The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

365

When attempting to implement this initiative, a never-disclosed conversation seems to have caused a

misunderstanding between the two institutions involved, which led to a telegraphic communication being

sent by the station’s founder to the Dominican Ambassador in Rome, Telésforo Calderón, requesting that

he hire musicians from post-war Italian institutions, as well as soloists, to work at La Voz del Yuna, with the

specification that only “the best” be sent, which is precisely what happened. This fortuitous incident would fill

Santo Domingo with some of the greatest musical talents of Italy at that time, and the positive effects of the

influx were immediate.

The first ten musicians who were contracted arrived in the Dominican capital on February 25, 1947. The

group included violinists Danilo Belardinelli, Francesco Montelli, Amedeo Fortunati, Mariano Dessi, Carlo

Renzulli and Fulvio Montanaro; cellists Luigi Fuscili and Ennio Orazi; and violists Guglielmo Morelli and

Ferdinando Cortellini.

Within this first group, perhaps the most outstanding figure was Danilo Belardinelli (Rome, Dec 8, 1915), a

concert maestro from the Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, a renowned soloist in Europe,

and conductor of the famous Quartetto Belardinelli.

At La Voz del Yuna, Belardinelli was concertmaster for the Orquesta Salón and Orquesta de Arcos - con-

ducted by Enrico Montelli - and he performed as the soloist concertmaster of the first violins in the Italian

Chamber Orchestra. In addition, he directed the Conjunto Intermezzo and regularly appeared as a soloist on

different radio programs and live performances within the aforementioned radio programming.

On October 22, 1947, his first performance as soloist for the National Symphony Orchestra took place at

the Teatro Independencia in the capital city, along with the Italians Mariano Dessi, Ferdinando Cortellini,

Ennio Orazi, and Laura Girardi Cacciapuoti.

The soprano Mara

de Martini and the

baritone Rafael Félix

Gimbernard in the first

“Ópera Night” at Teatro

Olimpia.

THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN DOMINICAN MUSIC AND CULTURE