Costumes of Boy Musical Prodigies: Ferruccio Burco (Italy, 1939-65)

Ferruccio Burco
Figure 1.--Ferrucio Burco is pictured here directing an orchestra in 1949. He appears to be wearing a specially made short pants outfit with his curly hair. Note the white ankle socks. Before World War II he would have probably worn white knee socks. He would have been about 9 years old at the time.

HBC does not yet have much information on Italian prodigy Ferruccio Burco. HBC has been able to acquire few details on his career. Ferruccio is known to have conducted major symphony orchestras when he was very young. He was reportedly very active at age 7 years. One report said that he debuted at the age of 4 years in Italy. He had an extensive tour of the United States in 1948. He was a soloist with many Symphony Orchestras. He also wrote motion picture background music under the name Bugomilivitch Kopetsinski. He passed away about 1965 when he was quite young. We are not sure about the circumstances.

Child Prodigy

Unlike many child prodigies, little information on Ferruccio turns up on internet searches. Ferruccio was born in 1939. His father was Russian. I'm not sure why he was in Italy, presumably he was a Russian emigree, opposed to the Soviet regime. 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] 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. HBC believes that the photograph shown here was taken in Italy during 1949 (figure 1). We have no information about his subsequent performances.

Adult Career

Burco appears to have begun an adult music career after performing as a child prodigy, including some work in Hollywood. HBC has, however, been able to find little information. He appears to have worked in Hollywood under the name of Bugomilivitch Kopetsinski. He died at a very young age in 1965. He was performing in Italy at the time. He was involved in a car accident in Ostuni when returning from a performance (1965).

Personal Accounts

A HBC reader reports, "I was a oboe player in the army band at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana which is just outside Indianapolis. I remember going into the Non-Commissioned Officers Club (NCO) club one day in 1955 and heard someone playing the piano. It was Burco. I still remember how beautiful it sounded. He was playing classical music. I became a friend of his. We both improvised music together and he was impressed. We had plans to record and write music. He told me that had conducted major symphony orchestras when he was very young. My parents at the time were living in Chicago so I invited him to our home. We had a piano which my brother played. Ferruccio played for my parents and they were amazed. I believe he also was a soloist with many Symphony Orchestras. He also wrote motion picture background music. His name for that was Bugomilivitch Kopetsinski In Hollywood. The spelling is not correct but the sound of his name is close. He was very close friends with Danny Kay and his wife. He indicated to me what nice people they were. He told me that his father was part Russian. When my wife and I moved out to California we looked him up in the library. He was in a very popular book at the time called Who is Who in Music. In it there was a write-up on him and his mother. I believe his mother was his business manager. I cannot find this book anywhere now. I am sure it probably is in a New York Library. It was probably printed in the early 1950s. I always wondered what happened to him because I lost contact with him and hoped to meet him again. It was sad for me to see that he passed away around 1965." [Markel] Another reader writes, "Regarding Ferruccio Burco, my parents took me to see him conduct an orchestra in Rochester New York at the Masonic Auditorium. I believe the year was 1948 and I was 12 years old. I simply could not believe my eyes. I tried my best to convey my astonishment to my class mates - without much success. One had to see the performance to believe it." [Montesanto] Another writers tells us, "Burco provided one of the most exciting moments in my life. I shall never forget it."

Death

Burco died at a very young age, only 26 years old, in an automobile accident (1965). A reader writeds, "I know that child prodigy conductor Ferruccio Burco died in a car accident, but what I want to know is was he driving? In what country did the accident occur? I was privileged to see him many times when he came to New York. I've never been able to find the answer to my question of where he died when he had the auto accident and if he was alone and who was driving. I am thinking of putting an ad in the NY Times. That's how much I want to know the answer. Seeing him perform was an astounding experience. To this day, the vividness of the memory still remains. I have many 8x10 photos of him and I'll never forget meeting him backstage thanks to Jack Petrill who was managing him and who I happened to know." All we have been able to learn is that the accident occured in Ostuni, a small Italian town in the province of Brindisi (Puglia). Apparently two soloists were with him in the car. A reader writes, "He was in Italy. While walking down a street he was run orver by a car."

Italian Source

An Italian source reports, "Fu la volta, poi, di un “enfant prodige” degli anni quaranta: Ferruccio Burco, che a otto anni già dirigeva, senza partitura sul leggio, grandi orchestre per eseguire grandi capolavori del sinfonico e del lirico. Dopo le fortunate performances al Metropolitan, al Carnegie Hall ed in tutti i più grandi teatri dell'America, Arturo Tocanini lo chiamava confidenzialmente “il mio piccolo grande collega!”. Ebbene, questa stella di prima grandezza rimase sul podio pochissimo, perché al ritorno da uno dei primi impegni della stagione artistica del 1965, il 27 aprile, a soli 26 anni, morì in un tragico incidente stradale nei pressi di Ostuni insieme a due bravissimi solisti." [Citta' di Souinzano] That means something like, "It was the time, then, of "enfant prodige" of years forty: Ferruccio Burco, than to eight years already directed, without partitura on the leggio, great orchestras in order to execute great capolavori of the sinfonico and the lyric one. After the lucky people performances to the Metropolitan, to the Carnegie Hall and in all the greatest theatres of the America, Arthur Tocanini called it "my small confidentially great colleague!". Well, this star first largeness remained on the podio least, because to the return from one of the first engagements of the artistic season of 1965, the 27 you open them, to single 26 years, died in a tragic street incident near Ostuni with to two best solisti."

Sources

Markel, Al. E-mail dated April 8, 2002.

Montesanto, Ernest. E-mail, September 6, 2006.

"Ferruccio Burco," Citta' di Souinzano, accessed October 30, 2007.

Life (March 15, 1948).






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Created: March 7, 2001
Last updated: 5:16 AM 2/11/2018