Thursday, July 28, 2011

Looking for useful "U"s

It's challenge to find composers for some letters of the alphabet! I was chatting with SF Opera librarian Laure Campbell about it, and about "U" in particular. She got a funny look on her face, said "wait a minute" and disappeared into some hidden cavern of green shelves that is somewhere beneath the carriage entrance to the opera house. She reappeared with a box of parts to the opera "Le Educande di Sorrento" by Usiglio! ....just orchestra parts, no score.....and very old and fragile. She thought it had been programmed in the 1930's, but not performed. The name on the music was Faustino Ziliani, so I googled him, thinking it would have been the conductors parts. He was a conductor, and singer and teacher....in Austalia in the 1880's! But went back to Italy in 1889 in bad health. Hmmm. Digging further, Laure found that a Alessandro Ziliani, apparently a well known tenor from the 1930's and 1940's, had sung in SF in the 30's and, we think, brought music with him for future productions! So...how are they related? We could not find out. And it appears that with WWll heating up he was unable to come back here, but the music remains. Untouched....until now! We are pulling out a Brindisi, a short drinking song, from it to do at the "U" concert.