Papi, Gennaro

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Papi, Gennaro

Papi, Gennaro, Italian-American conductor; b. Naples, Dec. 21,1886; d. N.Y., Nov. 29,1941. He received training in piano, organ, violin, and theory at the Naples Cons, (graduated, 1904). He was a chorus master at S. Severo (1906), Warsaw (1909–10), Turin (1911), and London’s Covent Garden (1911–12). After serving as Toscanini’s assistant on a tour of Argentina (1912), Toscanini made him his assistant at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. On April 29, 1915, he made his debut there conducting Rigoletto. He was on the conducting roster there from 1916 to 1926, and again from 1935 until his death. He also conducted at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival (1916–31) and Civic Opera (1925–32).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire