Anton Guadagno, 79; Conductor Led Palm Beach Opera in Florida
Anton Guadagno, 79, principal conductor and artistic director of the Palm Beach Opera in Florida, died Aug. 16 of an apparent heart attack in St. Margarethen, Austria. He had conducted Verdi’s “Otello” at an opera festival there the previous day.
Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Guadagno studied composition and conducting at the Vincenzo Bellini Conservatory in Palermo and the Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome. He later took a post-graduate course at the Salzburg Mozarteum, where he won a first prize in conducting in 1948.
Guadagno made his U.S. debut at a Carnegie Hall concert in 1952, and was an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1958-59 season. His other leading posts included music director of the Philadelphia Lyric Opera from 1966 to 1972 and music director of the Bellas Artes opera season in Mexico City for 12 years.
Guadagno conducted regularly at the Vienna State Opera as well as the Paris Opera, the Arena di Verona in Italy and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.
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