Romani, Pietro

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Romani, Pietro

Romani, Pietro , Italian conductor, teacher, and composer, uncle of Carlo Romani; b. Rome, May 29, 1791; d. Florence, Jan. 11, 1877. He studied with Fen-aroli. He became conductor at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, where he also taught singing at the Istituto Musicale. He wrote 2 operas, II Qui pro quo (Rome, 1817) and Carlo Magno (Florence, 1823), and ballet music, but he is remembered chiefly for his aria Manca un foglio, for Bartolo in II Barbiere de Siviglia, which he wrote for the production of the opera in Florence in 1816 as a substitute for Rossini’s original aria A un dottor della mia sorte, which presented some vocal difficulties. Romani’s aria was long retained in many productions of the opera.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire