Egizio Massini

Egizio Massini was a Romanian conductor of Italian origin who lived and worked briefly in Bulgaria. A fan of both Italian and Russian opera, Massini created his own specific tradition of conducting, followed by all his successors in Romania, as well as by conductors in other countries.

Egizio Massini was born on July 26, 1894 in Alexandria, Egypt, to the family of opera singer Paolina Alberti and conductor Enrico Massini, who with his troupe staged opera performances for the first time on the Bulgarian stage in 1895. As a child, Massini studied music from the conductors in his father's troupe, Boncioli, Pavagnoli and D'Alessio. At the age of 12, he performed as a concertmaster in the troupe, and made his debut as an opera conductor in 1908 in Lom, Bulgaria, with a production of the opera "Faust".

From 1908 to 1914, he constantly traveled with the opera troupe and conducted opera performances in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Hungary. In 1914, he settled permanently in Romania.

In the 1928-1929 season, he was in Sofia, where he was invited to be a conductor and director at the National Opera. He conducted "Aida" by Verdi and "Tosca" by Puccini, and for the first time on the Bulgarian stage, he staged the opera "Fedora" by Umberto Giordano. His participation in an artists' strike led to the termination of his contract and his return to Romania. In 1929 he was appointed chief conductor of the Bucharest National Opera, but at the same time he also performed as a conductor of symphonic concerts. He returned to Bulgaria once again in the 1947–1948 season with a group of soloists from the Bucharest Opera.

In 1964 he received the title of People's Artist of Romania.