Campoli was born in Rome in 1906 where his father was leader of the orchestra at the
Accademia di Santa Cecilia, taught the violin and was Alfredo’s first teacher. His mother was a dramatic soprano who had toured with Scotti and Caruso, but a retired performer at the time of Campoli's birth. His family moved to England in 1911, and 5 years later Campoli was already giving public concerts. In 1919, he entered the London Music Festival and won the gold medal for his performance of the Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. Campoli made his professional debut in a recital at the
Wigmore Hall in 1923. He toured with such singers as Dame
Nellie Melba and Dame
Clara Butt, and played with the
Reginald King Orchestra (and as a member of King's Celebrity Trio). Although he appeared in the standard repertoire with symphony orchestras, during the depression there was little demand for a soloist and Campoli formed his Salon Orchestra and the Welbeck Light Quartet playing at restaurants in London, and other such venues. He appeared at a
Prom concert in 1938. During
World War II he gave numerous concerts for Allied troops. After the war, he had extended tours of Europe, Southeast Asia, New Zealand, and Australia, and continued his work with the BBC, eventually achieving over 1,000 radio broadcasts. He made his American debut in 1953, playing
Lalo's
Symphonie espagnole with the
New York Philharmonic under
George Szell. In 1955 he gave the first performance of Sir
Arthur Bliss's Violin Concerto, which was written for him. In 1956 he twice toured the Soviet Union. Campoli owned two
Stradivarius violins, the Baillot-Pommerau of 1694 and the Dragonetti of 1700 (see also
List of Stradivarius instruments). However, it was his 1843 Rocca that he used predominantly, the Dragonetti being housed in the bank for security. He considered the phrasing of each passage he played and if he could achieve ‘bel canto’ by shortening or lengthening a note then he would do so. He was not afraid to lift the bow from the strings, an act that seems to be completely avoided today. Brief breaks of sound can add tremendous drama and power to a performance, even when not indicated by the composer. There is a compact disc of a recording of Vivaldi's
The Four Seasons made by him taken from
acetates of a French radio broadcast; these are thought to date from early in 1939, predating the first electrical recordings of the work. At the beginning of the 1960s, Campoli was living in Southgate, London. In 1961, a private recording of him playing the Beethoven concerto with the Hayes Orchestra (Bromley, Kent) was made by his friend Geoffrey Terry. Campoli appeared in a number of films and was a guest on the
BBC radio programme
Desert Island Discs on 21 August 1953. Campoli was a keen bridge player, and died just before a game at the Bridge Club in
Princes Risborough,
Buckinghamshire, a few miles from his home in
Thame,
Oxfordshire. ==References==