Biography
Alfredo Catalani was born in 1854 in Lucca into a family of musicians and received his first lessons from his father and from Fortunato Magi, an uncle of Giacomo Puccini, at the local conservatory. In 1873 he continued his training at the Paris Conservatoire under François Bazin before moving on to the Milan Conservatory. His operas, including "Loreley" (1890) and above all "La Wally" (1892), show an openness to Richard Wagner's music drama unusual for Italian opera of the time and are seen as a bridge to the verismo of Giacomo Puccini. Weighed down by financial worries and the takeover of his publisher by Ricordi, Catalani died of tuberculosis in Milan in 1893 at the age of 39.
On Stagelog
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