These were the words of Franco Vittadini about the score of Fiammetta e l'avaro one of his last works, not performed in his lifetime, but only in 1951, three years after his death. Born in Pavia on 9th April 1884, he was a pupil of Ettore Pozzoli and Galdino Passera at the San Francesco College of Lodi and was accepted in 1903 to the Conservatory of Milan. There he attended courses in composing and orchestral conducting under illustrious teachers including Vincenzo Ferroni, Giuseppe Gallignani, Amintore Galli and Carlo Andreoli He left the conservatory prematurely following a slight disagreement with the director Gallignani, was chapel master of the Provostship of Varese for a brief period and then returned to Pavia where, in 1922, he joined the Inspection Committee of the civic music institute, going on to become its director in 1924.
In 1921 he made his debut in the opera scene with the comic opera Anima allegra which was very successful indeed and confirmed his position as a musician of good taste, master of the genre, with a well-mannered sense of burlesque and post verist musical sincerity.
This was followed, not only by other theatrical works (La Sagredo Milan, Teatro alla Scala, 1930, Caracciolo Rome, Teatro reale dell'Opera, 1938) but also by sacred works (Nazareth Pavia, Teatro Fraschini, 1925, Il natale di Gesù Bari, Petruzzelii, 1933) and especially ballets, a genre which made Vittadini into a disciple of the great choreographers Romualdo Marenco and Luigi Manzotti.
His debut took place in 1928 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan with Vecchia Milano, based on the libretto of Giuseppe Adami. It was met with a rapturous welcome and led to four further ballets as a result: La dama galante (Venice, Excelsior, 1929); Fiordisole, (Milan, Teatro alla Scala, 1931); Tutù sotto il ciliegio (Milan, Teatro alla Scala, 1942), La Taglioni, (Milan, Teatro Lirico, 1945) which confirmed him as the guardian of the so-called "ballo grande" movement opposed to the fashionable Russian Ballets that had reached Italy in 1927.
His extensive catalogue of compositions also included symphonic works for large and small orchestras (Armonie della notte, 1925; Scene musicali, 1926; Scherzo, 1931; L'ora vespertina, post 1935; Poemetto romantico, 1938; Quadretti francescani, 1939), chamber music for various ensembles and sacred works (seventeen masses including the Messa di San Siro, 1909, motets, two oratorios and l'Agonia del redentore as well as film scores (Idilliaca; Esotica; Settecentesca; Marcia eroica; Angoscioso; Uragano; Campagnola; Grottesca; Mattinata; Mistica, Pastorale, Plenilunio).
On his death in Pavia on 30th November 1948, three works remained unperformed: Il mare di Tiberiade, Sirenetta and Fiammetta e l'avaro, the first two of which are still waiting to be given a suitable opportunity.
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Via A. Volta, 31 - 27100 Pavia
+39 0382 1711127 segreteria@istitutovittadini.it
