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THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
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His daily appearance in various areas of La Voz del Yuna’s programming brought Belardinelli new au-
diences across the Dominican Republic. He toured the interior of the country accompanied by Dominican
pianist Vicente Grisolía, with whom he also appeared on November 18, 1948 at the Teatro Independencia, in
a concert sponsored by the INTARIN Concert Society.
As a teacher of violin, his most promising students in Santo Domingo were Jacinto Gimbernard and Nidia
Mieses, both of whom would achieve great success in their respective careers, nationally as well as interna-
tionally.
At the end of his two-year contract, Belardinelli left the Dominican capital, in the last days of April 1949,
returning in 1975 to take part—now as conductor—in the production of Puccini’s
Madame Butterfly
, which was
presented at the Teatro Nacional as part of its
Ópera 75
festival.
Francesco Montelli
was born on October 1, 1896, in Rome. The culturally infused atmosphere that enveloped
his early youth at the beginning of the twentieth century contributed significantly to his devotion to music.
After graduating from the Accademia Santa Cecilia, he had the opportunity to play under the direction of
Arturo Toscanini and was one of the founders of the Quartetto di Roma. In Europe, Montelli was an eminent
musician who obtained the highest distinctions in chamber music and one of the most outstanding members
of the influx of Italian artistic talent that La Voz Dominicana brought together in the Orquesta de Arcos Italia-
nos, conducted later by maestro Roberto Caggiano. He was also part of the Quartetto Belardinelli, which also
comprised at the time Danilo Belardinelli, Fulvio Montanaro, and Luigi Fusilli. Montelli would later become
founder and director of the Ars Nova Quartet based in Santo Domingo, together with maestros Jacinto Gim-
bernard (violin), François Bahuaud (cello), and Giovanni Constantino (1st viola).
Montelli’s innate perfectionism and natural curiosity also led him to excel in the field of music criticism.
But among his many facets, mention should also be made of his specialization in sound technique, knowledge
that he acquired while studying at the BBC in London.
For many years, he served as director of the Recordings Department at La Voz Dominicana, proving es-
sential in the creation of the most important discography related to the history of broadcasting in the Domin-
ican Republic. As a result, many major foreign artists expressed strong preferences for having their recordings
made in the studios of that institution.
Francesco Montelli remained active as a violinist for the Symphony until 1965.
He lived in Santo Domingo until his death on April 14, 1966, and he requested that he be buried in this
city, where he left indelible memories in both the musical and social scene for his extraordinary artistic talents
and his generous and humane personality. His granddaughter Maria Pía Montelli later studied singing in Italy,
and his great-granddaughter Mariangela Franco Montelli—daughter of the Dominican bassist Moisés Franco
Trujillo—who inherited his love of the violin, currently has a brilliant career in Italy and is on a promising path
toward success.
The second group of Italian musicians hired by La Voz del Yuna, which arrived five months later, on July
9, 1947, included eight new maestros, all of the highest academic and artistic caliber: Roberto Caggiano (con-
ductor), Lorenzo Ticchioni (horn), Silvana Samproni (violinist), Laura Girardi Cacciapuoti (harpist), Sydney
Gallesi (oboist), María Luisa Faini (pianist), and the pianist duo formed by Mario Carta and Enrico Cagna-Ca-
biati. This group of musicians would also hold academic positions during their sojourn in the country, and the
imprint of their outstanding work still remains palpable.
Roberto Caggiano
was born in Potenza, a province in the Basilicata region of Italy. He studied harmony,
counterpoint, and composition under Bernardino Molinari at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in
Rome, where he debuted as conductor with the Augusteo orchestra and also taught harmony.
He arrived in the Dominican capital on July 9, 1947, hired by José Arismendi Trujillo to organize a sym-
phony orchestra at La Voz del Yuna with Italian and other national musicians. Although the original project