Anton Coppola
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Maestro Anton Coppola (b. March 21, 1917) is a renowned American opera conductor and composer. He is the uncle of film director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire.
[edit] Life
Coppola started his career at the age of eight with the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus. Coppola served as an army bandmaster during World War II, conductor at Radio City Music Hall and director of both the Symphony and Opera Departments at the Manhattan School of Music. He holds a Master’s degree in composition and honorary Doctorates from the University of Tampa and Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.
[edit] Works
Among his works are a violin concerto, an opera, Sacco and Vanzetti; a symphony, and numerous film scores, including The Godfather Part III and Dracula. In the 1950s and 1960s, Coppola was the musical director of six Broadway musicals including Silk Stockings and Bravo Giovanni. Coppola collaborated with the Royal Opera Orchestra and opera soprano Angela Gheorghiu to release a recording of Puccini works. He was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Puccini Foundation and recognized by the Italian government as Cavaliere, Gran Ufficiale. Anton Coppola currently serves as Maestro of Opera Tampa.
He debuted with the New York City Opera in 1965, conducting the world premiere of Jack Beeson's Lizzie Borden, and led performances of Carmen (with Beverly Wolff, Richard Cassilly and Norman Treigle), La traviata, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Madama Butterfly during the same year. For Desto, he then conducted the first recording of Lizzie Borden. In 1970, at the Seattle Opera, Coppola led the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men.
