Raffaello de Banfield

Raffaello de Banfield, actually Raphael Douglas, Baron von Banfield Tripcovich ( born June 2, 1922 in Newcastle -upon- Tyne, † January 7, 2008 Rive d' Arcano near Trieste ) was a British- Italian composer.

Family

Raffaello de Banfield was the son of the famous Austro-Hungarian naval aviator Gottfried von Banfield and those coming from Trieste Countess Maria Tripcovich, who had settled in 1920 in England.

He was since 27 December 1986 Maria delle Grazie dei Conti Brandolini d' Adda (* 1923) married. The marriage remained childless; Conti Brandolini d' Adda has from her first marriage to Conte Leonardo Valenti Gonzaga Arrivabene three children.

Life

Raffaello de Banfield visited the Swiss boarding school " Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz " Lyceum " Dante Alighieri " in Trieste, the University of Bologna and directed by Gian Francesco Malipiero Conservatory " Benedetto Marcello " in Venice and studied from 1946 to 1949 composition at the National Conservatory under the direction by Henri Busser with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. During these years he met Herbert von Karajan, with whom he was friends for life, as well as artists such as Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Francis Poulenc. In 1949, he learned about the painter Leonor Fini choreographer and ballet dancer Roland Petit know; it was the first time in 1949 in London, first performed ballet " Le combat". The play was performed 1959-1973 39 times in the choreography of Dimitrije Parlic at the Vienna State Opera. After years of traveling through Italy, France, England and the United States, where he lived for ten years, he was from 1972 to 1996 head of the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, the opera house he was extensively renovated and modernized. From 1978 to 1986 he was head of the " Festival dei due mondi " in Spoleto.

He has received numerous honors and awards, he was Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In 1994 he was appointed by François Mitterrand, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.

Works (selection)

• Le combat, Ballet, world premiere in 1949 in London
• Una lettera d' amore di Lord Byron ( " A love letter by Lord Byron " by Tennessee Williams), first performance in 1955 in New Orleans
• Colloquio col Tango ossia La Formica ( " Entertainment at Tango or The Ant " by C. Terron ), world premiere in 1959 in Como
• Alissa, world premiere in 1965 in Geneva