Montemezzi, Italo (1875–1952)

Italian composer. He learnt the piano as a child, then went to Milan to be trained for engineering, but wished to take up music. He entered the Conservatory with some difficulty, but obtained a diploma there in 1900. After the production of his first opera in 1905 he was able to give all his time to composition. From 1939 to 1949 he was in the USA, after which he returned to Italy.

Works Opera Giovanni Gallurese (1905), Hellera (1909), L'amore dei tre re (1913), La Nave (d'Annunzio, 1918), La notte di Zoraima (1931), La principessa lontana (after Rostand's Princesse lointaine, 1931).

Orchestral The Song of Songs for chorus or orchestra; symphonic poem Paolo e Virginia (after Saint-Pierre).

Other elegy for cello and piano.