Antonio Cagnoni

Biography

Antonio Cagnoni (8 February 1828 – 30 April 1896) was an Italian composer. Primarily known for his twenty operas, his work is characterized by his use of leitmotifs and moderately dissonant harmonies. In addition to writing music for the stage, he composed a modest amount of sacred music, most notably a Requiem in 1888. He also contributed the third movement, Quid sum miser, to the Messa per Rossini, a collaborative work created by thirteen composers to honor Gioacchino Rossini.

Life and career

Antonio Cagnoni was born in Godiasco on 8 February 1828. His father, Giovanni Cagnoni, was a medical doctor, and his mother, Serafina Cagnoni (nee Nobili), was described as a "kind and cultured woman". He first studied music composition privately in Voghera with Felice Moretti; beginning his lessons before the age of 10.
In 1842 Cagnoni began his studies at the Milan Conservatory (MC). There his first three operas, Rosalia di San Miniato (1845), I due savoiardi (1846), and Don Bucefalo (1847), were premiered while he was a student. His teachers at the MC included Bernardo Ferrara (violin), Felice Frasi (composition) and Pietro Ray (composition). He completed his studies at the MC in September 1847.
Cagnoni's Don Bucefalo was particularly well received and enjoyed successful stagings at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (1850), Teatro di San Carlo (1853), the Teatro della Canobbiana (1854), and the Teatro Regio di Parma (1860) among others. He went on to compose 16 more operas and a pastiche, of which his most successful were Michele Perrin (1864), Claudia (1866), Un capriccio di donna (1870), Papà Martin (1871), and Francesca da Rimini (1878). His last opera, Re Lear, was completed in 1895 but did not premiere until 2009 when it was mounted at the Festival della Valle d'Itria.
In addition to his composition work, Cagnoni served as the maestro di cappella at the Vigevano Cathedral from 1856 until 1873 when he succeeded Carlo Coccia as both director of the Istituto Musicale of Novara (now the Conservatorio Guido Cantelli) and as maestro di cappella at the Novara Cathedral. In 1886 he was named a Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy, and the same year became maestro di cappella at the Santa Maria Maggiore, Bergamo. He succeeded Amilcare Ponchielli in this latter post. He became the director of the Civico Istituto Musicale Gaetano Donizetti in Bergamo in 1888, serving in that capacity until his death, in Bergamo, eight years later.