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Home » Composers » Legnani, Luigi Rinaldo (1790-1877 Italy)

Legnani, Luigi Rinaldo (1790-1877 Italy)

Sunday, 11 September, 2005

Biography

(b Ferrara, 7 Nov 1790; d Ravenna, 5 Aug 1877). Italian guitarist, instrument maker and composer. Although trained from his earliest years as an orchestral string player, Legnani devoted himself to singing and especially to the guitar. He made his début as a tenor in Ravenna in 1807, and appeared there again from 1820 to 1826 in operas by Rossini, Pacini and Donizetti. He launched his career as a concert guitarist in Milan in 1819. In 1822 he appeared in Vienna with such sensational success that he was considered the worthy successor to Mauro Giuliani (who had left Vienna in 1819 to return to Italy). This city received Legnani with much praise again in 1833 and 1839.

In the intervening years, besides touring Italy, Germany and Switzerland as a guitarist, Legnani struck up a friendship with Paganini, who considered him ‘the leading player of the guitar’. They planned to play together as a duo in a series of accademie to be held in Turin (stipulating three contracts, for 7, 16 and 23 August 1836); but, probably owing to Paganini’s poor state of health, these were cancelled by mutual agreement on 30 October that year (the rescissory deed is in US-Wc). Contrary to what some biographers have reported, there is as yet no evidence to affirm that Legnani and Paganini appeared together in public. In about 1850 Legnani retired to spend his remaining years in Ravenna constructing fine guitars and violins. His famous ‘Legnani model’ guitar, with a screw-adjusted neck, was widely copied by guitar makers in central Europe between about 1830 and 1880 (notably by J.G. Staufer of Vienna).

Legnani composed over 250 works, which were published principally by Ricordi (Milan), Cipriani (Florence), Artaria, Cappi & Diabelli, Leidesdorf, Weinberger (Vienna), André (Offenbach am Main), B. Schotts Söhne (Mainz), Meissonnier, Pacini and Richault (Paris). They include works for solo guitar (a method, fantasias, potpourris, capriccios, variations on well-known operatic themes, cavatinas etc.), duets for flute and guitar and a concerto for guitar and orchestra (of which only the parts for guitar, first violin, viola and bass have survived). Of particular interest are the Variations concertantes sur un thême original de Rossini op.28 for guitar and piano, composed in collaboration with Marcus Leidesdorf (1787–1840) and also published in a version for guitar and piano with string quartet accompaniment.

GIUSEPPE GAZZELLONI: 'Luigi Legnani', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [1/29/2007])

Works for Guitar

Mazurka in A

Op. 19
Fantasia

Op. 20
36 Caprices

Op. 250
01 Caprice

Op. 64
Introduzione, Tema, Variazone e Finale

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