Quattrini Jan Ludwik, *13 May 1822 Brescia, †10 April 1893 Warsaw, Italian conductor and teacher. He studied at the Milan Conservatory under F. Basil. From ca. 1839, he worked as a conductor in theatres in Mantua, Genua, Milan, Venice, Turin and Berlin. In 1843, he came to Warsaw with the opera troupe of Evasio Rocca; on 22 July 1844, he conducted Lucrezia Borgia by G. Donizetti as a guest at the Grand Theatre, then Otello by G. Rossini and Norma by V. Bellini (all performed in Italian). Initially, he was the theatre’s choirmaster and replaced H. Litolff at the orchestra desk, and after his departure in 1845, he became the second conductor and teacher at the reactivated School of Singing at the theatre (until around 1850). In 1853–74, he held the position of director (first conductor) of the opera of the Warsaw Government Theatres; from 1858, he shared this function with S. Moniuszko, and after his death, with C. Trombini. According to A. Poliński (1893), he was an “excellent director” and “an impetuous orchestra director.” He introduced famous European operas to the Warsaw stage in their original languages, then in translations, including F. Halévy’s The Jewess, Robert le diable, G. Meyerbeer’s The Huguenots, The African, and Faust, Ch. Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, and G. Bizet’s Carmen; he particularly valued G. Verdi’s operas, conducting Macbeth and I due Foscari (both 1849), Ernani (1851), Rigoletto (1853), Nabucco and Il trovatore (both 1854), La traviata (1856) and Un ballo in maschera (1865). Of the 100 operas he prepared in Warsaw (6–7 per year), over 20 were Polish, including Król pasterzy by O. Kolberg (1859), Monbar… by I.F. Dobrzyński (1863), Otton łucznik (1864) and Stradyota (1876) by A. Münchheimer. As a friend of Moniuszko, he staged with extraordinary care almost all of his operas from Flis to Beata, including the premiere of Halka (1858), appreciating the artistic and national values of this work. After 1865, during the period of repression by the Russian authorities and the closure of the theatre, he focused on staging operettas, mainly by J. Offenbach. From May 1883, he directed the performances of French lyric operas and comedies (ballet and Polish operas were entrusted to A. Münchheimer, and the performances of French and German operas were entrusted to J. Řebíček). He worked at the Quattrini opera until 1891, then (until the end of his life) he led the choir in the Piarist church. He organised annual student concerts for social purposes (in the Redutowe Rooms of the Grand Theatre) and concerts of religious and vocal-instrumental music (in the WTM), for which he did not take a salary, similarly as for his duties as director and teacher at the School of Singing. His teaching method was severely criticised (W. Wiślicki, J. Sikorski), but his students included outstanding singers, including B. Dowiakowska, M. Kwiecińska, L. Leśniewska, W. Rostkowska, W. Miller, D. Filleborn, F. Cieślewski, and J. Chodakowski.
Quattrini belonged to a few Italian music societies. He wrote his own compositions (Te Deum, premiere 15 April 1857, songs for voice and piano, e.g. Le soupir, 1846, collections of Italian songs), transcriptions of works by Chopin and two pedagogical works (published in Warsaw by G. Sennewald): Méthode simplifiée de chant (1848) and Vocalises caractéristiques au diapason du soprano ou ténor (1867); ca. 1867, he initiated a publishing series «Euterpe» (collection of arias by foreign composers for voice and piano with Polish lyrics, published in Warsaw by G. Sennewald).
Quattrini’s wife, Kornelia Henryka née Pion (1824–74), actress and singer, performed a part of Zofia in a concert version (1848) and at the premiere of Halka (1858); she taught T. Friderici-Jakowicka; his son, Ludwik, worked as a violinist in a Warsaw Opera Orchestra.
Literature: [J. Sikorski] Kompozycje do śpiewu z towarzyszeniem fortepianu… [Quattrini among others] and Méthode simplifiée de chant par Jan Quattrini, «Biblioteka Warszawska» 1846 vol. 3 and 1848 vol. 1; W. Wiślicki Przegląd muzyczny, “Kłosy” 1869 no. 203; G. Broel-Plater Jan Quattrini, Warsaw 1887; A. Poliński Jan Quattrini, “Tygodnik Ilustrowany” 1893 no. 172; J. Kleczyński Jan Quattrini, “Echo Muzyczne, Teatralne i Artystyczne” 1893 no. 498, M. Dziadek, Powstanie i pierwszy okres działalności Filharmonii (1901–1908) and Od Szkoły Dramatycznej do Uniwersytetu. Dzieje wyższej uczelni muzycznej w Warszawie 1810–2010, Chopin University of Music, Warsaw 2011.
