Giuseppe Martucci

Giuseppe Martucci (1856–1909) was born in Capua and studied at the Naples Conservatory from the age of eleven, having appeared in public as a child prodigy at the piano. He toured Europe as a virtuoso pianist, taught piano in Naples, and in 1886 moved to Bologna, where he directed the Liceo Musicale. Unusually for an Italian composer of his generation he wrote no operas, concentrating instead on symphonies, concertos, chamber and piano music in a style rooted in the German tradition of Schumann and Brahms. As a conductor he introduced Wagner’s music to Italian audiences, giving the first Italian performance of Tristan und Isolde in Bologna in 1888. His pupils in Bologna included Ottorino Respighi, and his music was championed by Arturo Toscanini.