Umberto Giordano was trained as a musician in Naples and achieved his first great success in Milan in 1896 with the opera Andrea Chénier. His last completed opera, Il rè, was staged in Milan in 1929. In style his music bears some resemblance to that of Puccini or, still more, to that of Leoncavallo.

Operas

The opera Andrea Chénier deals with the fate of the poet of that name in the French Revolution, to which he finally fell a victim, joined in death by his beloved Madeleine. Arias from the work are popular in recital, including the tenor arias ‘Un dì all’azzurro spazio’, ‘Si, fui soldato’ and ‘Come un bel dì di maggio’, and the soprano aria ‘La mamma morta’. The tenor aria ‘Amor ti vieta’, from the less successful opera Fedora, staged in 1898, is popular with singers.