Gaito, Constantino

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Gaito, Constantino

Gaito, Constantino, Argentine composer; b. Buenos Aires, Aug. 3, 1878; d. there, Dec. 14, 1945. He studied in Naples with Platania, then lived in Buenos Aires as a teacher. He wrote the operas (all produced in Buenos Aires) Shafras (1907), I Doria (1915), I paggi di Sua Maesta (1918), Caio Petronio (Sept. 2, 1919), Flor de nieve (Aug. 3, 1922), Ollantay (July 23,1926), Lázaro (1929), and La sangre de las guitarras (Aug. 17, 1932). Other works include the ballet Laflor del Irupe (Buenos Aires, July 17, 1929), the oratorio San Francisco Solano (1940), the symphonic poem El ombu (1924), songs, and piano pieces.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire