Ruggiero Leoncavallo was born at Naples 8th March, 1858. He studied at the Neapolitan Conservatoire, and afterwards gave singing lessons and went through many hard struggles. His first opera, Medici, being part of a trilogy, Crepusculinis, was not produced until after Pagliacci (produced at the Teatro dal Verme, Milan, 21st May, 1892) had won great success for him. Medici was given in 1893, but proved unsuccessful, and the remaining portions of the trilogy, Savonarola and Cesare Borgia, were not produced. The other operas that followed were: Der Roland (1894); Chatterton (1896); La Bohème (1897); Zaza (1900); but none of these have met with great success, his lighter work, such as Zaza and Pagliacci, being in his happiest vein. Another opera, Maia, was produced at the Royal Opera House, Berlin, on 17th March, 1911.
MASCAGNI
Pietro Mascagni was born at Leghorn, 7th December, 1863. His father intended him for the law, and discouraged his many efforts to learn music. The musical youth, however, entered himself secretly at the Instituto Luigi Cherubini, his chief instructor being Alfredo Soffredini. Later on an uncle adopted him; and he was then permitted to devote himself entirely to music, and was afterwards sent to Milan Conservatoire. Unable to bear the restrictions of the Conservatoire, however, Mascagni joined various travelling operatic companies as conductor, and for a time lived in great obscurity, from whence he emerged by the success of his brilliant one-act opera, Cavalleria Rusticana, which won the first prize in a competition, and was produced at the Costanzi Theatre, Rome, 18th May, 1890. This was received with overwhelming appreciation, and made its composer immediately famous. His next opera was L'Amico Fritz (1891); after which followed:—I Rantzan (1892); Guglielino Ratcliff (1895); Silvano (1895); Zanetto (1896); Iris (1898); Le Maschère (1901); Amica (1905); but none of these have fulfilled the brilliant promise of Cavalleria Rusticana, and have met with little success.
MEYERBEER
Giacomo Meyerbeer was born at Berlin, 5th September, 1791; died at Paris, 2nd May, 1864. He was a pupil of Lauska, and also had lessons from Clementi. In 1815 he went to Italy to study musical composition, and there he began to write operas. He first took Rossini as his model, the best example of which was Il Crociata (1824). In 1831 he struck out in a new style with Robert le Diable, produced at the Grand Opera, Paris. This beautiful and fantastic opera was received with the wildest enthusiasm, and quickly brought fame to the composer. His masterpiece was Les Huguenots (1836) and his other best-known works are:—Le Prophête (1849), L'Etoile du Nord (1854), Dinorah (1859), etc.
MOZART
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born at Salzburg, Austria, on 27th January, 1756; died at Vienna, 5th December, 1791. He showed a precocious knowledge of music when but three or four years of age, and composed before he was six. His father, a musician also, guided his efforts, and from 1762-65 took the child to many European cities to exhibit his talents. In 1768 Mozart was made Concert-Meister at Salzburg; and here his first opera, La Finta Semplice, was produced, written when about twelve years old. In 1777 he went to Paris and other places, failing to obtain anything but empty applause; and in 1779 he returned to Salzburg as Cathedral organist. From 1781 he lived in Vienna, where he remained until his death. He reaped but little pecuniary benefit from his compositions, in spite of his great genius; and he was seldom free from the anxieties of poverty. In 1791 he received the famous commission from a mysterious stranger to write a Requiem Mass; and in enfeebled health he began it, declaring that it was for his own funeral. This was his last great work, and he died ere it was quite finished. There were no ceremonies at his grave, and he was buried in the common ground of St. Marx. Many years later a monument was erected to him by the city of Vienna. As an operatic writer, Mozart is considered by many to have no equal. His chief operas are:—Le Nozze di Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), Idomeneo (1781), Die Zauberflöte (1791), La Clemenza di Tito (1791), Così fan tutte (1790), etc. Besides the exquisite Requiem, he wrote many other Masses, and a great number of symphonies, sonatas, concertos, quartettes, etc. Very little of his music was published in his life-time.
NICOLAI
Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai was born at Königsberg, 9th June, 1810; died at Berlin, 11th May, 1849. He had an unhappy home life, but found a good friend in Justizrath Adler, of Stargard, who sent him to Berlin to study music. In 1833 he went to Rome as Organist to the Prussian Embassy Chapel, where he studied both the old and the modern masters. In 1841 he became Court Kapellmeister at Vienna, where in 1842 he established the Philharmonic Society. In 1844 he became Director of the Domcher and Court Kapellmeister of the Opera in Berlin. His chief operas were: The Templar (1840), Il Proscritto (1841), and The Merry Wives of Windsor (1849). The latter met with a brilliant success, which, however, the composer did not long live to enjoy, as he died two months after its first production.