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Date 3-15-06
Contact Angela Kilcrease (601) 266-4988
Hattiesburg—Luigi
Zaninelli, composer-in-residence at the University of Southern Mississippi,
left recently for Italy to supervise the European premiere of his
opera Snow White, based on the fairy tale by the Brothers
Grimm.
A member of
the School of Music faculty since 1973, his opera will be presented
at one of the world’s most famous opera houses, the Teatro del Maggio
Musicale, at Florence, Italy. This production is produced and sponsored
by il Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Syracuse University
at Florence and Southern Miss.
In staging his
opera, Zaninelli will become one of the very few American composers
to have work performed in Italy, the undisputed home of opera as
it is known today. Sung in English with Italian sub-titles, the
company will present nine performances March 19-21, with eight of
those already sold out.
Vivien Hewitt,
a highly esteemed director of Puccini operas, will direct Zaninelli’s
Snow White. Other artistic talents include leading European
fashion designer Regina Schrecker as costumer and Alex Koziara as
the scenographer.
The opera has
evolved from a studio performance, commissioned and directed by
Leon Major and the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland.
In 1996, with generous support from Southern Miss, Snow White
received its first full staging on the Hattiesburg campus. Continued
university support allowed Zaninelli to perfect his first opera
that now makes its European debut.
Barbara Deimling,
director of Syracuse University in Florence, sings high praises
for the composer’s work. “We are proud and honored to be able to
play your opera here in Florence, where your music has found a large
circle of enthusiastic and positive responses,” she wrote in a letter
to Zaninelli. “In fact, your opera was chosen because I was immediately
touched when I heard the music and felt its powerful capacity to
communicate to children and to adults alike.”
Deimling has
planned a gala performance evening March 19 to benefit the Meyer
University Children’s Hospital, one of the most important children’s
hospitals in Italy. Also, an international conference was organized,
dealing with the importance of fairy tales in child development.
Zaninelli, a
native of Raritan, N.J., is internationally renowned for his compositions,
which possess an irresistible charm and grace and seems to excite
the senses and stimulate the mind.
At the age of
17, he played his music for Felix Greissle, the son-in-law of Arnold
Schoenberg, who in turn brought the young protégé
to the attention of Gian-Carlo Menotti. It was Menotti who accepted
Zaninelli as a student at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music.
Two years later,
the Institute sent Zaninelli to study in Italy with legendary Rosario
Scalero, who had taught Menotti and Samuel Barber. Upon graduation
from Curtis, he was asked to remain on faculty to teach harmony
and counterpoint.
Returning to
Rome in 1964, he joined RCA Victor Italiana as a composer/arranger.
While there, he became music director for the Metropolitan Opera
soprano Anna Moffo. At the same time, Zaninelli, living a dual life,
was a successful jazz pianist, performing on Italian radio and television.
By 1968, he
returned to the North American continent, taking a position at the
University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 1973, he became a permanent
member of the faculty at Southern Miss.
Zaninelli has
received many awards, including a Steinway Prize and yearly awards
from the American Society of Composers and Authors (ASCAP). He also
was the first five-time recipient of the Mississippi Institute of
Arts and Letters Music Award.
He has more
than 300 published works to his credit and has received commissions
to compose for virtually every music genre. His other operatic works,
Mr. Sebastian and Good Friday, were performed at Southern
Miss in January.
Click to enlarge
Luigi
Zaninelli
Last updated:
03/15/06 |
