Leopoldo Mugnone

Leopoldo Mugnone (b. Naples, 29 September 1858; d. Capodichino, Naples 22 December 1941) was an Italian conductor, especially of opera, whose most famous work was done in the period 1890-1920, both in Europe and South America. He conducted various operatic premieres, and was also a composer of operas.

The son of Antonio Mugnone, principal double-bass in the orchestra of the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, Mugnone studied from an early age at the Royal Conservatorio of San Pietro a Maiella under Paolo Serrao and Beniamino Cesi. He composed his first theatre work, a little opera buffa Il Dottor Bartolo Salsapariglia, at the age of 12, in which he wished to take part in the basso comico role, though he had then only an alto voice. At 16 he began conducting. A year later he was recruited as a chorus director for an operetta troupe at the Teatro Nuovo, run by F. Sadowsky. From there he went on to the Garibaldi Theatre, first as chorus master and later as concertatore. Two other early operettas by him, Don Bizzarro e le sue figlie (1 act), and Mamma Angot al serraglio di Costantinopoli (3 acts) were produced during the later 1870s at Naples.

Mugnone was himself the teacher of the conductor Uriel Nespoli.

Mugnone established his reputation in Italy and beyond, and conducted a tour with the double-bass player Bottesini. In 1887 at the Costanzi Theatre (Rome) in a single season he conducted La forza del destino and Filippo Marchetti's Ruy Blas. After this the publisher Sonzogno, recognising his potential, took him under his wing: in 1888 he was promoted to conduct at La Scala, at the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris, and at the Municipale in Nice (amongst others). According to Giuseppe Depanis, a Carmen of his of 1888, with Luisa Borghi, at the Carignano in Turin was the last artistic experience enjoyed by Friedrich Nietzsche before madness overtook him.

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