Background
Bibalo was born in Trieste and studied piano at the conservatory there.
Bibalo was born in Trieste and studied piano at the conservatory there.
His path to Norway and a career as a composer was a convoluted one. During World World War II he was drafted into the Italian army and ended up in military prison when he tried to desert. He escaped from prison, was caught by the German army, and then forced to fight with them at Monte Cassino.
During the battle, he was captured by the American army and sent to the United States as a prisoner of war.
When he eventually returned to Trieste in 1946, he received his diploma from the conservatory and worked as a bar pianist to support himself. Once again he escaped and eventually ended up in London in 1953 where he studied with Elisabeth Lutyens.
In 1956 he settled in Norway. There he supported himself while composing by working as a music copyist and as bar pianist at the Grand Hotel in Oslo.
His first international success was his opera The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder, commissioned by the Hamburg State Opera where it premiered in 1965.
Four other operas were to follow, including Mission Julie, which by 2002 had been performed over 160 times in Germany. He also composed ballet music, two symphonies, and several chamber works. Antonio Bibalo died on 20 June 2008 in his adopted city of Larvik at the age of 86.