Armando Agnini (July 11, 1884 – March 27, 1960) was a successful Italian stage director of opera.
Metropolitan Opera
Born in
Naples,
Italy, he went to the
United States as a
The Steerage passenger on the S/S
Auguste Victoria from
Naples to New York in 1902, at the age of eighteen. He was associated with companies in
Boston and
Montreal, and made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera with a production of
I puritani (with
Maria Barrientos), in 1919. His work was seen at the Met until 1934, with
Il barbiere di Siviglia (with
Titta Ruffo as Figaro, and, later, Elvira de Hidalgo as Rosina),
Lucia di Lammermoor (with Amelita Galli-Curci and
Beniamino Gigli, later Toti dal Monte),
Tosca,
Aïda (with
Rosa Ponselle, later Elisabeth Rethberg),
Madama Butterfly (with
Geraldine Farrar and Giovanni Martinelli),
Rigoletto,
Cavalleria rusticana,
La bohème,
Manon Lescaut (with Aureliano Pertile as des Grieux),
Pagliacci,
Zazà,
La navarraise,
L'oracolo (with
Antonio Scotti),
Il trovatore,
La forza del destino,
L'amore dei tre re,
Manon,
Samson et Dalila,
Boris Godunov (with
Feodor Chaliapin in the name part, and
Ezio Pinza as Pimenn),
Faust, Pizzetti's
Fra Gherardo (United States premiere, conducted by
Tullio Serafin, 1929),
La traviata (with Ponselle, later
Claudia Muzio and
Tito Schipa),
Les contes d'Hoffmann,
Il signor Bruschino (U.S. premiere, 1932),
Lakmé (with
Lily Pons),
L'africaine,
The Emperor Jones (with
Lawrence Tibbett),
Simon Boccanegra,
Gianni Schicchi, and
Roméo et Juliette.
Agnini was also on the staff of the San Francisco Opera, and guest-directed in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
Hollywood
Maestro Agnini was "Technical Advisor" for the film
Metropolitan (with Tibbett, 1935). Uncredited, he held the same position for
Going My Way (with
Bing Crosby and Risë Stevens, 1944) and
The Lost Weekend (with
Ray Milland and
Jane Wyman, directed by
Billy Wilder, 1945).
New Orleans Opera
In 1947, Agnini debuted at the New Orleans Opera Association, with
Il trovatore (with
Stella Roman and
Enzo Mascherini, conducted by Walter Herbert), and went on to stage
Carmen,
Faust (with Pinza),
Madama Butterfly (with
Mario Lanza in a rare operatic appearance, 1948), and
Samson et Dalila. By 1954, he had joined the Association's staff, and directed
La bohème (conducted by
Renato Cellini),
Otello (with Ramón Vinay and
Herva Nelli),
Tosca (with
Inge Borkh and
Robert Weede),
Lakmé,
Rigoletto,
Andrea Chénier,
Martha,
Die Fledermaus,
Madama Butterfly,
Carmen (with
Norman Treigle in his first Escamillo),
Gianni Schicchi,
Aïda (with Nelli),
Manon,
Lucia di Lammermoor,
Elektra,
L'amore dei tre re,
La traviata (with Lucia Evangelista),
Le nozze di Figaro (with Virginia MacWatters as Susanna),
Falstaff (with
Leonard Warren),
Cavalleria rusticana,
Pagliacci,
Werther,
Faust,
La Cenerentola,
Boris Godunov (with
Boris Christoff),
Il barbiere di Siviglia,
Manon Lescaut (with
Eleanor Steber),
Il trovatore (with Nelli and Warren),
Don Pasquale,
Turandot,
L'elisir d'amore,
Hänsel und Gretel,
Norma,
Don Giovanni,
Les contes d'Hoffmann, and
Tannhäuser.
Act IV (or an excerpt thereof) of Agnini's 1959 production of La bohème (with Licia Albanese, Giuseppe di Stefano, Audrey Schuh, Giuseppe Valdengo, and Treigle) was televised in New Orleans, but a kinescope has never been discovered. He died on March 27, 1960, of a heart condition, during rehearsals for his production of Samson et Dalila (with Stevens and Vinay), in New Orleans, leaving behind his widow (Madeleine Leweck Agnini) and two daughters (Luisa Agnini and Cristina Agnini).
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"Armando Agnini Dies," The New York Times, March 28, 1960.
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