Page 113 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2025. Glasbena interpretacija: med umetniškim in znanstvenim┊Music Interpretation: Between the Artistic and the Scientific. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 8

vittorio radeglia and his serenade aux etoiles ...
Biography of Vittorio Radeglia
Data on Radeglia’s Dubrovnik origins and even his place of birth are avail-
able in some recent handbooks and in then contemporary newspaper ar-
4
5
ticles. However, new biographical investigations point to a different life
6
path. These investigations were facilitated by the intensive digitization of
various types of sources and documents, so it became possible to access rel-
evant data and gain insight into the music material without a research on
the spot. 7
Vittorio Radeglia was born in Constantinople on 21 October 1863, one
8
of a second generation of immigrants born there. His grandfather Giovan-
ni was a native of Dubrovnik and moved to the Ottoman capital due to
9
his business requirements. As Catholic families in Constantinople (main-
ly from Italy, Greece and Dubrovnik, all mostly Austrian subjects) were

4 “Radeglia, Vittorio, talijanski kompozitor hrvatskog podrijetla (Dubrovnik, ? X 1863
– Carigrad, ? 1941). Od 1876 studirao na Pariskom konzervatoriju (Th. Dubois, E.
Guiraud); 1884. osvojio prvu nagradu iz harmonije, a 1885 iz fuge. Nastanivši se u
Carigradu posvetio se privatnom poučavanju muzike, a kratko vrijeme predavao i na
Carigradskom konzervatoriju; mjesto je napustio zbog bolesti. Autor je jedne od tur-
skih himni iz vremena sultana.” Krešimir Kovačević, “Vittorio Radeglia,” Muzička
enciklopedija, vol. 3, 152–3 (Zagreb: Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod, 1977).
5 “Ci scrivono da Milano in data 16 giugno: Ieri a sera al ‘Dal Verme’ ebbe luogo la
prima rappresentazione della nuova opera del maestro Vittorio Radeglia, il quale è
nato a Ragusa ed è figlio d’un Dalmata. Egli conta appena 24 anni. Dopo aver studi-
ato quattro anni sotto il compianto Ronchetti nel R. Conservatorio di Milano, passò
poi a Parigi sotto il Dobois[!] ed il Guiraud.” M., “Un Dalmato in Italia,” Narod / Das
Volk 4, no. 48 (28 June 1887): 3, https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=ndv&-
datum=18870628&seite=3.
6 The closest to a definitive biography of V. Radeglia was: Carlo Schmidl, “Vittorio Ra-
deglia,” in: Carlo Schmidl, Dizionario universale dei musicisti, vol. 2 (Milano: Casa
editrice Sonzogno, 1937), 332: “Radeglia Vittorio. Compositore, n. a Costantinopo-
li nel 1863 da padre dalmato. […].” Since he published Radeglia’s music, it is possible
that he got information directly from the composer himself.
7 First of all, we owe our gratitude to Mrs. Marie Anne Marandet, who – being herself
of Levantine origins – researches the registers and origins of Christian families in
the Ottoman Empire, and who sent us photos and information about this composer,
his wife and children, and their ancestors.
8 Birth register of the Church of St Peter and Paul for 1863, page 131, entry no. 94.
9 As can be concluded from the tombstone, moved from the cemetery (which no lon-
ger exists) to the yard of the church of St Peter and Paul in the Istanbul district of
Karaköy (formerly: Galata), “Capitano Giovanni Radeglia di Ragusi vissuto anni 76,
navigatore esperto d'antica probita ne'negozi morto addi 15 Agosto 1853” was born in
Dubrovnik around 1777.

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