana'', took place all over Italy, often with Mascagni conducting. The opera was recorded for ''La Voce del padrone'' ("His Master's Voice") at La Scala under the direction of Mascagni, who recorded a special spoken introduction. EMI later reissued the recording on LP and CD.

In 1942, after an audience with [[Pope Pius XII]], newspapers quoted Mascagni, a [[Roman Catholic]], as saying that his [[tuberculosis]]-stricken niece was cured after receiving a rosary and silver medal blessed by the pope.<ref>''Miracles and visions may make Pius XII a Saint'', [[United Press International]], UPI, 9 October 1958,</ref>

In April 1943, Mascagni appeared for the last time at La Scala to conduct ''L'amico Fritz''. By that time he had to conduct sitting on a chair. The last season of Mascagni at the [[Teatro dell'Opera di Roma|Rome Opera]] (''Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''L'amico Fritz'') was 1944–45.

Mascagni died on 2 August 1945 in his apartment at the Grand Hotel Plaza in Rome. The funeral ceremony was on 4 August.  The Italian authorities were not present. In 1951, his body was transferred from Rome to Livorno, where Mascagni finally received an official homage. On 7 December 1963, the centenary of Mascagni's birth, a plaque was erected in Rome on the Albergo del Sole where Mascagni stayed during the premiere of ''Cavalleria rusticana''.

==Selected works==
[[File:Pietro Mascagni, 1891.png|thumb| Pietro Mascagni in 1891]]
===Operas===
{{listen|type=music|filename=Pietro Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana - Intermezzo Sinfonico.ogg|title=''Cavalleria Rusticana'': Intermezzo Sinfonico|description=}}
* ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'' (17 May 1890 Teatro Costanzi, Rome) 
* ''[[L'amico Fritz]]'' (31 October 1891 Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
* ''[[I Rantzau]]'' (10 November 1892 Teatro La Pergola, Florence)
* ''[[Guglielmo Ratcliff]]'' (16 February 1895 Teatro alla Scala, Milan), composed between 1885 and the early 1890s 
* ''[[Silvano (opera)|Silvano]]'' (25 March 1895 Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
* ''[[Zanetto]]'' (2 March 1896 Liceo Musicale, Pesaro) 
* ''[[Iris (opera)|Iris]]'' (22 November 1898 Teatro Costanzi, Rome) 
* ''[[Le maschere]]'' (17 January 1901 Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa – Teatro Regio, Turin – Teatro alla Scala, Milan – Teatro La Fenice, Venice – Teatro Filarmonico, Verona – Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
* ''[[Amica (opera)|Amica]]'' (16 March 1905, Monte Carlo, in French)
* ''[[Isabeau]]'' (2 June 1911 [[Teatro Coliseo]], [[Buenos Aires]])
* ''[[Parisina (Mascagni)|Parisina]]'' (15 December 1913 Teatro alla Scala, Milan) 
* ''[[Lodoletta]]'' (30 April 1917 Teatro Costanzi, Rome) 
* ''[[Il piccolo Marat]]'' (2 May 1921 Teatro Costanzi, Rome)
* ''[[Pinotta]]'' (23 March 1932 Casinò, San Remo), adapted from the [[cantata]] ''In filanda'' (1881)
* ''[[Nerone (Mascagni)|Nerone]]'' (16 January 1935 Teatro alla Scala, Milan), with music written between the 1890s and the 1930s

===Operetta===
* ''[[Sì (operetta)|Sì]]'' (13 December 1919 [[Teatro Quirino]], Rome)

===Sacred music===
* ''Messa di Gloria in F major'' for soloists, chorus and orchestra (1888)
*

===Orchestral music===
* ''A Giacomo Leopardi'', [[cantata]] for voice ([[soprano]]) and orchestra (19 June 1898, Teatro Persiani, Recanati)
* ''Il re a Napoli'', [[romance_(music)|romanza]] for [[tenor]] and orchestra (18 March 1885 Teatro Municipale, Cremona)

=== Projects contemplated ===
During his long career, Mascagni contemplated writing many operas. The following is an incomplete list of such projects, which never saw the light of day:

* ''Zilia'', probably on a libretto by Felice Romani (c. 1877)
* ''Scampolo'', probably on a libretto by Dario Niccodemi (c. 1921)
* ''I Bianchi ed i Neri'', on a libretto by Mario Ghisalberti (c. 1938)

==In other media==
The soundtrack of the 1980 film ''[[Raging Bull]]'' uses the ''Intermezzo'' from ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'', the [[Barcarolle]] from ''[[Silvano (opera)|Silvano]]'', and the Intermezzo from ''[[Guglielmo Ratcliff]]'' (known as ''Il sogno di Ratcliff'').<ref>Powrie, Phil and Stilwell, Robynn Jeananne (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=tvnw4_zXsl0C&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20 ''Changing Tunes: The Use of Pre-existing Music in Film''], p. 20. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.</ref>

The 1990 film ''[[The Godfather Part III]]'' used a production of ''Cavalleria rusticana'' at the [[Teatro Massimo]] in Palermo as the setting for its climax, with [[Michael Corleone]]'s son [[Anthony Corleone|Anthony]] as Turiddu. The movie ends with the Intermezzo playing.<ref>Lauri-Lucente, Gloria [http://www.britishcouncil.org/14gloria_lauri-lucente_cavalleria_rusticana__the_godfather_iii.doc Cavalleria Rusticana and metatextuality in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather III] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606185713/http://www.britishcouncil.org/14gloria_lauri-lucente_cavalleria_rusticana__the_godfather_iii.doc |date=6 June 2011 }}, paper presented at the [[British Council]] conference, ''Reading Screens: From text to film, TV and new media'', [[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]], 6 – 12 April 2003.</ref>

==Notes and references==
'''Notes'''
{{Notelist}}

'''References'''
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Mallach | first=Alan | title=Pietro Mascagni and His Operas | location=Boston | publisher=Northeastern University Press | year=2002 | isbn=1-55553-524-0|ref=none}}
* {{cite book | last=Iovino | first=Roberto | title=Mascagni, l'avventuroso dell'opera | publisher=Camunia | year=1987 | isbn=88-7767-014-2|ref=none}}
* {{cite book | last=Orselli | first=Cesare | title=Pietro Mascagni | publisher=NeoClassica | year=2019 | isbn=978-88-9374-026-5|ref=none}}
* {{cite book | last=Flury | first=Roger | title=Pietro Mascagni : a bio-bibliography | location=Westport, Connecticut | publisher=Greenwood Press | year=2001 | isbn=0-313-29662-6|ref=none}}

==External links==
{{commons|Pietro Mascagni}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Mascagni, Pietro}}
*[http://www.pietromascagni.com/ Official Italian web site about Pietro Mascagni]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050209165238/http://www.mascagni.org/ English web site about Pietro Mascagni]
*[http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query=pietro+mascagni&queryType=%40attr+1%3D1 Mascagni cylinder recordings], from the [[Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project]] at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] Library.
* {{Gutenberg author |id=5493| name=Pietro Mascagni}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Pietro Mascagni}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0556099}}

{{Pietro Mascagni}}
{{Cavalleria rusticana}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Opera|Classical music}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mascagni, Pietro}}
[[Category:1863 births]]
[[Category:1945 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century male composers]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian composers]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian male musicians]]
[[Category:Grand Officers of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]]
[[Category:Italian opera composers]]
[[Category:Italian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Italian Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Italian male opera composers]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Academy of Italy]]
[[Category:Milan Conservatory alumni]]
[[Category:Musicians from Livorno]]
[[Category:Pupils of Amilcare Ponchielli]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the White Lion]]