LUIGI DENZA  

Luigi Denza was born on 24 February 1846 in Castellemmare di Stabia, Italy. He studied music under Saverio Mercadante and Paolo Serrao at the Naples Conservatory. After graduation, he began to compose opera music and his Wallenstein (1876) was received with praise in Naples. In 1884, he moved to London to pursue his career as a composer. He was appointed Professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music in 1898, and taught there while working on his music. One of the songs that he wrote during that time, the one which became his most popular, is the tarantella-style Funiculi-funicula. Many others, such as Luna fedel, Occhi di fata, and Se have been sung by some of the most important singers in the world such as Mario Lanza, Luciano Pavaroti, Carlo Bergonzi and Rona Tynan. Luigi Denza died in 1922 in London.