Luca Fumagalli

Luca Fumagalli
(b Inzago, 29 May 1837; d Milan, 5 June 1908). Pianist and composer, brother of (1) Disma Fumagalli.

He studied at the Milan Conservatory, where he was taught the piano by Angeleri, and became a highly successful concert pianist and composer in Italy, Paris (1860) and the USA. For a time he was head of the piano faculty of the Philadelphia Conservatory and on returning to Milan devoted himself to teaching and composing. After his brother Adolfo he was the best-known member of the family. His numerous piano compositions are pleasant and elegant, tending sometimes more towards intimacy than brilliant display, and complying with the instrumental renaissance of the latter part of the century in Italy. Besides the usual transcriptions and paraphrases of operatic arias, his original compositions for the piano include Crâneries et dettes de coeur: 14 studi fantastici (Milan, n.d.). He composed one opera, Luigi XI (libretto by Carlo d’Ormeville; Florence, Pergola, 29 March 1875), a Sinfonia marinaresca and other orchestral works. Ricordi published his edition of all Beethoven’s piano sonatas and some works by Clementi and others.