Luigi Bassi
Encyclopedia
Luigi Bassi, Pesaro
, 5 September 1766 – Dresden
, 13 September 1825, was an Italian opera
tic baritone
.
When writing his Life of Rossini, Stendhal
tells of the time in 1813 when he met Bassi in Dresden and spoke of "Mr Mozart;" Bassi said he was entranced that someone should still refer to him as "Mr" Mozart. The affection he felt for the great master was thus clear to the casual visitor, but can also be understood from the importance of the roles he gave Bassi towards the end of his life.
At the age of just twenty-two, he sang the role of Count Almaviva at the Prague premiere of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, after which contemporaries said,
The people of Prague
were so happy with this performance of the opera composed by the man they called "Mozard" that they asked Domenico Guardasoni
, impresario of the Prague National Theatre, to organise another opera. Guardasoni wrote to Da Ponte and work began on Don Giovanni
. It was only natural that Bassi was called upon to sing again, and the role of Don Giovanni was written specially for him (with several joking references to the performance given the previous year). He did not like Finch'han dal vino, and asked Mozart to write another number where he could show off his vocal talents to the best; Mozart wrote Là ci darem la mano for Bassi, who is said to have forced five re-writes until he was satisfied.
Bassi moved to Leipzig, and there he sang Papageno in the Magic Flute in 1793, but shortly afterwards his singing ability had deteriorated (although his acting ability was as great as ever). A newspaper article said of him:
Bassi moved to Prague
, but the war forced him to seek protection from Prince Lobkowitz and he occasionally travelled to Vienna to sing. In 1814 he moved to Dresden
, where he worked for the Italian company. He still sang Mozart roles, although his voice was beginning to fail and he was popular with audiences. Until his death he would occasionally travel to Italy for singing engagements, but in later life only sang sacred works.
Pesaro
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
, 5 September 1766 – Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, 13 September 1825, was an Italian opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
.
When writing his Life of Rossini, Stendhal
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle , better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme...
tells of the time in 1813 when he met Bassi in Dresden and spoke of "Mr Mozart;" Bassi said he was entranced that someone should still refer to him as "Mr" Mozart. The affection he felt for the great master was thus clear to the casual visitor, but can also be understood from the importance of the roles he gave Bassi towards the end of his life.
At the age of just twenty-two, he sang the role of Count Almaviva at the Prague premiere of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, after which contemporaries said,
The people of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
were so happy with this performance of the opera composed by the man they called "Mozard" that they asked Domenico Guardasoni
Domenico Guardasoni
Domenico Guardasoni was an Italian tenor singer, opera producer and impresario.Guardasoni was born at Modena. Singing in Giuseppe Bustelli's touring opera company, he later became its director...
, impresario of the Prague National Theatre, to organise another opera. Guardasoni wrote to Da Ponte and work began on Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
. It was only natural that Bassi was called upon to sing again, and the role of Don Giovanni was written specially for him (with several joking references to the performance given the previous year). He did not like Finch'han dal vino, and asked Mozart to write another number where he could show off his vocal talents to the best; Mozart wrote Là ci darem la mano for Bassi, who is said to have forced five re-writes until he was satisfied.
Bassi moved to Leipzig, and there he sang Papageno in the Magic Flute in 1793, but shortly afterwards his singing ability had deteriorated (although his acting ability was as great as ever). A newspaper article said of him:
Bassi moved to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, but the war forced him to seek protection from Prince Lobkowitz and he occasionally travelled to Vienna to sing. In 1814 he moved to Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, where he worked for the Italian company. He still sang Mozart roles, although his voice was beginning to fail and he was popular with audiences. Until his death he would occasionally travel to Italy for singing engagements, but in later life only sang sacred works.
Further reading
- Till Gerrit Waidelich: Don Juan von Mozart, (für mich componirt.) Luigi Bassi eine Legende zu Lebzeiten, sein Nekrolog und zeitgenössische Don-Giovanni-Interpretationen. In: Manfred Hermann Schmid (Hrsg.): Mozart-Studien. Band 10, Tutzing 2001, S. 181–211