Muzio, (Donnino) Emanuele

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Muzio, (Donnino) Emanuele

Muzio, (Donnino) Emanuele, Italian conductor and composer; b. Zibello, Aug. 24, 1821; d. Paris, Nov. 27, 1890. He began his studies with Ferdinando Provesi, then studied piano with Margherita Barezzi (Verdi’s first wife), and composition with Verdi himself; was one of the very few pupils Verdi ever had. In 1850 he was engaged as conductor of the Theatre du Cirque in Brussels; he later traveled to England and America, then settled in Paris in 1875 as a singing teacher. Carlotta Patti and Clara Louise Kellogg were his pupils. He wrote several operas: Giovanna la pazza (Brussels, April 8, 1851), Claudia (Milan, Feb. 7, 1853), Le due regine (Milan, May 17, 1856), and La Sorrentina (Bologna, Nov. 14, 1857); also many songs and piano pieces.

Bibliography

A. Belforti, E. M., l’unico allevo di Giuseppe Verdi (Fabriano, 1895); L. Garibaldi, ed., Giuseppe Verdi nelle lettere di E. M. ed Antonio Barezzi (Milan, 1931).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire