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The eminent English conductor John (Giovanni Battista) Barbirolli was born to a musical family of Italian-French origin. His father, Lorenzo and grandfather, Antonio, were distinguished Italian violinists and both were members of the La Scala Orchestra in Milan where, in February 1887, they played in the first performance of Verdi's Otello. His mother, Louise Marie Ribeyrol, was born in Arcachon, on the south-west coast of France, close to the Pyrenees. |