1807–1874 · Classical
Ernesto Cavallini (1807–1874) was a virtuoso clarinettist and teacher from Milan, whom his contemporaries likened to Paganini. He spent many years in the La Scala orchestra, and Verdi wrote clarinet solos for him in his operas. In St Petersburg he became the first professor of clarinet at the conservatoire; the site has his caprices.
Ernesto Cavallini was born in Milan in August 1807. He graduated from the Milan Conservatory and later taught there. His brother Eugenio Cavallini was a musician too.
From 1831 to 1851 Cavallini was a soloist in the orchestra of La Scala. There he held the post of principal clarinettist.
Cavallini's playing was marked by virtuosity and a noble tone. Throughout his career as a performer he used a clarinet of an old design, which was regarded as outdated. His contemporaries compared him to Paganini.
Verdi admired his art and wrote a number of clarinet solos for him in his operas, among them a famous episode in the introduction to the third act of La forza del destino. The opera was first performed in St Petersburg in 1862, with Cavallini taking part and the composer himself conducting.
Cavallini played with great success in many cities. He appeared in Vienna in 1839, in Paris in 1842, in London in 1842 and 1845, and also in Geneva in 1844 and in Brussels in 1845.
In London he performed one of his own fantasias at concerts of the Philharmonic Society.
In 1852 Cavallini was invited to join the orchestra of the Italian opera in St Petersburg. His place at La Scala was taken by Luigi Bassi. In Russia he was a soloist in the orchestras of the imperial theatres, taught at the St Petersburg theatre school, and from 1858 also in the instrumental classes of the court chapel choir.
In 1862 Anton Rubinstein invited Cavallini to be professor of clarinet at the newly founded St Petersburg Conservatoire. That made him the first professor of this class. He worked at the conservatoire until he returned to Italy. In the same year, 1862, he received the title of soloist to His Imperial Majesty.
After returning to Italy, Cavallini taught at the Milan Conservatory for the rest of his life. He died in January 1874 in Milan, the city where he was born.
His pupils included Ivan Kvasnikov, a well-known clarinettist of his day and a soloist of the imperial theatres, and Viktor Tolstov, one of the first Russian professors at the St Petersburg Conservatoire.
Cavallini was the author of a number of works for the clarinet. They include concertos, variations, fantasias on operatic themes and a great many studies. He was also the author of the first printed clarinet tutor published in Russia.
Among his pieces, Adagio and Tarantella, Adagio Sentimental, the fantasias and the set of 30 Caprices for clarinet stand out. He also wrote for the E-flat clarinet, for instance the Carnival of Venice variations. Rossini was an acknowledged influence, and as a tribute Cavallini wrote Una Lagrima sulla Tomba dell'Immortale Rossini.
The site has five numbers from the Thirty Caprices: Nos. 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8. All five are marked as intermediate level.