Napoli, Jacopo

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Napoli, Jacopo

Napoli, Jacopo, Italian composer, son of Gennaro Napoli; b. Naples, Aug. 26, 1911. He studied at the Cons. San Pietro a Majella in Naples, with his father and S. Cesi; was subsequently appointed to the faculty, and eventually was its director (1954–62). Subsequently he was director of the Milan Cons. (1962–72) and then of the Rome Cons. (1972–76). He specialized in opera, often with a Neapolitan background, which gave him the opportunity to use Neapolitan songs in his scores. His operas include 17 Malato immaginano (Naples, 1939), Miseria e nobilitá (Naples, 1945), Un curioso accidente (Bergamo, 1950), Masaniello (1951; won a prize of La Scala, Milan), I Peccatori (1954), II tesoro (Rome, 1958), II rosario (Brescia, 1962), II povero diavolo (Trieste, 1963), and II Barone avaro (Naples, 1970).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire