Severino Gazzelloni

Severino Gazzelloni ( born January 5, 1919 in Roccasecca in the province of Frosinone, † November 21, 1992 in Cassino ) was an Italian classical flutist who is counted among the greatest flutists of the 20th century.

After he had played as a seven -year-old flute (his father also played the flute and was also an organist, but had to earn his living otherwise ), he studied at the Conservatory from 1933 Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome. For thirty years he was principal flutist of the RAI orchestra ( which he belonged since 1944 ) and was up to 250 concerts a year. Not only his technical ability made ​​him famous, but his wide repertoire from classical music to folk and pop music. Composers such as Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Bruno Maderna, Luigi Nono, Valentin Silvestrov and Igor Stravinsky wrote for him, but he was also known as an interpreter of Baroque music. His nickname flauto d' oro ( Golden Flute ), he underlined by his play on gold flutes, his "trademark". Gazzelloni died near his home in a hospital with a brain tumor.

Gazzelloni was the flute teacher at the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome, at the Chigiana Academy in Siena and since 1952 at the Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt. Among his students, inter alia, Roberto Fabbriciani and the jazz musician Eric Dolphy.

He was married in 1964 and had two children. In his hometown of a festival is held in his name.