Life
Trained in the heart of Risorgimento Romanticism, his long career led him to reach full artistic maturity during the post-unification Realism period, extending into the era of Decadentism.
Born in San Casciano in Val di Pesa in 1827, Oreste Carlini established himself as a bandmaster and composer. He lived for a long time in Livorno, a city with which he intertwined his name with the local musical tradition. His production includes a large number of ballads, military marches, and celebratory hymns, including one dedicated to Guido Monaco.
His most famous work is the band fantasy La Mezzanotte (Midnight), which enjoyed particular success. Among his theatrical works are Nozze Sospirate, Ildegonda, and the operettas L’importuno vince l’avaro (1873, Teatro Alfieri in Florence) and I Diavoli della Corte, his final work, to a libretto by Gaetano Tani.
He also composed a symphony for band titled Alfredo Cappellini, dedicated to Vittorio Emanuele II and now preserved in the Royal Library of Turin. The score has been revised and republished in modern times. Carlini is also remembered through the naming of musical bands after him in San Casciano and along the Pisan coast. He died in Livorno in 1902.
Aneddoto
A Plaque in Livorno
In 1906, a commemorative plaque in honor of Oreste Carlini was placed in Via Maggi in Livorno, a sign of the strong bond with the city.Works
Among his principal compositions are the band fantasy La Mezzanotte, the symphony Alfredo Cappellini (circa 1850), the operettas L’importuno vince l’avaro (1873, Florence, Teatro Alfieri) and I Diavoli della Corte, in addition to the operas Nozze Sospirate and Ildegonda. His numerous marches and ballads for band completed a repertoire much loved by the public.
Briciole di storia
The Five Days of Milan
On March 18, 1848, news of the uprisings in Vienna reached Milan, and the city rose up against the Austrian garrison of Marshal Radetzky. Thus began the "Five Days of Milan." It was a people's struggle, fought street by street, with improvised barricades, tiles thrown from roofs, and assaults on enemy positions. Bourgeois, workers, students, and even priests, led by a war council directed by Carlo Cattaneo, joined in a desperate battle. On March 22, after five days of heroic fighting that cost the lives of about 400 Milanese, the Austrian army—one of Europe's greatest military powers—was forced to withdraw from the city. The victory in Milan lit the fuse for the First War of Independence.
Pubblico dominio (Commons)
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