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Scan 735
Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians, 1919
16 lines. Read by computer on 4 September 2026. Printed page 715. See the scan on archive.org.
116, 1838; d. Hamburg, Nov. 27, 1897. A tenor singer, he made his début at Cologne, 1858, as Arturo in Bellini's I Puritani; later sang baritone rôles in an Italian opera-troupe, of which he subsequently became manager and artistic director. He then undertook the management of the Lemberg Th., later of the Italian opera at Petrograd and Moscow. His fame dates from his assumption, in 1874, of the directorship of the Hamburg City Th.; in 1876 he also became manager of the Altona Th., and in 1894 of the Thalia Th. in Hamburg. All these enterprises were in a highly prosperous condition at his death.—In 1897 he married the singer Bianca Bianchi (his second wife). He had received the title of 'Hofrat' in recognition of his services.
3Polli'ni, Cesare, Cavaliere de', b. Padua, July 13, 1858. After legal studies at the Univ. there, he took a 2-year course in music with Bazzini in Milan (1881–3); was from 1883–5 Director of the chief Cons. at Padua; resigned to devote himself to writing and composition. Has publ. a Terminologia musicale tedesco-italiana; a Teoria generale della musica; La musica italiana nelle sue principale fasi storiche; also, in the journal 'Il Teatro illustrato' of Milan, translations and analyses of works by Ambros, Hirschfeld, Langhans, and Riemann (he is an advocate of the theories of the last-named).—Cf. G. Sacerdoti, C. P. (Padua, 1912).
5Polli'ni, Francesco (Giuseppe), pianist; b. Laibach, Carniola, 1763; d. Milan, Sept. 17, 1846. Pupil of Mozart (who dedicated a violin-rondo to him) at Vienna, later of Zingarelli at Milan, where he was app. prof. of pf. shortly after the opening of the Cons. (1809). The first to write pf.-music on 3 staves, imitated therein by Liszt, Thalberg, and others; a specimen of this style being one of his 32 Ezercizi in forma di toccata (op. 42), a central melody surrounded by passage-work for both hands.—Publ. (for pf.) Toccatas, op. 31, 50, 67; Toccata in G; 3 Sonatas, op. 26; Caprices, op. 28, 29; Rondo, op. 43; 6 books of Variations; Divertimento pastorale, op. 34; a Method for pf. (2 editions); a Stabat Mater in Ital. for sopr. and alto, with 2 violins, 2 'celli and organ; etc.
7Pollitt, Arthur W., b. Liverpool, Nov. 27, 1878. St. at the R. C. M. in Manchester. Comp. of 2 overtures; True Love, cantata for mixed ch. and orch.; Fairyland of Upsidedown, do. for women's vcs. and orch.; considerable organ-music (sonata in C m., 2 ballads, etc.); church-music; part-songs and songs. Has publ. a new ed. of Merkel's organ-sonatas.
9Pol'itzer, Adolf, b. Pest, 1832; d. London, Nov. 14, 1900. Pupil, at Vienna, of Böhm (vln.) and Preyer (comp.); then, after a European tour, of Alard, at Paris. In 1851, leader of orch. at H. M.'s Th., London; later, to the New Philharm. Society. Prof. of violin at the London Acad. of Music, of which he became a director in 1890, succeeding Dr. Wylde. Comp. of a vln.-concerto and Konzertstück (MS.); 10 caprices for vl. (publ.); edited numerous comps. for vl. (de Bériot, Alard, Ernst, Singelée, etc.).
11Pomazan'sky, Ivan Alexandrovitch, b. n. Kiev, April 11, 1848; pupil of Petrograd Cons.; since 1868 harpist and chorus-conductor at the Imperial Opera.—Works: A cantata, Samson's Death; a Russian Overture; numerous attractive songs; pf.-pieces.
13Ponchard [pohn-shahr'], Louis-Antoine-Éléonore, b. Paris, Aug. 31, 1787; d. there June 6, 1866. Tenor singer, pupil of Garat at the Cons.; début 1812 at the Opéra-Comique in Grétry's Tableau parlant, singing there until 1817; in 1819 he became prof. of singing at the Cons. He was the first stage-singer accepted into the Legion of Honor.—His son Charles, b. Paris, Nov. 17, 1824, d. there in May, 1891, had a class in comedy-opera at the Cons.—Cf. Méreaux, L.-A.-É. P. (Paris, 1866).
15Ponchielli [pohn-k'yehl'le], Amilcare, a modern opera-composer who stands next to Verdi in Italian estimation; b. Paderno Fasolaro, Cremona, Aug. 31, 1834; d. Milan, Jan. 16, 1886. Studied 1843–54 at the Milan Cons.; his first dramatic work (written with 3 other students) was the operetta Il Sindaco Babbeo (1851). Leaving the Cons., he at first took the organ at S. Ilario in Cremona; then became bandmaster; but in 1856 brought out the opera I promessi sposi at Cremona, followed by La Savojarda (ib., 1861; revised as Lina, Milan, 1877), and Roderico, re de' Goti (Piacenza, 1864); his first striking success was achieved with a revised version of I promessi sposi (Milan, 1872), whereupon he was commissioned to write a ballet for La Scala, Milan, where Le due gemelle, in 7 acts, was prod. in 1873. Continuous good fortune attended the production of the operas I Lituani (La Scala, 1874; revised and revived in 1884 as Alduna), La Gioconda (ibid., 1876; M. O. H., 1883), Il Figliuol prodigo (ib., 1880), and Marion Delorme (ib., 1885). Bertrando del Bornio has not been perf. An unfinished opera, I Mori di Venezia, was completed by A. Cadora, and prod. with succ. in Monte Carlo (1914). He also brought out a mus. farce, Il parlatore eterno (1873), and the ballet Clarina (1873); a cantata A Gaetano Donizetti; a funeral march, Il 29 Maggio, for Manzoni; a fine 'Garibaldi Hymn' (1881); etc.—In 1881 he became maestro of Piacenza Cath., for which he wrote sacred music. The last years of his
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