Arturo Basile
Italian conductor of Puccini and Verdi, killed in a car crash.
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via Wikipedia: Arturo Basile · see source
Arturo Basile (16 January 1914 – 21 May 1968) was an Italian conductor known mostly for his work in the Italian operatic repertoire, especially Puccini and Verdi. Born in Syracuse, Sicily, he started studying the oboe at age 12 at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin, where Franco Alfano was music director. His teachers included Giorgio Federico Ghedini. After graduating in 1933, he took up conducting and was leading the Orchestra Sinfonica dell'EIAR by the early 1940s.
In 1946, he won first prize in a conducting competition with Tullio Serafin heading the jury. He soon recorded and performed at the world's major opera houses with leading singers like Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Price, Tucker, Giorgio Tozzi, and Giuseppe di Stefano. While his reputation was still on the ascent, he was killed in a car accident on May 21, 1968 at age 54, along with opera soprano Marika Galli.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 16 January 1914, Syracuse, Sicily
- Died
- 21 May 1968, near Vercelli, Italy
- Occupation
- Conductor
- Education
- Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, Turin
- Notable collaborators
- Maria Callas
- Renata Tebaldi
- Price
- Tucker
- Giorgio Tozzi
- Giuseppe di Stefano
- Competition prize
- First prize, conducting competition with Tullio Serafin as jury head (1946)
Facts from the source article.
Background
Arturo Basile's career was cut short on May 21, 1968, when he died in a car accident near the Italian city of Vercelli. He was driving when his car swerved off the road and crashed into a large stone. Opera soprano Marika Galli was also killed in the crash. The irony of the accident was sharp: Basile had been negotiating with New York's Metropolitan Opera to fill the vacancy left by the May 13 death of conductor Franco Patane, who had also been killed in a car accident.
Basile was 54 years old. His work with the Orchestra Sinfonica dell'EIAR in the early 1940s and his 1946 first prize in a conducting competition judged by Tullio Serafin had set him on a path to perform at major opera houses worldwide. He recorded and performed with some of the most famous singers of the day, including Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Price, Tucker, Giorgio Tozzi, and Giuseppe di Stefano. His reputation was still rising when the crash happened.
More in People from Syracuse, Sicily
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Arturo Basile (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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