Ferruccio Burco: Child Prodigy


Figure 1.--Ferucco Burco made a U.S. tour in 1948. This wire service photograph was captioned, "Eight-year old conductor: Ferruccio Burco, 8. raises his baton here yesterday as he conducts 80-piece symphony orchestra in rehersal for his debut today in Carnegie Hall. The lad conducted 75 concerts in Europe bedore coming here from Milan., Italy, last month." The photograph was dated February 28, 1948.

Unlike many child prodigies, little information on Ferruccio turns up on internet searches. Ferruccio was born in 1939. His father was Russian. Mis mother was a gifted soprano. We are not sure why he was in Italy, presumably he was a Russian emigree, opposed to the Soviet regime. The name sounds Italian. His father first became aware of his son's gift when the boy protested an off key note hit by his mother's accompanist. Ferruccio performed as a child prodigy in the role of a conductor of major symphony orchestras in Italy. Ferruccio only a few weeks after his 4th birthday debuted in Milan in 1943, conducting the orchestra by memorizing gestures to give cues. He was reportedly active at age 7 in 1947. He was billed as "Ferruccio Burco, age 7, the world's youngest orchestral conductor." He toured the United States in 1948, appearing in Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York (Carnegie Hall). He conducted the the Philharmonic Symphony orchestra. [Life] One review of his concert at Carnegie Hall read, "Ferruccio Burco, 8-year old conductor who began his rise to fame in Rome, made his American debut in short 'stove pipe' pants before a packed Carnegie hall audience, which applaued enthusiatically." ["Italian reserves genius ...] The reviewer commented thgat Ferruccio liked his music loud and lively, but noted that the orchestra was proficient and wondered just how much talent the boy had. A special performance of "Cavalleria rusticana", featuring his mother in the role of Santuzza, was given at New York's Randalls Island. Ferruccio when he performed as a child prodigy had a full head of curls and performed in a variety of short pants outfits. Ferrucio did not wear standard short pants suits, but rather specially made outfits--rather like a minature tuxedo suitable for a formal symphponic concert. This was also how he dressed when he performed in America during 1948. Here we see him in New York during 1948 (figure 1). He made many other appearances such as with a symphonic orchestra in Irem Temple, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (September 20, 1948). HBC believes that the photograph on the previous page was taken in Italy during 1949. In America he was impressed by comic books and hamburgers. We have no information about his subsequent performances.

Childhood

Unlike many child prodigies, little information on Ferruccio turns up on internet searches. And virtually nothing about his childhood. Ferruccio was born in 1939. His father was Russian. Mis mother was a gifted soprano. We are not sure why he was in Italy, presumably he was a Russian emigree, opposed to the Soviet regime. His name sounds Italian. The images we have found of Ferruccio show him at his performances. We do not see many snapshots of him in everyday life. We do note one image of him boxing. We do not know to what extent this was an activity he especially enjoyed.

Talent

His father first became aware of his son's gift when the boy protested an off key note hit by his mother's accompanist. At the time he hd not yet received any musical training.

Performances

We have some limited information about Ferruccio's many performances, mostly his American trip in 1948. We note that only a few weeks after his 4th birthday, he debuted in Milan in 1943, conducting the orchestra by memorizing gestures to give cues. Ferruccio performed as a child prodigy in the role of a conductor of major symphony orchestras in Italy. He was reportedly active at age 7 in 1947. He was billed as "Ferruccio Burco, age 7, the world's youngest orchestral conductor." He toured the United States in 1948, appearing in Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York (Carnegie Hall). He conducted the the Philharmonic Symphony orchestra. [Life] A special performance of "Cavalleria rusticana", featuring his mother in the role of Santuzza, was given at New York's Randalls Island. In America he was impressed by comic books and hamburgers. We have no information about his subsequent performances.

Reviews

One review of his concert at Carnegie Hall read, "Ferruccio Burco, 8-year old conductor who began his rise to fame in Rome , made his American debut in short 'stove pipe' pants before a packed Carnegie hall audience, which applaued enthusiatically." ["Italian reserves genius ...] The reviewer commented thgat Ferruccio liked his music loud and lively, but noted that the orchestra was proficient and wondered just how much talent the boy had.

Performance Outfits

Ferruccio when he performed as a child prodigy had a full head of curls and performed in a variety of short pants outfits. Ferrucio did not wear standard short pants suits, but rather specially made outfits--one rather like a minature tuxedo suitable for a formal symphponic concert. This was also how he dressed when he performed in America during 1948. Here we see him in New York during 1948 (figure 1). He made many other appearances such as with a symphonic orchestra in Irem Temple, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (September 20, 1948). HBC believes that the photograph on the previous page was taken in Italy during 1949. We also notice a formal white outfit with a fancy blouse.

Sources

"Italian genius, 8, directs orchestra in Carnefie Hall, The Picket Line Post (June 18, 1948), p. 2.

Life (March 15, 1948).








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Created: 2:49 AM 8/26/2010
Last updated: 1:32 AM 2/11/2018