Riccardo Zandonai: A Biography

This is the first fully-documented biography of the Italian composer Riccardo Zandonai (1883-1944). A pupil of Mascagni, Zandonai composed ten operas for Casa Ricordi, who considered him Puccini’s heir. He achieved international recognition in 1914 with his operatic adaptation of D’Annunzio’s play ‘Francesca da Rimini’. His opera ‘I cavalieri di Ekebu’ after Lagerloef’s novel ‘Goesta Berling’ was heralded as the national Swedish opera during the 1920’s. The biography presents a monthly chronicle of the composer’s life taken from his unpublished correspondence as well as his working and private relationships with D’Annunzio, Lagerloef, Mascagni, Tito Ricordi, Puccini, Respighi, Pascoli, and his wife the soprano Tarquinia Tarquini. Working with original sources from international archives including Milan’s Casa Ricordi, the author herewith presents the most comprehensive portrait of Zandonai to appear in any language.