Cleofonte Campanini (1 September 1860 – 19 December 1919) was an Italian conductor and violinist. As a teenager he had a brief but successful career as a concert violinist in Italy and in theaters in Berlin and London. He abandoned the violin in favor of pursuing a career as a conductor, making his conducting debut in 1880 at the age of 20. He established himself as an opera conductor in Parma in the early 1880s; conducting several works which starred his brother, the tenor Italo Campanini.
In 1883 Campanini was appointed assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera for that company's inaugural season. He went on to establish himself as a leading opera conductor at theaters internationally, notably working on the conducting staffs of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (1888–1903) and La Scala (1903–1905), and appearing as a guest conductor at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Liceu, and the Teatro Colón among other opera houses. From 1906 until March 1909 he was artistic director of the Manhattan Opera Company. In November 1909 he was appointed was appointed the music director of the Chicago Grand Opera Company and then its successor, the Chicago Opera Association. He is remembered for conducting the world premieres of several operas which have become part of the standard opera repertory, including the premieres of Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro Lirico in 1902 and Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly at La Scala in 1904. He was married to the soprano Eva Tetrazzini.
Early life and education
Born in Parma, Italy, on 1 September 1860, Cleofonte Campanini was the son of Francesco Campanini and Anna Rosa Campanini (née Alessandri). His father was a blacksmith. He studied music at the Parma Conservatory where he was a pupil of Giulio Ferrarini (violin) and Giusto Dacci (composition and counterpoint). He never graduated from the conservatory, abandoning his studies to pursue a career as a performer; although he continued to study violin privately with Ferrarini. He later studied with Antonio Bazzini in Milan.
Violinist
In 1878 Campanini made his debut as a concert violinist, and he quickly earned a reputation on the Italian concert stage for his masterful interpretations of works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Arcangelo Corelli, Giuseppe Tartini, Henri Vieuxtemps, and Henryk Wieniawski. Soon after his debut in Italy, Campanini toured to Berlin and London as a concert violinist, and had particular success in several concerts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Back in Italy he regularly appeared in concerts organized by the Società del quartetto di Parma, and also served as the concert master in orchestras led by conductors Franco Faccio, Luigi Mancinelli, and Emilio Usiglio.
Early conducting career
At the age of 20, Campanini abandoned his career as a violinist in favor of pursuing a career as a conductor. He made his conducting debut in 1880 at the Teatro Reinach in his native city. He had a critical triumph at the Teatro Regio, Parma in 1882 leading the musical forces in a production of Georges Bizet's Carmen. Many of the operas he conducted in Parma in the early 1880s starred his brother, the tenor Italo Campanini.
In 1883 Campanini was invited to New York City to join the staff of the newly created Metropolitan Opera for its inaugural season as an assistant conductor. He conducted one opera in the Met's first season: Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele. In 1884 he returned to Italy, and that year he was appointed as the music director and conductor of a series of orchestral concerts at the Turin World's Fair of 1884; one of which featured Arturo Toscanini as the cello soloist. He spent the next several years working as a guest conductor in opera houses and theaters internationally, including operas staged at the Liceu in Barcelona, the Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In 1888 he returned to the United States to lead the American premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello at the Academy of Music. Desdemona was sung by soprano Eva Tetrazzini, the sister of Luisa Tetrazzini, who Campanini later married in 1890.