Giovanni Tadolini
Encyclopedia
Giovanni Tadolini was an Italian
composer
, conductor and singing instructor, who enjoyed a career that alternated between Bologna
and Paris
. Tadolini is probably best known for completing six sections of Rossini's 1833 version of the Stabat mater
after the latter fell sick. However, he also composed eight operas as well as sinfonia
s, sonata
s, chamber music, and numerous pieces of religious music and art song
s.
, he studied privately with Matteo Rubini (singing) and Stanislao Mattei
(composition) at the Liceo Musicale of his native city, before going to work at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris as a répétiteur
and chorus master from 1811 to 1814. Following the occupation of Paris by the Russian and Austrian armies in 1814, he returned to Italy where over the next 15 years he wrote a series of operas and served as a conductor and chorus master for the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
. He also became a member of Bologna's Accademia Filarmonica and maestro di cappella of St. Peter's Cathedral in the city.
In 1827, he married the soprano Eugenia Tadolini
from Forlì
(née Savorani) who had been his student in Bologna. Tadolini returned to the Théâtre-Italien in 1829 with his wife, he as the director, and she as a singer in the company. The marriage ended in divorce in 1834. Following the divorce, Tadolini remained in his post at the Théâtre-Italien until 1839 when he returned definitively to Bologna.
Later in his life, he ran a singing school in Bologna, where he died in 1872.
Art songs
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, conductor and singing instructor, who enjoyed a career that alternated between Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Tadolini is probably best known for completing six sections of Rossini's 1833 version of the Stabat mater
Stabat Mater (Rossini)
Rossini composed his Stabat Mater late in his career after retiring from the composition of opera. He began the work in 1831 but did not complete it until 1841.-Composition:...
after the latter fell sick. However, he also composed eight operas as well as sinfonia
Sinfonia
Sinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. In English it most commonly refers to a 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece used as an introduction, interlude, or postlude to an opera, oratorio, cantata, or suite...
s, sonata
Sonata
Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
s, chamber music, and numerous pieces of religious music and art song
Art song
An art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
s.
Biography
Born in BolognaBologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, he studied privately with Matteo Rubini (singing) and Stanislao Mattei
Stanislao Mattei
Stanislao Mattei was an Italian composer, musicologist, and teacher. A pupil of Giovanni Battista Martini, Mattei's music bares a close resemblance to his style of composition...
(composition) at the Liceo Musicale of his native city, before going to work at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris as a répétiteur
Répétiteur
Répétiteur , repetitore , or Korrepetitor / Repetitor , originally from the French verb répéter meaning "to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse"....
and chorus master from 1811 to 1814. Following the occupation of Paris by the Russian and Austrian armies in 1814, he returned to Italy where over the next 15 years he wrote a series of operas and served as a conductor and chorus master for the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
. He also became a member of Bologna's Accademia Filarmonica and maestro di cappella of St. Peter's Cathedral in the city.
In 1827, he married the soprano Eugenia Tadolini
Eugenia Tadolini
Eugenia Tadolini was an Italian operatic soprano. Admired for the beauty of her voice and stage presence, she was one of Donizetti's favourite singers. During her career she created over 20 leading roles, including the title roles in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix and Maria di Rohan and Verdi's...
from Forlì
Forlì
Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
(née Savorani) who had been his student in Bologna. Tadolini returned to the Théâtre-Italien in 1829 with his wife, he as the director, and she as a singer in the company. The marriage ended in divorce in 1834. Following the divorce, Tadolini remained in his post at the Théâtre-Italien until 1839 when he returned definitively to Bologna.
Later in his life, he ran a singing school in Bologna, where he died in 1872.
Works
Operas- Le bestie in uomini (VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Teatro San MoisèTeatro San MoisèThe Teatro San Moisè was an opera house in Venice, active from 1640 to 1818. It was in a prominent location near the Palazzo Giustinian and the church of San Moisè at the entrance to the Grand Canal....
, 1815; libretto by Angelo Anelli) - La fata Alcina (Venice, Teatro San Moisè, 1815)
- La principessa di Navarra, ossia Il Gianni di Parigi (Bologna, Teatro Contavalli, 1816)
- Il credulo deluso (RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Teatro ValleTeatro ValleThe Teatro Valle is a theatre and former opera house in Rome, Italy.Commissioned by the Capranica family, the architect Tommaso Morelli designed the theatre which was built in 1726. It was inaugurated with the staging of the tragedy Matilde by Simon Falconio Pratoli...
, 1817; libretto by Cesare SterbiniCesare SterbiniCesare Sterbini was an Italian writer.Sterbini was born at Rome. He is known for two libretti for operas by Gioacchino Rossini: Torvaldo e Dorliska and The Barber of Seville ....
) - Tamerlano (Bologna, 1818; libretto after Agostino Piovene)
- Moctar, gran visir di Adrianopoli (Bologna, Teatro ComunaleTeatro Comunale di BolognaThe Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
, 1824; libretto by Luigi Romanelli) - Mitridate (Venice, La FeniceLa FeniceTeatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
1827; libretto by Gaetano RossiGaetano RossiGaetano Rossi was an Italian writer who wrote opera libretti for several composers including Mayr, Rossini, Donizetti, Mercadante, Pacini, and Meyerbeer.-Biography:...
) - Almanzor (TriesteTriesteTrieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Teatro Grande, 1827; libretto by Felice RomaniFelice RomaniFelice Romani was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist between Metastasio and Boito.-Biography:Born Giuseppe Felice Romani to a bourgeois family in Genoa,...
)
Art songs
- La farfalla – voice and piano, text by Carlo Pepoli, dedicated to Marie Lutyens
- La potenza d'amore – tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
voice, piano, and French horn, text by Carlo Pepoli - La fuga di Bianca Capello – bassBass (voice type)A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
voice and piano, text by Carlo Pepoli - Se la vita vuoi godere – tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
voice and piano
Sources
- Ambìveri, Corrado, Operisti minori dell'800 italiano, Gremese Editore, 1998. ISBN 8877422637
- Ashbrook, William, Donizetti and His Operas, Cambridge University Press, 1983. ISBN 0521276632
- Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, Taddolini, Giovanni, Catalogo nazionale dei manoscritti musicali redatti fino al 1900. Accessed 23 October 2009 (in Italian).
- Casaglia, Gherardo, "Tadolini", Almanacco Amadeus, 2005. Accessed 23 October 2009 (in Italian).
- Fétis, François-JosephFrançois-Joseph FétisFrançois-Joseph Fétis was a Belgian musicologist, composer, critic and teacher. He was one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century, and his enormous compilation of biographical data in the Biographie universelle des musiciens remains an important source of information today...
, "Tadolini, Giovanni", Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie génèrale de la musique, Volume 8, Firmin-Didot, 1865 - Forbes, Elizabeth (1992), 'Tadolini, Giovanni' in The New Grove Dictionary of OperaNew Grove Dictionary of OperaThe New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7 - Hubbard, W. L., "Tadolini, Giuseppe", The American History And Encyclopedia of Music: Musical Biographies, Part II, originally published in 1910, published in facsimile by Kessinger Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1417907134
- Osborne, Richard, Rossini: his life and works, Oxford University Press US, 2007. ISBN 0195181298
- Sanvitale, Francesco, La romanza italiana da salotto, EDT srl, 2002. ISBN 8870636151
External links
- New York Times, Obituary: Giuseppe Tadolini, 6 January 1873, p. 5
- Score of La farfalla at the IMSLP