Lamberto Gardelli Italian conductor Date of Birth: 08.11.1915 Country: Italy

Biography of Lamberto Gardelli

Lamberto Gardelli was an outstanding Italian conductor, whose work was particularly associated with the Italian operatic repertoire, mostly the works of Giuseppe Verdi. He was born on November 8, 1915, in Venice, Italy. Gardelli studied at the Rossini Music High School in Pesaro and the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, under the guidance of Amilcare Zanella and Adriano Ariani.

Early Career and Training:
Gardelli began his musical career as a pianist and double bassist in Italy. In addition to vocal training, he also took composition lessons from composer and conductor Goffredo Petrassi. Later, he spent eight years as an assistant conductor to Tullio Serafin and worked with Pietro Mascagni.

Conducting Debut:
Gardelli made his conducting debut in 1944 at the Rome Opera, conducting a production of "La traviata." Subsequently, he built an international career, primarily in Europe, and gained recognition for his recordings of many forgotten operas.

Royal Swedish Orchestra and Stockholm Opera:
Gardelli served as the principal guest conductor of the Royal Swedish Orchestra from 1946 to 1955 and the conductor of the Stockholm Opera from 1947. He collaborated with renowned artists such as tenor Jussi Björling and legendary soprano Birgit Nilsson. He also conducted at the Drottningholm Theatre, a prestigious venue for performing ancient opera masterpieces. Eventually, Gardelli became a Swedish citizen and the court Kapellmeister of the Swedish royal family.

Danish Radio Orchestra and Hungarian State Opera:
From 1955 to 1961, Gardelli was the conductor of the Danish Radio Orchestra. He then held the position of Music Director of the Hungarian State Opera from 1961 to 1966 and continued to visit Budapest until the 1990s.

International Recognition:
Gardelli was a frequent guest conductor at the Glyndebourne Festival from 1964. Between 1969 and 1982, he often performed at the Royal Opera House in London, as well as the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Munich Radio Orchestra and Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra:
Gardelli served as the chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra from 1982 to 1985. Later, he became the conductor of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 1988.

Accolades and Compositions:
In 1995, Gardelli was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture. He composed five operas, but only one, "L'impresario delle Americhe," was performed in 1982 on Hungarian television.

Legacy:
Gardelli had a reputation as a major specialist in Verdi's works and made several recordings of the composer's operas in the 1960s and 1970s. He was among the first conductors to record Verdi's lesser-known operas, including "Alzira," "Attila," "Stiffelio," "I masnadieri," "Ernani," "Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio," "Un giorno di regno," and "Il corsaro." He also recorded popular works such as "Nabucco," "Macbeth," "La traviata," and "La forza del destino." Additionally, Gardelli conducted the first complete French version of Rossini's "Guillaume Tell" and Giordano's "Fedora," featuring the rarely recorded Magda Olivero. He also conducted studio recordings of four operas by Respighi.

Gardelli mentored several renowned sopranos, including Lucia Aliberti and Sylvia Sass. He recorded not only opera music but also orchestral works by Bizet, Koppel, Mendelssohn, Pizzetti, and Respighi.

Lamberto Gardelli passed away on July 17, 1998, in Munich, Germany, at the age of 82.