Alfredo Antonini was a leading Italian-American symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the early 1970s.
18 Facts About Alfredo Antonini
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Alfredo Antonini was a student of the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, whom he first met at the age of thirteen while performing on the celesta in the Italian premier of Igor Stravinsky's Petrouchka.
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Alfredo Antonini distinguished himself as both an organist and pianist with La Scala Orchestra in Milan prior to emigrating to the United States in 1929.
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Alfredo Antonini appeared with Chayres and the New York Philharmonic in the Night of the Americas Concert series at Carnegie Hall.
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Later in the 1940s, Alfredo Antonini collaborated with vocalist Victoria Cordova in a series of recordings for Muzak, featuring compositions familiar to audiences in both North and South America.
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Alfredo Antonini collaborated with the Latin group Los Panchos Trio in a recording of the Chilean cueca dance La Palma for Pilotone records.
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At the close of the decade in 1948, Alfredo Antonini appeared as the conductor in the premier program of the CBS Symphony Summer Series which was broadcast live over the CBS Radio network.
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Alfredo Antonini served as a conductor of the open-air summer concerts held at the landmark Lewisohn Stadium in New York City during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
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Alfredo Antonini appeared at least once during each season while featuring leading talent from the Metropolitan Opera.
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Alfredo Antonini continued to collaborate as a guest conductor with instrumental soloists, including Benny Goodman in 1960 for a performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto at Lewisohn Stadium.
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In 1962, Antonini collaborated with First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy, director Franklin J Schaffner, and journalist Charles Collingwood of CBS News for the groundbreaking television documentary A Tour of the White House with Mrs John F Kennedy.
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In 1964, Alfredo Antonini appeared as conductor of the CBS Symphony Orchestra in an acclaimed adaptation of Hector Berlioz's sacred oratorio L'enfance du Christ for CBS Television.
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Alfredo Antonini performed with Roberta Peters at the Lewisohn Stadium at City College.
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In 1975, Alfredo Antonini conducted the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series.
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In 1971, Alfredo Antonini served as musical director on the CBS Television premier of Ezra Laderman's opera And David Wept, earning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Religious Programming.
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Alfredo Antonini collaborated in this premier production with such operatic luminaries as Sherrill Milnes, Rosalind Elias, and Ara Berberian.
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Alfredo Antonini died at the age of 82 during heart surgery in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983.
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Alfredo Antonini was buried in Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park cemetery in Clearwater and was survived by his wife Sandra and a son.