Biography
Alfredo Catalani
Effective period / Period of releases: 1956 - 1995
Italian operatic composer, and composition teacher. Born 19 June 1854 in Lucca, Italy (then Grand Duchy of Tuscany) - Died 7 August 1893 in Milan, Italy.He was trained at the Conservatorio di Milano where, in 1886, he succeeded Amilcare Ponchielli as composition teacher. He is best remembered for his operas "Loreley" (1890) and "La Wally" (1892). "La Wally" was composed to a libretto by Luigi Illica, and features Catalani's most famous aria "Ebben? Ne andrĂ² lontana." This aria, sung by American soprano Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez, was at the heart of Jean-Jacques Beineix's 1981 film 'Diva'.