Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886)
- Sinfonia in Sib, Op.153
Performers: Indiana University Wind Ensemble; Stephen Pratt
Further info: Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886) - Pezzi per Organo
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Italian composer. The son of a shopkeeper, also organist, he studied
music first with his father and then with the organist of a neighbouring
village. In 1843 a wealthy benefactor helped him to obtain a free place
at the Milan Conservatory, where his teachers included Pietro Ray
(theory), Arturo Angeleri (piano), Felice Frasi (composition to 1851)
and Alberto Mazzucato (music history and aesthetics, and composition
from 1851). By the age of ten he had already composed a symphony,
although without orchestrating it. Having taken his diploma on 4
September 1854, Ponchielli settled in Cremona as a music teacher and
organist at the church of S Maria with the small annual stipend of 1000
lire, but as a protégé of Ruggero Manna, who was in charge of the local
Teatro della Concordia and maestro di cappella at the cathedral, he was
appointed his deputy at the theatre in 1855. In 1860 he directed several
operas at the Teatro Carcano in Milan and in Alessandria. In the
meantime he had ventured on a full-length opera of his own, 'I promessi
sposi'(1856). Its reception was enthusiastic, but the poor libretto,
whose authorship remains unknown, discouraged publishers and impresarios
alike from acquiring the rights. Roderico re dei Goti (1863) was taken
off after a single performance owing to the indisposition of the
baritone. An operatic project undertaken with Piave in 1867 (probably
Vico Bentivoglio) was brought to an end by the stroke that laid the poet
low until his death in 1876. Throughout the 1860s Ponchielli made his
living as municipal bandmaster, first at Piacenza (from 1862), then at
Cremona (from 1864), during which time he directed several operas and
gave one of his ballets. In 1867 he competed for the professorship of
counterpoint at the Milan Conservatory. Although he was adjudged the
winner, the nomination went to Franco Faccio, due partly to the
influence of Giulio Ricordi. Once more Ponchielli took part in a
composite opera, La vergine di Kermo (1870), his fellow contributors
including Cagnoni, Lauro Rossi and Mazzucato. Finally, in 1872 a long
period of frustration came to an end with the unexpected success of 'I
promessi sposi' at the Teatro Dal Verme, Milan.
Part of the enthusiasm was due to the anti-Wagnerian reaction that was
gathering strength in Italy, and part to the interest already aroused by
Petrella’s opera on the same subject. Critics noted, however, a
stylistic discrepancy between the old and the new pieces, while Verdi
observed that both were behind their respective times. With his next
opera, 'La Gioconda' (1876), Ponchielli finally hit the mark, though
three years were to pass before he succeeded in hammering the score into
its definitive shape. No such success attended 'Lina' (1877), a revised
version of 'La Savoiarda', rightly judged impossibly old-fashioned.
Over the next two years Ponchielli took up a couple of subjects –
Ghislanzoni’s 'I mori di Valenza' and Carlo D’Ormeville’s 'Olga' – only
to lay them aside in favour of Angelo Zanardini’s 'Il figliuol prodigo'
(1880). Although recognized as his most carefully written work to date,
the action was considered too slow and the subject too oratorio-like.
However, Ponchielli’s fame was now firmly established, and he received
countless invitations and commissions. In 1878 he deputized for the
conductor Luigi Mancinelli at the Teatro Apollo, Rome. He held the chair
of composition at the Milan Conservatory from May 1880. His pupils
there included Puccini, and, for a short time, Mascagni. In 1882 he was
appointed organist at S Maria Maggiore, Bergamo, for which he turned out
a number of sacred compositions, the most important being the
'Lamentazioni di Geremia' (1885). In 1884 he was in St Petersburg, where
'La Gioconda' was given at the Mariinsky Theatre, and also 'I lituani'
under the title of 'Aldona'. In his last opera, 'Marion Delorme' (1885),
Ponchielli attempted to diversify his style with elements derived from
French opéra comique; but the growing exhaustion of his melodic
invention was becoming apparent. His death from pneumonia the following
January was mourned throughout Italy, not least by Verdi, whose initial
doubts as to his capability had been fully overcome by the success of
'La Gioconda'.
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