Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) was a popular Venetian composer of comic operas, though his works are only occasionally revived today. Half-Bavarian and half-Italian, Wolf-Ferrari first sought a career as an artist, but he took up musical studies with Rheinberger in Munich, and by the mid-1890s was writing his early operas. His successes with I quattro rusteghi, Il segreto di Susanna, and later operas set him on a sound financial footing, though World War I interrupted his string of hits. The last three decades of his life saw a decline in his operatic efforts, though he composed a violin concerto and other concert pieces.