Carlo Felice Cillario
Carlo Felice Cillario (7 February 1915 – 13 December 2007) was an
Biography
Born Carlos Felix Cillario in
Upon his return to Italy, he founded the Bologna Chamber Orchestra in 1946, and reserved a major portion of his time to opera, conducting at the opera houses of Rome, Turin, Florence, Milan, etc. He quickly began appearing outside Italy, notably in Athens, Berlin, Oslo and Paris.
The year 1961 saw his debuts in England, at the
He became one of the favorite conductors of Montserrat Caballé, conducting at her Covent Garden debut in 1972 (La traviata with Nicolai Gedda and Victor Braun), in a London concert performance of Caterina Cornaro, and shortly after in an RCA studio recording of Norma.
Carlo began conducting seasonally in Australia in 1968, working with the Australian Opera (now Opera Australia) at the Sydney Opera House, becoming principal guest conductor in 1988, before retiring in 2003; leaving behind a legacy of musicianship and phrasing evident in his surviving music scores at the Opera Australia library.
Carlo Felice Cilliaro stands as one of the most singer-friendly of all conductors, a reassuring and solid presence both in the opera house and in the recording studio.
He died in 2007, in Bologna, Italy.
Cillario's conducting style is demonstrated in three rare conductor-cam videos on YouTube, performed in the Sydney Opera House Pit, Joan Sutherland Theatre, of Opera Australia productions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOq2ECtbV9w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc-aZn6ZSQE playout to Act 1 from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VivSO6C8Msc from the opening of Act 1,
Notes
- ^ See Obituary, Elizabeth Forbes.
Sources
- Elizabeth Forbes, 'Carlo Felice Cillario: Opera Conductor', The Independent 24 December 2007. [1]
- 'Carlo Cillario' (Obituary), The Daily Telegraph 21 December 2007. [2]
External links
- Interview with Carlo Felice Cillario, November 8, 1982