Lamberto Gardelli
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Venice, Kingdom of Italy
Munich, Germany
Lamberto Gardelli | |
|---|---|
 Gardelli in 1962 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 8 November 1915 Venice, Kingdom of Italy |
| Died | 17 July 1998 (aged 82) Munich, Germany |
Lamberto Gardelli (8 November 1915 – 17 July 1998) was an Italian naturalized Swedish conductor,[1] particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory, especially the works of Giuseppe Verdi.
Born in Venice, Italy, Gardelli studied with Amilcare Zanella and Adriano Ariani at the Liceo Musicale Rossini in Pesaro, and later at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He started his career as a pianist (appearing in public at the age of eight) and double-bass player in Italy. In addition to vocal studies he took composition classes with Goffredo Petrassi, and later spent eight years as an assistant to Serafin, also working with Mascagni during this period.[2]
He made his conducting debut at the Rome Opera with La traviata in 1944. Professionally, he continued to have a major career in Europe in addition to making recordings of many neglected operas.
Gardelli was permanent guest conductor with the Royal Swedish Orchestra from 1946–1955, and conductor at the Royal Swedish Opera from 1947, working with singers such as Jussi Björling and Birgit Nilsson. He also conducted at the Drottningholm Theatre, and eventually adopted Swedish nationality and became a Court conductor.[2] He was a conductor of the Danish Radio Orchestra from 1955–1961, then music director at the Hungarian State Opera from 1961 until 1966 and continued to appear in Budapest up until the 1990s.[1] He made guest appearances at the Glyndebourne Festival from 1964 (with Macbeth, which was filmed), the Royal Opera House in London (during the period 1969–1982), the Metropolitan Opera in New York (debut 1966) and Deutsche Oper Berlin. He was chief Conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra from 1982 to 1985 and of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1986 until 1988.
Later in his career in Budapest he was noted for performances of Bruckner and Mahler symphonies. He "showed a firm command of a work's structure and used expressive nuance with discernment, eschewing any hint of excess".[3]
He was made an "Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" in 1995, by the Ministère de la Culture (France).
He composed five operas, of which only L'impresario delle Americhe of 1959 was performed (Hungarian TV, 1982),[1] while a post-Romantic Requiem was well received at performances in Budapest.[3]
Gardelli died on 17 July 1998 in Munich, Germany,[4] at the age of 82.
