Life
His training took place during the post-unification Realism period, while his long career led him to reach full maturity in an era of avant-gardes, where the aestheticism of Decadentism, the suggestions of Symbolism, and the radical disruption of Futurism coexisted.
Born in London in 1864, Ernesto Consolo soon moved to Italy, studying piano in Rome with Giovanni Sgambati, a pupil of Liszt, and subsequently with Carl Reinecke in Leipzig. In 1890 he achieved great success in Milan, the starting point of an international concert career.
In 1896 he undertook a concert tour in Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, while in 1905 he played in Paris with the Quatuor de Paris, performing quintets by Dvořák and Brahms. From 1906 to 1909 he taught at the Chicago Musical College, then resumed concerts with Arrigo Serato and Enrico Mainardi. Between 1910 and 1913 he was a professor in New York and played with Toscanini and Mahler.
In Geneva he directed the École de virtuosité and in Florence he obtained the chair of piano at the Cherubini Conservatory. He was a member of the examining commission of the Paris Conservatory and trained pupils such as Luigi Dallapiccola, who dedicated a Partita to him. Endowed with brilliant technique and stylistic purity, he was celebrated in Europe and America. He died in Florence in 1931.
Aneddoto
The Consolo Prize
In his honor, a piano competition was established in Florence that saw Gino Gorini as a winner and, among the young participants, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.Works
He composed piano pieces and chamber music, in addition to editing a complete edition of Beethoven's piano works published by Ricordi.
Briciole di storia
Birth of the Pizza Margherita, a tricolor for the Queen
In June 1889, during a visit to Naples, Queen Margherita of Savoy, tired of the complex French cuisine served at court, expressed a desire to taste pizza. The city's most famous pizza maker, Raffaele Esposito, was summoned to Palazzo Capodimonte. He prepared three pizzas, but the one that won the Queen over was a creation designed specifically for her, whose ingredients recalled the Italian flag: tomato (red), mozzarella (white), and basil (green). The Queen enjoyed it so much that Esposito, in her honor, christened the creation "Pizza Margherita." Thus, almost by chance, the world's most famous and beloved pizza was born.
Pubblico dominio (Commons)
