Ferruccio Bonavia

{{short description|English baritone (1894–1953)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}

Ferruccio Zernitz Bonavia (20 February 1877{{spaced ndash}}5 February 1950) was an Italian born violinist, composer and critic who spent his working life in England.Obituary, The Musical Times, Vol. 91, No. 1285 (March 1950), pp. 101-102

Born in Trieste (then part of Austria-Hungary), Bonavia was the son of a musician, Eduardo Zernitz. He studied music in his home town and later in Milan. He moved to England at the age of 20 and was naturalised two years later. As a practising musician he played violin in the Halle Orchestra under Hans Richter from 1902 until 1912.Michael Kennedy. [https://books.google.com/books?id=XzS8AAAAIAAJ&dq=Ferruccio+Bonavia&pg=PA150 The Halle Tradition: a Century of Music] (1960), p. 150 Willy Hess, the orchestra's leader, was also his teacher. He married Hilda Anne Tucker in July 1907.[https://lan-opc.org.uk/Manchester/Rusholme/stchrysostom/marriages_1904-1914.html#34 Marriages at St Chrysostom, Rusholme, 1904-1914] During the 1914-18 war he served as a private soldier and worked at the Foreign Office, furthering Anglo-Italian relations.

Bonavia is best remembered as a music critic and author. Before the war he worked for the Manchester Guardian under C P Scott and (from 1920 until his death) for the Daily Telegraph in London, where he worked for the first ten years under chief music critic Robin Legge.[https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810104502533;jsessionid=0A45A746434C13513502799B636B2448 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music] (2007) He also wrote for The New York Times, The Musical Times, Music and Letters and contributed to reference books including Grove's Dictionary of Music and Kobbe's Complete Opera Book. His book Musicians in Elysium contains imaginary conversations with composers of the past.

His compositions included a Violin Concerto (1911, premiered in Blackpool with the composer as soloist),Manchester Guardian, 12 August 1911, p. 11 chamber music (including a string octet and two string quartets, the first composed in 1909,The Musical Times, Vol. 50, No. 791 (January 1909), p. 41 the second completed in 1950 only a month before his death), and some songs, including a choral setting of Shelley's Autumn (1935).Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Fifth Edition (1958)

Bonavia lived at various locations in London, including 352 Kew Road, Kew from 1914 to 1919, and 41 Royal Crescent, Holland Park, from 1919 to 1928.{{cite book|last=Bonavia|first=Michael|title=London Before I Forget|publisher=The Self Publishing Association Ltd|date=1990|pages=14,19,33,48|isbn=1-85421-082-3}}

At the end of his life Bonavia's address was 39 Belsize Park Gardens, London NW3.Who's Who in Music (1950), p.23 He died in London, survived by his wife and their two sons.Obituary, Daily Telegraph, 6 February 1950, p.3

His son, Dr Michael Robert Bonavia (1909–1999) had a long career in the transport industry and wrote over 20 books, including Economics of Transport (1936) and The Four Great Railways (1980).[https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap216/bonavia-michael Michael Bonavia biography, Science Museum]