Carlo Evasio Soliva

Carlo Evasio Soliva (27 November 1791 – 20 December 1853) was a Swiss-Italian composer of opera, chamber music, and sacred choral works. A contemporary of Gioacchino Rossini, he is best known for his 1816 opera La testa di bronzo which prompted Stendhal’s immediate enthusiasm: “Ce petit Soliva a la figure chétive d'un homme de génie.” (“That little Soliva has the scanty figure of a man of genius.”) After a life spent composing, teaching and condu... more

Carlo Evasio Soliva (27 November 1791 – 20 December 1853) was a Swiss-Italian composer of opera, chamber music, and sacred choral works. A contemporary of Gioacchino Rossini, he is best known for his 1816 opera La testa di bronzo which prompted Stendhal’s immediate enthusiasm: “Ce petit Soliva a la figure chétive d'un homme de génie.” (“That little Soliva has the scanty figure of a man of genius.”) After a life spent composing, teaching and conducting in Italy, Poland, Russia, Switzerland and France he died in Paris at the age of 62. Soliva was born in Casale Monferrato, Piedmont to a family of Swiss chocolatiers who had emigrated from the canton Ticino. He studied pianoforte and composition at the Milan Conservatory, coming top of his class in the latter. In 1815 he became a conductor at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan and the following year that opera house staged his first opera, La testa di bronzo o sia La capanna solitaria. Its immediate and resounding success marked the apex of his... less