33 Facts About Riccardo Drigo

Riccardo Drigo served as Chef d'orchestre for Italian opera performances of the orchestra of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre.

Riccardo Drigo is equally noted for his original full-length compositions for the ballet as well as his large catalog of supplemental music written ad hoc for insertion into already-existing works.

Riccardo Drigo is noted for his adaptations of already-existing scores, such as his 1895 edition of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's score for Swan Lake.

Many pieces set to the music of Riccardo Drigo are still performed today, and are considered cornerstones of the classical ballet repertory.

Riccardo Eugenio Drigo was born in Padua, Italy on 30 June 1846.

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Riccardo Drigo's father Silvio Drigo was a barrister and his mother, a noble Lupati, was active in politics.

None of Riccardo Drigo's family was distinguished in music, but at the age of five he began taking his first piano lessons from a family friend, the Hungarian Antonio Jorich.

Riccardo Drigo excelled quickly, and by his early teens he attained some local celebrity as a pianist.

Riccardo Drigo scored his first compositions in his early teens, which were primarily romances and waltzes.

Riccardo Drigo obtained his earliest position in an opera house as a rehearsal pianist and copyist to the Garibaldi Theatre, Padua in 1866.

Riccardo Drigo's conducting was successful, and soon he was named second kapellmeister.

Kister was much impressed with Riccardo Drigo's conducting talent, which was done without the aid of a score.

Riccardo Drigo then presented Kister with some of his own compositions, which prompted Kister to offer Riccardo Drigo a six-month contract to conduct the Saint Petersburg Imperial Italian Opera.

Almost immediately after arriving in Saint Petersburg, Riccardo Drigo was conducting the entire repertory of the Imperial Italian Opera, which at that time performed at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre.

Riccardo Drigo impressed the management a great deal, conducting such works as Verdi's Aida and Un ballo in maschera from memory.

Since Riccardo Drigo was well known as a composer, Vsevolozhsky employed him in the dual capacity of kapellmeister and Director of Music, a position which would require Riccardo Drigo to fulfill all of the duties of the staff composer with regard to adapting and correcting scores at the behest of the Ballet Master.

Riccardo Drigo was commissioned to compose a four-part Pas d'action to showcase the dramatic gifts of the ballerina Zucchi that included virtuoso solos for violin and cello, with the violin solo crafted especially for the great Leopold Auer, principal violinist in the Imperial Theatre's orchestra.

Riccardo Drigo composed two additional variations for Cornalba known as L'echo, which was written as a canon; and a Valse mignonne.

Riccardo Drigo wrote an extra variation for the character of Cupid known as L'amour, and a variation for the ballerina Maria Gorshenkova.

When plans were made for the next ballet starring Elena Cornalba, the ballerina requested that Riccardo Drigo should be the composer responsible for the entire score.

Nevertheless, Riccardo Drigo's score was hailed as a masterwork of ballet music by contemporary critics.

Riccardo Drigo later commented in his memoirs that he composed about 80 such pieces, and rarely received any additional payment for them.

Riccardo Drigo took up residence in the Saint Petersburg Grand Hotel in 1889, which was to remain his home for the next thirty years.

Riccardo Drigo eventually conducted nearly 300 performances of The Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Riccardo Drigo composed another score for the annual graduation performance of the Imperial Ballet school in 1893.

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In late 1894 Riccardo Drigo prepared an important revision of Tchaikovsky's score for Swan Lake, originally produced at the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow in 1877.

Tchaikovsky's brother Modest approved that Riccardo Drigo should be entrusted with the task of revising the score, which the composer did in accordance with Petipa's instructions.

Nevertheless, Riccardo Drigo is rarely given credit when his revisions are performed.

Riccardo Drigo's request was then submitted to the Minister of the Imperial Court, which brought about a lengthy correspondence by a commission set up to investigate whether or not Riccardo Drigo's character, background and music were worthy of his offering a dedication to a Russian Empress.

Riccardo Drigo was vacationing in his native Italy during the outbreak of World War I in 1914, which prevented him from returning to Russia for another two years.

In 1920 Riccardo Drigo accepted the post of kapellmeister to the Teatro Garibaldi in Padua where he had begun his career many years before.

Riccardo Drigo spent the remainder of his life conducting and composing masses and various songs.

Riccardo Drigo died on 1 October 1930 at the age of 84, in his birthplace, Padua.