Maestro Gian Carlo Menotti died today in Monte Carlo. He was 95 years old.
Small AP item here. Son Francis to AP: "He died in my arms". New York Times obit
NPR: Menotti, Cultural Giant
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Los Angeles Times obit
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Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in a statement just paid tribute to Menotti's "unique artistic genius".
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2001 Andante appreciation here: Gian Carlo Menotti at 90
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The last hurrah: Italian radio reports that Menotti appeared last in public on Dec 10, 2006, in Rome, at Parco della Musica: he was in the audience at the performance of his Concert in F, conducted by James Conlon.
(photo above credit Festival Dei Due Mondi)
Alex Ross on Menotti's legacy here
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Playbill obit
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Tim Page on Menotti
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Menotti in 2001, in a long Corriere della Sera (July 8 issue) profile for his 90th birthday: "Why did I embark in such an adventure? Why Spoleto? (ed: he's talking about the birth of his Spoleto Festival) Because in my 50s, I felt guilty: I wanted to rebel against the idea of the artist as entertainer, as society's clown. I wanted to show again that artists are an asset for society and, why not, for the economy as well. I wanted to be useful. I chose Spoleto".
In the interview Menotti explained how he managed to convince artists to work for a non-profit like Spoleto, how he talked Henry Moore into creating sets and costumes for a 1967 Don Giovanni for free (in the end, Moore even donated 5,000 dollars to the Festival coffers: Menotti after all had just sold one of his Modiglianis to raise funds for the Festival), how he convinced famously wary -- and canny businessman -- Luchino Visconti into directing Manon Lescaut for even less than room and board (just the use of a small apartment in Spoleto for the season). Once, Richard Burton, Thomas Schippers, Leonard Bernstein and Menotti raffled off a dinner date with them to raise funds for the Festival. (ed: Opera Chic now feels that she HAS to write a play about that night: "My Dinner With Lenny, Tommy, Rick and Gian Carlo")
Menotti re: his massive popularity abroad: "I've always traveled with an Italian passport: sono italiano".
Menotti re: his method. "I owe a huge debt to Puccini: he taught me how to use the parlar cantando, how not to split an opera into recitativi and arias blocking the action."
Menotti re: the composer who impressed him the most. "Schubert".
Menotti re: Boulez. "A con man who writes unreadable, nonsensical books".
Menotti re: Luigi Nono. "He said I was a tool of American Imperialism".
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Smirked @ Menotti's take on Boulet.... a witty man right after my own heart. Ahh HE is one that I will really miss. Menotti gave some great interviews that left me laughin; much more over the line than the equally dry humor of late Maestro Giulini, whom I also revered.
Great personal thanx to OC for giving Menotti this notation.
Posted by: Crew Mantle | February 02, 2007 at 12:45 AM
"Menotti re: Boulez. "A con man who writes unreadable, nonsensical books"
Oh yeah, hahahaha, that Gian Carlo, he should be playing the Vegas strip and telling people about the buffets, he's such the comedian! I mean, considering that, as a composer, Menotti isn't worthy to pencil in the bar lines on Boulez' score paper, that's about where he belongs.
I will give Menotti his due however: he got to sleep with Samuel Barber when S.B. was in his drop-dead-gorgeous 20's and 30's. RIP, Mr. Menotti.
Posted by: Henry Holland | February 02, 2007 at 07:19 AM
H.H.--I highly disagree, not that either of our opinion is worth that much...Menotti was a fine composer. He managed to weave the beautiful traditions of the past into a modern-sounding, original form--a much more challenging task then the noise of most modern composers, including Boulez. I don´t think a man of such fine taste would have had any place near Las Vegas.
Posted by: ellie | February 02, 2007 at 11:23 AM