Antonini was born in
Alessandria and pursued his musical studies at the
Royal Conservatory in Milan. He was a student of the Italian conductor
Arturo Toscanini, whom he first met at the age of thirteen while performing on the celesta in the Italian premier of Igor Stravinsky's
Petrouchka. He distinguished himself as both an organist and pianist with
La Scala Orchestra in Milan prior to emigrating to the United States in 1929. His musical talents were shared by his father who served as a member of the
Buenos Aires Opera company at the
Teatro Colón after leaving Italy for Argentina. In addition, his wife Sandra was a both a piano accompanist and voice teacher.
Early career Upon his arrival in America, Antonini emerged as an accompanist on the piano for the operatic tenor
Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana. During the late 1920s he also served as the musical director of the Fifth Avenue Playhouse Group of cinemas, which showcased foreign films from Europe for American audiences. For three years, Antonini composed and arranged musical scores for various productions which originated in both Sweden and Russia while also serving as the musical director at the Little Carnegie Playhouse. During this time he also conducted his own orchestral ensemble each week on the radio for WHN. During the 1940s, he distinguished himself as a conductor of several leading orchestras while performing on
CBS Radio. These included: the CBS Pan American Orchestra (1940–1949), as part of the
cultural diplomacy initiative of the
Department of State and the
Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs during
World War II, the Columbia Concert Orchestra (1940–1949) and the
CBS Symphony Orchestra. During the 1940s Antonini also led the
CBS Symphony Orchestra in several recordings for the Voice of America broadcasting service. His performances with the CBS Pan American Orchestra were noteworthy for helping to introduce
Latin American music and the Mexican
bolero to large audiences in the United States.
The 1940s: Radio During the 1940s Antonini conducted live radio broadcasts of the program
Viva America on the
CBS Radio and
La Cadena de las Americas (Network of the Americas) in collaboration with several international artists including:
Nestor Mesta Chayres (aka "El Gitano De Mexico"),
Terig Tucci,
Juan Arvizu (aka
"El Troubador de las Americas"),
Elsa Miranda ,
Eva Garza,
Kate Smith,
Pat O'Brien, and
John Serry. He also appeared with Chayres and the New York Philharmonic in the
Night of the Americas Concert series at
Carnegie Hall., which, according to
The New York Times, was eagerly anticipated by the general public. Additional performances in collaboration with Arvizu and the CBS Tipica Orchestra for the
Inter-America Music Fiesta at
Carnegie Hall also attracted widespread acclaim. In 1946, Antonini recorded several popular Latin American songs on the album
Latin American Music - Alfredo Antonini and Viva America Orchestra for Alpha Records (catalogue #'s 12205A, 12205B, 12206A, 12206B) including:
Tres Palabras (
Osvaldo Farres),
Caminito de Tu Casa (
Julio Alberto Hernández),
Chapinita (
Miguel Sandoval) and
Noche De Ronda (
Augustin Lara). Critical review of the albums in
The New Records praised his conducting talents and hailed the collection as among the best new albums of Latin American music. Later in the 1940s, Antonini collaborated with vocalist Victoria Cordova in a series of recordings for
Muzak, featuring compositions familiar to audiences in both North and South America. Included among these were:
What a Difference a Day Made -
Maria Grever,
You Belong to My Heart -
Agustin Lara,
Siboney -
Ernesto Lecuona,
Amor -
Gabriel Ruiz, ''
Say It Isn't So - Irving Berlin, How Deep is the Ocean - Irving Berlin and A Perfect Day - Carrie Jacobs-Bond. He also collaborated with the Latin group Los Panchos Trio in a recording of the Chilean cueca dance La Palma
for Pilotone records (#P45-5067). In addition, he recorded several songs for Columbia records with operatic baritone Carlo Morelli which included "La spagnola" (#17192-D), Alma Mia
(#17192-D) Canta Il Mare
(#17263-D), Si Alguna Vez
(#17263-D). Additional collaborators included: Nino Martini for a recording of the song Amapola (Columbia, #17202-D) and Nestor Chayres for a recording of Granada'' (Decca, #23770 A). At the close of the decade in 1948, Antonini also appeared as the conductor in the premier program of the
CBS Symphony Summer Series which was broadcast live over the CBS Radio network. During this time he also collaborated with leading orchestral musicians including
Julius Baker, and
Mitch Miller. Several of his performances with the
CBS Symphony Orchestra were also broadcast over the Voice of America network in 1948 and 1949. In addition, his recordings with the operatic vocalists Juan Arvizu and Nestor Mesta Chayres were transcribed during this time for broadcast by the
Armed Forces Radio Network.
The 1950s: Opera -
Lewisohn Stadium, New York City (1973) During the 1950s, Antonini was a professor of music at St. John's University, located in Brooklyn, New York. He taught the Music Appreciation course. As a musical director for
CBS Television during the 1950s, he was instrumental in presenting a program of classical and operatic music to the general public. His collaboration with
Julie Andrews,
Richard Rodgers, and
Oscar Hammerstein II in a production of
Cinderella for CBS television was telecast live in color on 31 March 1957 to an audience of 107 million. During this decade, he also appeared with several noted operatic sopranos including:
Eileen Farrell and
Beverly Sills. Later in 1957, he became the musical director/conductor of the
Tampa Philharmonic Orchestra. These performances by the Alfredo Antonini Orchestra were included among several transcriptions of Antonini's work which were selected for broadcast to America's armed forces throughout the world by the
Armed Forces Radio Network Service during the 1940's and 1950's. Antonini served as a conductor of the open-air summer concerts held at the landmark
Lewisohn Stadium in New York City during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He appeared at least once during each season while featuring leading talent from the
Metropolitan Opera. His appearances with the
New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and the Lewisohn Stadium Orchestra during the series of
Italian Night concerts frequently attracted audiences which exceeded 13,000 guests. These performances featured arias from the standard Italian operatic repertoire and showcased such operatic luminaries as:
Jan Peerce,
Eileen Farrell,
Richard Tucker,
Beverly Sills,
Licia Albanese,
Eva Likova,
Robert Weede,
1950s-1970s: Television Antonini’s work with CBS soon led to television work as that medium came to prominence in the 1950s. He composed half the scores and led the CBS Orchestra in performances for the popular documentary series,
The Twentieth Century (1957-66). He conducted the CBS Orchestra on the
American Musical Theater documentary series (1959) which also featured
Robert Weede and
Laurel Hurley. Other early network credits included the long-running ecumenical religious program,
Lamp Unto My Feet, and specials such as
Cinderella and
The Fabulous Fifties. In addition, he conducted the
Symphony of the Air in the live prime-time television special
Spring Festival of Music for
CBS Television. This collaboration with the pianist
John Browning and the producer
Robert Herridge showcased a performance of a movement from Sergie Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto. The performance was noted for its musical excellence as well as its dramatic visual presentation on television. Soon thereafter in 1963, he received a special citation from
ASCAP in recognition of his distinguished service to the development of music in America. In 1964, Antonini appeared as conductor of the CBS Symphony Orchestra in an acclaimed adaptation of
Hector Berlioz's sacred oratorio ''
L'enfance du Christ for CBS Television. His operatic soloists included: Sherrill Milnes, Giorgio Tozzi, Ara Berberian, and Charles Anthony as supported by the choral voices of the Camerata Singers. At this time, he collaborated as conductor for a televised episode of The CBS Repertoire Workshop'', "Feliz Borinquen", which showcased the talents of such leading Puerto Rican-American performers as:
Martina Arroyo and
Raul Davila. -
Lincoln CenterAvery Fisher Hall with Henry Moore sculpture In addition to performing as a conductor on
WOR radio in
New York City during the 1940s, he appeared as a guest conductor for leading symphonic orchestras in Chicago, Milwaukee, Oslo, Norway and
Chile during the 1950s. During this time he also founded the Tampa Philharmonic Orchestra in Tampa, Florida, which eventually merged into the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony. Throughout the 1960s he continued to collaborate with such operatic luminaries as Jan Peerce,
Robert Merrill,
Franco Corelli,
Nicolai Gedda,
Giorgio Tozzi,
Gabriella Tucci, and
Dorothy Kirsten in a variety of gala concerts. He also performed with
Roberta Peters at the
Lewisohn Stadium at
City College. In 1975, Antonini conducted the
Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. In 1971, Antonini served as musical director on the
CBS Television premier of
Ezra Laderman's opera
And David Wept, earning an
Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Religious Programming (1972). He collaborated in this premier production with such operatic luminaries as
Sherrill Milnes,
Rosalind Elias, and
Ara Berberian. Several years later, in 1975, he joined forces once again with Berberian and mezzo-soprano
Elaine Bonazzi for the CBS television movie,
A Handful of Souls. Antonini's collaborations at CBS Television extended beyond the realm of opera to include prominent figures from several professions including: • Philanthropy - (
John D. Rockefeller III) • Government - (
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis)
Daniel Shorr) • Art - (
Henry Moore,
Kenneth Clark) • Dance - (
Mary Hinkson) • Drama - (
John Alexander,
Julie Andrews,
Ingrid Bergman,
Betty Comden,
Henry Fonda,
Jackie Gleason,
Steven Hill,
Ron Holgate,
Celeste Holm,
Richard Kiley,
Howard Lindsay,
Michael Redgrave) • Concert Stage - (
Charles Anthony John Browning) ==Death==