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Mario Braggiotti: pianist, composer, and raconteur. His career was launched by George Gershwin, who became his friend and mentor.

Born November 29, 1905, in Florence, Italy, Mario Braggiotti was the fourth of eight exuberant children born to Bostonian expatriates. His musical abilities were evident early. As a child, nicknamed "Tunti," he would return from attending an opera, sit at the piano, and recreate by ear the arias he had just heard performed.

After Mario's mother died in 1919, the Braggiotti family moved to Boston. Mario attended St. George's School in Newport, RI, then attended the Paris Conservatoire and the summer Fontainebleau Music School outside Paris. He studied piano with Alfred Cortot and Isidor Philippe and composition with Nadia Boulanger.

While in Paris Mario teamed up with pianist Jacques Fray to become the duo piano team, Fray and Braggiotti. Mario arranged all the music for the flegling duo to perform, and they began playing at the Left Bank club "Boeuf sur le Toit". When George Gershwin came to Paris to compose "An American in Paris," the young men introduced themselves to their idol, who immediately put them to work trying out the famous taxi horns he was writing into that composition. In 1928 Gershwin helped launch their careers by hiring them to play in his London production of "Funny Face" with Fred and Adele Astaire.

Mario became a good friend of Gershwin, who once said, "Mario plays my music the way it should be played."* Later Braggiotti introduced the "Rhapsody in Blue," both with orchestra and in its solo version, in various parts of Europe. The "Rhapsody" became his signature piece in all his performances.

In 1929 Fray and Braggiotti came to New York, touring and making guest appearances on radio. Mario was the first to combine both classical and popular music on the same program. The team became hugely popular and was billed as "The First Team -- the Last Word." They played in New York's Town Hall and subsequently were featured on a tour with Maurice Chevalier.

In the 1930s the duo became a household name when hired by William Paley. Fray and Braggiotti performed three nights a week on CBS's nationally broadcast "Kraft Music Hall," and "Radio City Music Hall." The team toured extensively throughout the US in those years, appearing at the Hollywood Bowl and at the White House, among other notable venues.

When World War II broke out, Braggiotti, an American citizen despite his Italian birth, enlisted in the US Army and was put in the Psychological Warfare Branch of the Office of War Information. As the Allies began their campaign in Casablanca and moved up through the Italian peninsula, Mario took charge of the local and national radio stations and began broadcasting American music and information.

After the war, Mario returned to the US and developed a one-man show that blended comedy and music. He wrote and performed his "Variations on the Theme 'Yankee Doodle'" in the styles of various classical composers, which were published by Schirmer. Continuing to include both classical and popular music on his programs, he intermingled the piano pieces with humorous anecdotes. He also worked his talent for improvisation into his program by taking three random notes form the audience and creating a composition around them. During this period, he toured throughout Western Europe and South America as well as the US.

In the 1950s Braggiotti's setting of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address," scored for baritone solo, chorus, and orchestra was performed at Carnegie Hall with Izler Solomon conducting and Lawrence Winters as soloist. Mario was chosen by Frank Hale to compose a ballet, "The Princess," which debuted in Palm Beach and opened subsequently in London.

In 1963 Mario took over the radio program "To France with Music" (previously "Listening with Jacques Fray") on New York's WQXR after the death of Mr. Fray, its original host.

Braggiotti continued to compose. His body of work over the subsequent years includes a children's musical, "Lisa," with Joan Javits, and a musical comedy based on his sister Gloria Braggiotti Etting's family memoir, "Born in a Crowd." In 1972 Mario began collaborating with the pianist Susan Snodgrass Andis. Together they wrote the musical "I Danced with a Tree."

Mario and Susan married and formed a new duo-piano team. Braggiotti rearranged his "Gettysburg Address" for two pianos, percussion and bass. He wrote more of his witty "Variations on 'Yankee Doodle'", including two vocals for which Susan wrote the lyrics. With his new partner, Braggiotti composed and arranged more music for duo-pianos, and the team performed his works internationally. Their collaboration ended with his death on May 18, 1996.

Mario was linked romantically with socialites, actresses, and European noblewomen. His wit, talent, and charm made him popular, and he kept up his friendships in all parts of the world with his voluminous letter-writing. He married three times, first in 1939 to Francise (Baby) Clow of Chicago, then in 1952 to Edwina Feigenspan Osborne of New York. Both of those marriages ended in divorce.

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Mario was a gourmet cook, often preparing Tuscan specialties at lively dinner parties. He studied Buddhism, believed in reincarnation, and was health-conscious throughout his life. Many of his ideas were decades ahead of their time.

Among honors bestowed upon Braggiotti, he received a commendation from the City of Florence for his great Gershwin interpretations, was honored by the Sons of Italy, and was inducted into the Big Band Hall of Fame. He was a member of ASCAP.

Susan Braggiotti continues her career as a pianist while overseeing their collection of musical scores. She arranged for Braggiotti's works to be housed in the International Piano Archives at the University of Maryland.


 * This Gershwin quote is from Ambassador John Davis Lodge, who recounted to Susan Braggiotti that Gershwin said it in Lodge's presence.

Bibliography

1. DeSantis, Florence Stevenson,"Gershwin", 1987, Treves Publishing, pp. 52-53. ISBN 0-918367 18-2.

2. Jablonski, Edward, "Gershwin, a Biography", 1987, Doubleday, pp 148, 158-59, 169, 171. ISBN 0-385-19431-5

3.Kimball, Robert and Alfred Simon, "The Gershwins", 1973, Atheneum, pp 95-96.ISBN 0-689-10569-X

4.Sanger, Elliott M. "Rebel in Radio, The Story of WQXR", 1973, Hastings House, pp.123-124. ISBN 0-8038-6329-8.