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19th century Italian composer, the famous opera "Gioconda" is performed to this day.
Amilcare Ponkjelis was born in 1834. August 31 or September 1. Paderno Fazolaro (now Paderno Ponkjelis, renamed in honor of the composer) in the village near Cremona. His father was a shop owner and played the organ in the village church. A. Ponkjelis learned music from his father and from the organist of the neighboring village. With the support of a wealthy sponsor in 1843 A. Ponkjelis began studying at the Milan Conservatory and composed his first symphony when he was only 10 years old, but without orchestration. in 1854 after finishing the conservatory, A. Ponkjelis worked as a music teacher in Cremona and as an organist at the local St. Mary's Church, was connected with the local Teatro della Concordia, where in 1856 the premiere of his first opera "The Betrothed" (I promesi sposi, based on A. Mandzoni's novel) took place. The opera was enthusiastically received, but the composer's subsequent projects were unsuccessful. Since 1862 he led the Piacenza municipal band from 1864. - Cremona. He directed the productions of operas in 1867. applied unsuccessfully for the post of professor of composition at the Milan Conservatory.

in 1872 A. Ponkjeli's career had a breakthrough when the opera "The Betrothed" with some changes and a newly prepared libretto by the poet Emilijs Praga was a success on the stage of Teatro Dal Verme in Milan. Publisher Džulijus Rikordis planned a successful career for A. Ponkjeli as Dž. For the servant. He ordered the opera with the libretto "Lietuviai" written by Antonio Gislanconi (I lituani, based on the poem "Konrad Valenrod" by A. Mickevičius), which had its grand premiere at Milan's La Scala theater in 1874. march At the end of the same year, A. Pjonkelis married the singer, soprano Teresa Brambilas, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. in 1876 The opera "Gioconda" (La Gioconda, librettist Arigas Boit, based on V. Hugo's play "Angela, the Tyrant of Padua") staged at the La Scala theater became A. Pjonkel's most mature work, and it took three years for the composer to finally perfect its forms. The opera ballet "Dance of the Hours" (Danza delle ore) is the most recognizable fragment of A. Ponkjeli's work to this day, the soprano romance Cielo e mar was distinguished by its originality. The following operas "Lina" (1877) and "The Prodigal Son" (Il figliuol prodigo, 1880) by A. Ponkjeli were not successful, they were accused of old-fashionedness and slowness of action. in 1880 A. Ponkjelis started teaching composition at the Milan Conservatory. Among his students were Giacomo Puccini and, briefly, Pietra Maskanji, both of whom left warm comments about A. Ponkjeli. He mediated the libretto for the first J. Puchin's operas. in 1882 he became St. Organist of the Basilica of St. Mary the Great in Bergamo, where he created a group of sacred works, among which the most important is the Lamentation of Jeremiah (Lamentazioni di Geremia, 1885).

in 1885 A. Ponkjelis visited St. Petersburg, where the operas "Džokonda" and "Lietuviai" (under the name "Aldona") were staged in the Marija Theater. His last opera "Marion Delorme" was a failure despite J. Worthy of advice. J. Verdi was initially skeptical of A. Ponkjeli's abilities, but his views were disproved by the triumph of Gioconda. Amilcare Ponkjeli died in 1886. January 16 in Milan. His death was commemorated throughout Italy