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La Gioconda

A memorable performance of Ponchielli’s opera
Opera Australia
by
ABR Arts 11 August 2023

La Gioconda

A memorable performance of Ponchielli’s opera
Opera Australia
by
ABR Arts 11 August 2023
The cast of La Gioconda with the Opera Australia Orchestra (photograph by Keith Saunders).
The cast of La Gioconda with the Opera Australia Orchestra (photograph by Keith Saunders).

Amilcare Ponchielli (1834–86) wrote ten operas, but only one of them is still performed – La Gioconda – and few attending Opera Australia’s concert performances in Sydney will have heard it often.

Ponchielli – Italy’s leading composer between Verdi and Puccini – was born in Paderno, near Cremona. He was taught music by his father, the church organist. After graduating at the Milan Conservatory he returned to Paderno as a music teacher and organist. In 1881, he joined the staff at his alma mater, where his students included Puccini and Mascagni.

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