The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

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THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN DOMINICAN MUSIC AND CULTURE

did not come to fruition, it was followed by the creation of the Orquesta de Arcos, which Caggiano directed,

made up of Italian musicians at the service of the company, who presented a special program weekly through

this important radio station. In 1949, at the end of his two-year contract, Caggiano returned to Italy, but the

following year he was back in Santo Domingo, on directions of José Arismendi Trujillo so that he could as-

sume direction of the National Symphony Orchestra, which had fallen into a critical period under the direction

of the Mexican Abel Eisenberg.

In an interview with Manuel Rueda in 1983, Caggiano recalled that the nearly ten years he spent conduct-

ing the Symphony had been the most inspiring period of his life. There he had found friends and musicians of

great artistic and human value, who joined in his efforts with the authorities to raise the salaries of musicians

and who supported him in his initiative to defend affordable programs for a nascent group that ultimately

achieved great success due to his professionalism.

From his first public concert as co-director of the NSO, on December 21, 1950, at the Social Worker’s Cen-

ter, the plan this brilliant director had outlined proved a success—to improve the orchestra, and move from

the simple to the complex, thereby gradually encompassing the great works of the repertoire, based on the

technical progress that the different sections were making.

On June 1, 1951, Roberto Caggiano was appointed principal conductor of the National Symphony Or-

chestra, and on October 30 of that same year, he presented the first Opera Night in the country at the Teatro

Olimpia, in a groundbreaking gala event sponsored by the General Directorate of Fine Arts, with scenes from

the operas

Rigoletto

Aida

La Traviata,

and the overture of

La Forza del Destino

by Giuseppe Verdi, in which

seven solo voices and a choir of eleven male voices participated. The event was repeated at the Teatro Julia in

Santo Domingo, and then went on to San Cristóbal, San Pedro de Macorís, and Barahona.

On October 7, 1955, the news was published that the maestro Caggiano had presented a concert in Rome

Actors posing

at Teatro Olimpia.