Luigi Arditi
Arditi was born in Crescentino, Piemonte and began his musical career as a violinist, requesting his first violin at the age of 7. He enrolled in the Milan Conservatory in his mid-teens where he studied violin with Bernardo Ferrara and composition with Nicola Vaccai.
Some of his earliest works date to his student years and include an overture for orchestra (1840) and his first opera, I Briganti (1841), which was premiered at the conservatory.
In 1842, he began playing professionally as a violinist and occasionally conducted in Milan. Arditi was not a virtuoso, but his performances were generally well received.
In 1843 he made his debut as a director at Vercelli and it was there that he was made an honorary member of the Philharmonic Academy.
For two years (1844 - 1846), he led the Teatro Ré Orchestra in Milan at the invitation of Vaccai. In 1847, he toured with composer Giovanni Bottesini and the two gave numerous concerts together with Arditi as violinist and Bottesini as double bass player marking the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
While in Havana with Bottesini, Arditi did some conducting at the Teatro Imperial. The two went on to work in the USA throughout the late 1840s. After 1849, Arditi began to turn more to conducting around the world but he also remained busy composing.
In 1858, Arditi was appointed conductor at Her Majesty's Theatre in London and two years later, he composed what is probably his most frequently performed song, Il Bacio (The Kiss) dedicated to Gottardo Aldighieri.
He died at Hove, in England in 1903.
Selected Works
- I Briganti
- II Corsaro
- La Spia
- Il Bacio
- Le TortorelIe
- Se Seran Rose
- Parla Waltz
Video
In this video, Annabelle Flood sings Il Bacio.
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