Giacomo Panizza

Giacomo Panizza (27 March 1804 – 1 May 1860) was a conductor at La Scala, Milan for 13 years, during which time he composed two operas and thirteen ballets. He was born in Castellazzo Bormida and died in Milan. Ernesto Cavallini (1807-1874) played clarinet at La Scala and Panizza would often compose Clarinet solos in his ballets for him. Panizza's Ballabile con Variazioni was one such solo from the ballet, Ettore Fieramosca or The Challenge of Barletta.

Biography

Born into a wealthy family, he learned the rudiments of letters under the direction of his father Francesco, continuing his studies at the college of Alessandria, where he applied himself to the study of philosophy. From an early age, he had nurtured a strong propensity for music. At fifteen he began to study the piano with the organist of San Martino. Then he studied counterpoint with the choirmaster of the cathedral of Alessandria, who convinced his father to send him to Milan to continue his studies. Having moved to Milan in 1823, unable to enroll at the Conservatory, the following year he began to take lessons from the maestro Vincenzo Lavigna, concertmaster at the Teatro alla Scala. From 1827 he was an honorary substitute for Lavigna and became effective in 1832. In 1848 he was hired as concertmaster at the Covent Garden Theatre in London. In 1857 he began to suffer from a heart disease that greatly limited his activity as a director. He was hired for the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1859 and was supposed to stage Gioachino Rossini's Otello, but was prevented from doing so by the illness that, a few months after his return to Milan, would lead him to the grave

Ballets

Teatro alla Scala, Milan

10 October 1837 – Ettore Fieramosca
16 March 1847 – Odette^[ru] (with dances composed by Giovanni Bajetti and Giovanni Corfu), choreography by Jules Perrot.
12 February 1848 – Faust (with dances composed by Giovanni Bajetti), choreography by Jules Perrot.