Paolo Isotta (18 October 1950 – 12 February 2021)[1] was an Italian musicologist and writer.
Paolo Isotta | |
---|---|
Born | Naples, Italy | 18 October 1950
Died | 12 February 2021 (aged 70) Naples, Italy |
Occupation | Music journalist and writer |
Nationality | Italian |
Alma mater | University of Naples |
Period | 1974–2021 |
Notable works | Il ventriloquo di Dio La virtù dell'elefante/ La dotta lira. Ovidio e la musica/ Verdi a Parigi |
Isotta graduated from the University of Naples, where he studied classic Letters and law. He also studied piano with Vincenzo Vitale and composition with Renato Parodi and Renato Dionisi.[2] From 1971 to 1994, he was ordinary professor of history of music in the Conservatory of Turin and Naples. In February 2019, he was named Professor Emeritus.
He was the musical critic for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera from 1980 to 2015 and for other journals such as Il Giornale.
In 2013 he published a critical article against Daniel Harding and, indirectly, Claudio Abbado, following which Stéphane Lissner, La Scala's director, banned him from the theatre.[3]
He wrote several books of musical criticism, among these one on the influence of the music in the Works of Thomas Mann and one which is the first ever written about the influence of the poetry of Ovid on music from XV to XXI century.