Mariano Obiols

Mariano Obiols (b Barcelona, 26 Nov 1809; d Barcelona, 10 Dec 1888). Spanish composer. He began his studies in Spain but went abroad in 1831, becoming a protégé of Mercadante, with whom he toured Europe.

His first opera, Odio e amore (two acts, libretto by F. Romani), had a successful run at La Scala beginning on 5 September 1837. In the same year Obiols returned to Barcelona to teach at the recently formed Conservatory, becoming its director in 1847, and during the next two decades dedicated himself mostly to teaching, administration and conducting. Not until 1874 did he produce another opera, Editta di Belcourt (four acts, libretto by F. Fors de Casamayor), first performed at the Gran Teatro del Liceo on 28 January. Though its italianate features were in harmony with the conservative repertory of the major Spanish theatres, Editta represented a compositional path abandoned by many of Obiols’s younger contemporaries, such as Bretón and Pedrell. Pedrell’s El último Abencerraje, in which Moorish and Spanish musical elements are prominent, was produced at the Liceo just a few months after the première of Editta. Obiols also wrote works for choir, orchestra and chamber ensemble, as well as a Método de solfeo and Ejercicios para canto.