Antonio Bagioli

Giuseppe Antonio Bagioli (or just Antonio Bagioli) (1795–1871) of Bologna, Italy and New York City, New York was a successful composer, music teacher and author. He was musical director by 1832 of the Italian opera company of Giacomo Montresor, a French tenor. It was one of the first opera companies to perform in New York City, and he decided to stay and work there. He married an American woman, Maria Cooke, in New York. He composed numerous works and was highly regarded as a teacher of voice.

Their daughter Teresa married Dan Sickles, a New York politician more than twice her age. He was later elected to Congress. They were central figures in a notorious murder trial after Sickles killed Teresa's lover in 1859 on the street in Washington, DC.

The composer was sometimes confused with Antonio Bagioli (1783–1855) (son of Luigi), a cousin.

Early years

Giuseppe Antonio Bagioli was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Mauro Bagioli and of Puglioli Teresa (source:Anagrafe Napoleonica-Archivio di Stato, Cesena, Italy), on November 17, 1795. His mother's family was from Bologna and his father's family was from the nearby town of Cesena, where they had been established for generations. He studied in Bologna under Padre Mattei, and then entered the conservatory of Naples, where he studied for several years under Zingarelli. He composed melodramas that represented Cesena (1815), Naples (1824) and Bologna (1826 and others), leading to a certain fame in his native land of Italy.

Emigration to United States

In 1832 Bagioli was appointed "gran maestro" (or conductor, or musical director) of the Italian opera company of Giacomo Montresor, a French tenor. This company was the first (or second ) Italian opera company to visit the United States, and Bagioli traveled to New York City with the company. There, Bagioli met Maria (or Eliza) Cooke (1819–1894). She was the adopted daughter of Lorenzo Da Ponte and said to have been his "natural" child. (He would have been about 70 when he fathered her.) Maria was from Croton Falls, in Westchester County, New York. the opera troupe traveled next to Havana, Cuba. Bagioli stayed in New York City, having apparently fallen in love with Maria, then still an adolescent and Da Ponte's ward. While courting Maria Cooke, Bagioli composed the score for Da Ponte's "Hymn to America" with which he would later always open and close concerts.

Works Bagioli produced numerous musical compositions, including a collection of studies/songs for instruction "One Hour of Daily Study for the Acquirement of a Correct Pronunciation of the Vowels, which is the only Method to become a Perfect Vocalist."

Some contemporary accounts ascribed considerable influence to Bagioli. George Templeton Strong reported that Bagioli's "local importance as a teacher of singing was equated with that of the Paris Conservatoire in Europe" by some. However, some of his students, although subjects of considerable interest, did not have further success.

Death Bagioli died in New York City on February 11, 1871. Only one of his early works has survived in complete form in his native land today, preserved at the Library Malatestiana di Cesena. This is attributed to his later career being far from Cesena. His American works, although numerous, were unknown in his home country.