Niccolò Jommelli
Encyclopedia
Niccolò Jommelli was an Italian composer
. He was born in Aversa
and died in Naples
. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire
and France
, he made important changes to opera
and reduced the importance of star singers.
As he had shown talent for music
Jommelli was enrolled after in 1725 at the Conservatorio di Santo Onofrio a Capuana
in Naples, where he studied under Ignazio Prota
and Francesco Feo
. Three years later he was transferred to the Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini, where he was trained under Niccolò Fago, having Don Giacomo Sarcuni and Andrea Basso, as second maestri, that is, singing teachers (maestri di canto).
Jommelli studied music under Canon
Muzzillo, the director of the Aversa cathedral
choir. In 1725 he was sent to the Conservatorio Sant'Onofrio at Naples, and studied alongside Francesco Feo
and Tommaso Prota. In 1728 he moved to the Conservatorio dei Turchini, and was taught by Nicola Fago (among others). He was greatly influenced by Johann Adolph Hasse
, who was in Naples during this period. After completing his studies he began work, and wrote two opere buffe
, L’errore amorosa in early 1737 and Odoardo in late 1738. His first opera seria
, Ricimero re di Goti, was such a success in Rome
in 1740 that work was immediately commissioned from him by Henry Benedict Stuart
, the Cardinal-Duke of York.
When still studying at the conservatory, Jommelli was impressed with Hasse’s use of obbligato recitative to increase the tension at certain dramatic moments in his operas. Speaking of obbligato recitative for Ricimero, Charles de Brosses
says that Jommelli’s use of obbligato recitative was better than anything he had heard in France.
, Venice
, Turin
, Padua
, Ferrara
, Lucca
, Parma
, along with Naples and Rome.
. Saverio Mattei said that Jommelli studied with Martini, and acknowledged to have learned with him ‘the art of escaping any anguish or aridity’. Nevertheless, Jommelli’s constant travelling in order to produce his many operas seems to have prevented him from ever having any lessons on a regular basis. Moreover, Jommelli’s relationship with Martini was not without mutual criticism. The main result of his stay in Bologna and his acquaintance with Martini was to present to the Accademia Filarmonica
of that city for the procedures of admission, his first known church music, a five-voice fugue a cappella, on the final words of the small doxology, the ‘Sicut Erat’. The musicologist Gustav Fellerer, who examined several such works testifies that Jommelli’s piece, though being just ‘a rigid school work’, could well rank among the best admission pieces now stored in the Bolognese Accademia Filarmonica. During the early 1740s Jommelli wrote an increasing amount of religious music, mainly oratorios, and his first liturgical piece still extant, a very simple "Lætatus sum" in F major dated 1743, is held in the Santini collection in Münster
.
In 1741 Jommelli went to Bologna to compose the music for Metastasio
's Ezio, studying for a time under the famous Franciscan
Friar
and musician, Father Giovanni Battista Martini
and becoming a lifelong friend of his. He was admitted to the Accademia Filarmonica. Shortly afterwards he moved to Venice, and composed his opera Merope, which was the forerunner for the French style of opera later in the century. In the years immediately after this, he wrote operas for Venice, Turin, Bologna, Ferrara, and Padua, and two popular oratorios, Isacco figura del Redentore and Betulia liberata.
and the Divine Office
), but the financial security it gave him also allowed him to compose several other dramatic works.
The appointment of Jommelli, recommended by Hasse, as maestro di cappella to the Ospedale degl’ Incurabili in Venice is not definitively documented. However, in 1745 he did start writing religious works for women’s choir to be performed in the church of the Incurabili, San Salvatore, a duty that was—together with the tuition of the more advanced students of the institution—part of the chapel master’s obligations. There are no autographs of Jommelli’s music composed for the Incurabili, but there are many copies of different versions of several of his works that may, with some certainty, be attributed to his period as maestro there. Among the music Helmut Hochstein lists as being composed for Venice, are to be found four oratorios: "Isacco figura del Redentore", "La Betulia liberata", "Joas", "Juda proditor"; some numbers in a collection of solo motets called Modulamina Sacra; one Missa breve in F major with its Credo in D major, probably a second mass in G major,47 one Te Deum, and five psalms.
Though some his earliest biographers, Mattei and Villarosa, give 1748 as the year when Jommelli gave up his employment in Venice, his last compositions for the Incurabili are from 1746. He must have left Venice at the very end of 1746 or at the beginning of the following year, because on 28 January 1747 Jommelli was staging at the Argentina theatre in Rome his first version of the "Didone abbandonata", and in May at San Carlo theatre in Naples a second version of "Eumene".
that continued to be played yearly in Rome, and who presented him to Cardinal Alessandro Albani, an intimate of Pope Benedict XIV
.
before taking a post as Kapellmeister
to Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg in Stuttgart
in 1753. This period saw some of his greatest successes and the composition of what are regarded as some of his best works. Many were staged at the Duke's private theatres in the Palace of Ludwigsburg
, outside Stuttgart. Mozart
and his father passed through Ludwigsburg in 1763 on their "grand tour
" and met the composer. Jommelli returned to Naples in 1768, by which time opera buffa
was more popular than Jommelli's opera seria
, and his last works were not so well received. He suffered a stroke
in 1771 which partially paralysed him, but continued to work until his death three years later. He died in Naples.
s, oratorio
s and other sacred works, but by far the most important part of his output were his operas, particularly his opere serie
of which he composed around sixty examples, several with libretti
by Metastasio. In his work, he tended to concentrate more on the story and drama of the opera than on flashy technical displays by the singers, as was the norm in Italian opera at that time. He wrote more ensemble numbers and choruses, and, influenced by French opera composers such as Jean-Philippe Rameau
, he introduced ballet
s into his work. He used the orchestra (particularly the wind instrument
s) in a much more prominent way to illustrate the goings-on of the story, and wrote passages for the orchestra alone rather than having it purely as support for the singers. From Johann Adolph Hasse, he learnt to write recitative
s accompanied by the orchestra, rather than just by a harpsichord
. His reforms are sometimes regarded as equal in importance to Christoph Willibald Gluck
's.
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...
. He was born in Aversa
Aversa
Aversa is a town and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania southern Italy, about 15 kilometres north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the agro aversano, producing wine and cheese...
and died in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, he made important changes to 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...
and reduced the importance of star singers.
Early life
Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and Margarita Cristiano in Aversa, a town some 20 kilometres north of Naples. He had one brother Ignazio, who became a Dominican monk and helped the composer in his old age, and three sisters. His father was a prosperous linen merchant, who entrusted Jommelli to the choir director of the cathedral, Canon Muzzillo.As he had shown talent for music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
Jommelli was enrolled after in 1725 at the Conservatorio di Santo Onofrio a Capuana
Music Conservatories of Naples
The Music Conservatory of Naples is a music institution in Naples, southern Italy. It is currently located in the complex of San Pietro a Majella.-San Pietro a Majella:...
in Naples, where he studied under Ignazio Prota
Ignazio Prota
Ignazio Prota was an Italian composer and music educator. He was the father of composer Tommaso Prota and the grandfather of composer Gabriele Prota....
and Francesco Feo
Francesco Feo
Francesco Feo was an Italian composer, known chiefly for his operas. He was born and died in Naples, where most of his operas were premièred.-Life:...
. Three years later he was transferred to the Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini, where he was trained under Niccolò Fago, having Don Giacomo Sarcuni and Andrea Basso, as second maestri, that is, singing teachers (maestri di canto).
Jommelli studied music under Canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
Muzzillo, the director of the Aversa cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
choir. In 1725 he was sent to the Conservatorio Sant'Onofrio at Naples, and studied alongside Francesco Feo
Francesco Feo
Francesco Feo was an Italian composer, known chiefly for his operas. He was born and died in Naples, where most of his operas were premièred.-Life:...
and Tommaso Prota. In 1728 he moved to the Conservatorio dei Turchini, and was taught by Nicola Fago (among others). He was greatly influenced by Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music...
, who was in Naples during this period. After completing his studies he began work, and wrote two opere buffe
Opera buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
, L’errore amorosa in early 1737 and Odoardo in late 1738. His first opera seria
Opera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
, Ricimero re di Goti, was such a success in Rome
Rome
Rome 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...
in 1740 that work was immediately commissioned from him by Henry Benedict Stuart
Henry Benedict Stuart
Henry Benedict Stuart was a Roman Catholic Cardinal, as well as the fourth and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Unlike his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, and brother, Charles Edward Stuart, Henry made no effort to seize the throne...
, the Cardinal-Duke of York.
When still studying at the conservatory, Jommelli was impressed with Hasse’s use of obbligato recitative to increase the tension at certain dramatic moments in his operas. Speaking of obbligato recitative for Ricimero, Charles de Brosses
Charles de Brosses
Charles de Brosses, comte de Tournay, baron de Montfalcon, seigneur de Vezins et de Prevessin was a French writer of the 18th century.-Life:...
says that Jommelli’s use of obbligato recitative was better than anything he had heard in France.
First operas
His first opera, the comedy L’errore amoroso, was presented, with great success, under the protection of the Marquis del Vasto, Giovanni Battista d’Avalos, the winter of 1737 in the Teatro Nuovo of Naples. It was followed in the next year by a second comic opera, Odoardo, in the Teatro dei Fiorentini. His first serious opera Ricimero rè de’ Goti, presented in the Roman Teatro Argentina in January 1740, brought him to the attention and then the protection of the Duke of York, Henry Benedict. The duke would later be raised to the rank of cardinal and procure Jommelli an appointment at the Vatican. During the 1740s Jommelli wrote operas for many Italian cities: 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,...
, Venice
Venice
Venice 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...
, Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
, Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
, Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, along with Naples and Rome.
Studies with Padre Martini
When in Bologna in 1741, for the production of his "Ezio", Jommelli (in a situation blurred with anecdotes) met Padre MartiniGiovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista Martini , also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian musician.-Biography:Martini was born at Bologna....
. Saverio Mattei said that Jommelli studied with Martini, and acknowledged to have learned with him ‘the art of escaping any anguish or aridity’. Nevertheless, Jommelli’s constant travelling in order to produce his many operas seems to have prevented him from ever having any lessons on a regular basis. Moreover, Jommelli’s relationship with Martini was not without mutual criticism. The main result of his stay in Bologna and his acquaintance with Martini was to present to the Accademia Filarmonica
Philharmonic Academy of Bologna
The Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna is a music education institution in Bologna, Italy.It was established in 1666. Saint Anthony of Padua was chosen as its patron saint and the image of an organ bearing the motto Unitate melos was chosen as its coat of arms...
of that city for the procedures of admission, his first known church music, a five-voice fugue a cappella, on the final words of the small doxology, the ‘Sicut Erat’. The musicologist Gustav Fellerer, who examined several such works testifies that Jommelli’s piece, though being just ‘a rigid school work’, could well rank among the best admission pieces now stored in the Bolognese Accademia Filarmonica. During the early 1740s Jommelli wrote an increasing amount of religious music, mainly oratorios, and his first liturgical piece still extant, a very simple "Lætatus sum" in F major dated 1743, is held in the Santini collection in Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
.
In 1741 Jommelli went to Bologna to compose the music for Metastasio
Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
's Ezio, studying for a time under the famous Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
and musician, Father Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista Martini , also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian musician.-Biography:Martini was born at Bologna....
and becoming a lifelong friend of his. He was admitted to the Accademia Filarmonica. Shortly afterwards he moved to Venice, and composed his opera Merope, which was the forerunner for the French style of opera later in the century. In the years immediately after this, he wrote operas for Venice, Turin, Bologna, Ferrara, and Padua, and two popular oratorios, Isacco figura del Redentore and Betulia liberata.
Venice
Some time around 1745, Hasse recommended Jommelli for a position as the Director of Music at the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice, one of that city's colleges for female musicians. This full-time employment required him to compose sacred music (mostly settings of the MassMass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
and the Divine Office
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
), but the financial security it gave him also allowed him to compose several other dramatic works.
The appointment of Jommelli, recommended by Hasse, as maestro di cappella to the Ospedale degl’ Incurabili in Venice is not definitively documented. However, in 1745 he did start writing religious works for women’s choir to be performed in the church of the Incurabili, San Salvatore, a duty that was—together with the tuition of the more advanced students of the institution—part of the chapel master’s obligations. There are no autographs of Jommelli’s music composed for the Incurabili, but there are many copies of different versions of several of his works that may, with some certainty, be attributed to his period as maestro there. Among the music Helmut Hochstein lists as being composed for Venice, are to be found four oratorios: "Isacco figura del Redentore", "La Betulia liberata", "Joas", "Juda proditor"; some numbers in a collection of solo motets called Modulamina Sacra; one Missa breve in F major with its Credo in D major, probably a second mass in G major,47 one Te Deum, and five psalms.
Though some his earliest biographers, Mattei and Villarosa, give 1748 as the year when Jommelli gave up his employment in Venice, his last compositions for the Incurabili are from 1746. He must have left Venice at the very end of 1746 or at the beginning of the following year, because on 28 January 1747 Jommelli was staging at the Argentina theatre in Rome his first version of the "Didone abbandonata", and in May at San Carlo theatre in Naples a second version of "Eumene".
Rome
It was the need of an active chapel master for the basilica of Saint Peter’s in reaching for the Jubilee festival year that brought both Jommelli and Davide Perez to Rome in 1749. The Jubilee is a year-long commemoration which the Roman Catholic Church holds every fifty years. Therefore this was an important occasion for Roman aristocratic society to show off. Jommelli was summoned by the Cardinal Duke of York, Henry Benedict, for whom he wrote a setting of Metastasio's oratorio La passione di Gesù CristoLa passione di Gesù Cristo
La Passione di Gesù Cristo is the title of a libretto by Metastasio which was repeatedly set as an azione sacra or oratorio by many composers of the late baroque, "rococo", and early classical period.-Writing and original setting:...
that continued to be played yearly in Rome, and who presented him to Cardinal Alessandro Albani, an intimate of Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV , born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was Pope from 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758.-Life:...
.
Stuttgart and last years
He subsequently visited ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
before taking a post as Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
to Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
in 1753. This period saw some of his greatest successes and the composition of what are regarded as some of his best works. Many were staged at the Duke's private theatres in the Palace of Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg urban district with about 87,000 inhabitants...
, outside Stuttgart. Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and his father passed through Ludwigsburg in 1763 on their "grand tour
Mozart family grand tour
The Mozart family grand tour was a journey through western Europe, undertaken by Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted children Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus from 1763 to 1766. At the start of the tour the children were aged eleven and seven respectively...
" and met the composer. Jommelli returned to Naples in 1768, by which time opera buffa
Opera buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
was more popular than Jommelli's opera seria
Opera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
, and his last works were not so well received. He suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1771 which partially paralysed him, but continued to work until his death three years later. He died in Naples.
Works
Jommelli wrote cantataCantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s, oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
s and other sacred works, but by far the most important part of his output were his operas, particularly his opere serie
Opera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
of which he composed around sixty examples, several with libretti
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Metastasio. In his work, he tended to concentrate more on the story and drama of the opera than on flashy technical displays by the singers, as was the norm in Italian opera at that time. He wrote more ensemble numbers and choruses, and, influenced by French opera composers such as Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
, he introduced ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
s into his work. He used the orchestra (particularly the wind instrument
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
s) in a much more prominent way to illustrate the goings-on of the story, and wrote passages for the orchestra alone rather than having it purely as support for the singers. From Johann Adolph Hasse, he learnt to write recitative
Recitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...
s accompanied by the orchestra, rather than just by a harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
. His reforms are sometimes regarded as equal in importance to Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
's.
Operas
- L'errore amoroso (NaplesNaplesNaples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, 1737) – libretto by Antonio PalombaAntonio PalombaAntonio Palomba was an Italian opera librettist, poet, harpsichordist, and music educator. He also worked as a notary. Born in Naples, he became a teacher of the harpsichord at the Teatro della Pace in 1749. Most of his more than 50 opera libretti were comedic works written for composers of the... - Odoardo (Naples, 1738)
- Ricimero re de' Goti (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...
, 1740) - Astianatte (Rome, 1741) – libretto by Antonio SalviAntonio SalviAntonio Salvi was an Italian physician, court poet and librettist. He was in the service of the ducal court in Florence and the favourite librettist of Prince Ferdinando de' Medici. Salvi was one of the developers of the opera seria.- Life :Salvi was a court physician in Florence for the De'...
- Ezio (BolognaBolognaBologna 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,...
, 1741) – libretto by MetastasioMetastasioPietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:... - Semiramide riconosciuta (TurinTurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, 1741) – libretto by Metastasio - Merope (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...
, 1741) – libretto by Apostolo ZenoApostolo ZenoApostolo Zeno was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters.-Early life:Apostolo Zeno was born of Cretan Greek descent in Venice in 1669... - Don Chichibio (Rome, 1742)
- Eumene (Bologna, 1742) – libretto by Apostolo ZenoApostolo ZenoApostolo Zeno was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters.-Early life:Apostolo Zeno was born of Cretan Greek descent in Venice in 1669...
- Semiramide (Venice, 1742) – libretto by Francesco Silvani
- Tito Manlio (Turin, 1743) – libretto by Gaetano Roccaforte
- Demofoonte (PaduaPaduaPadua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, 1743) – libretto by Metastasio - Alessandro nell'Indie (FerraraFerraraFerrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
, 1744) – libretto by Metastasio - Ciro riconosciuto (Bologna, 1744) – libretto by Metastasio
- Sofonisba (Venice, 1746) – libretto by Antonio Zanetti e Girolamo Zanetti
- Cajo MarioCajo MarioCajo Mario is an opera seria in 3 acts by composer Niccolò Jommelli. The opera's Italian language libretto by Gaetano Roccaforte is based on Lucio Anneo Floro's Tito Livio e Plutarco. All of the parts are written for castrati. The work premiered on 6 February 1746 at the Teatro Argentina in...
(Rome, 1746) – libretto by Gaetano Roccaforte - Antigono (LuccaLuccaLucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
, 1746) – libretto by Metastasio - Tito Manlio (Venice, 1746) – libretto by Jacopo Antonio Sanvitale
- Didone abbandonata (Rome, 1847) – libretto by Metastasio
- L'amore in maschera (Naples, 1748) – libretto by Antonio Palomba
- Achille in Sciro (ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, 1749) – libretto by Metastasio - Artaserse (Rome, 1749) – libretto by Metastasio
- Ciro riconosciuto (Venice, 1749) – libretto by Metastasio
- Demetrio (ParmaParmaParma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, 1749) – libretto by Metastasio - La cantata e disfida di Don Trastullo (Rome, 1749)
- Cesare in Egitto (Rome, 1751) – libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani
- Ifigenia in Aulide (Rome, 1751) – libretto by Mattia Verazi
- La villana nobile (PalermoPalermoPalermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, 1751) – libretto by Antonio Palomba - L'uccellatrice (Venice, 1751) – libretto by Carlo GoldoniCarlo GoldoniCarlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty...
- Ipermestra (SpoletoSpoletoSpoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.-History:...
, 1751) – libretto by Metastasio - Talestri (Rome, 1751) – libretto by Gaetano Roccaforte
- I rivali delusi (Rome, 1752)
- Attilio Regolo (Rome, 1753)
- Bajazette (Turin, 1753) – libretto by Agostino Piovene
- Fetonte (StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, 1753) – libretto by Leopoldo de Villati - La clemenza di Tito (Stuttgart, 1753) – libretto by Metastasio
- Il paratajo (ParisParisParis 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...
, 1753) – revision of L'uccellatrice - Don Falcone (Bologna, 1754)
- Catone in Utica (Stuttgart, 1754) – libretto by Metastasio
- Lucio Vero (MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, 1754) - Il giardino incantato (Stuttgart, 1755)
- Enea nel Lazio (Stuttgart, 1755) – libretto by Mattia Verazi
- Penelope (Stuttgart, 1755) – libretto by Mattia Verazi
- Il Creso (Rome, 1757) – libretto by Giovacchino Pizzi
- Temistocle (Naples, 1757) – libretto by Metastasio
- Tito Manlio (Stuttgart, 1758)
- Ezio (Stuttgart, 1758)
- L'asilo d'amore (Stuttgart, 1758)
- Endimione (Stuttgart, 1759)
- Nitteti (Stuttgart, 1759) – libretto by Metastasio
- Alessandro nell'Indie (Stuttgart, 1760)
- Cajo Fabrizio (MannheimMannheimMannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, 1760) – libretto by Mattia Verazi - L'Olimpiade (Stuttgart, 1761) – libretto by Metastasio
- L'isola disabitata (LudwigsburgLudwigsburgLudwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg urban district with about 87,000 inhabitants...
, 1761) – libretto by Metastasio - Semiramide riconosciuta (Stuttgart, 1762)
- Didone abbandonata (Stuttgart, 1763)
- Il trionfo d'amore (Ludwigsburg, 1763) – libretto by Giampiero Tagliazucchi
- Demofoonte (Stuttgart, 1764)
- Il re pastore (Ludwigsburg, 1764) – libretto by Giampiero Tagliazucchi
- La pastorella illustre (Stuttgart, 1764) – libretto by Giampiero Tagliazucchi
- Temistocle (Ludwigsburg, 1765)
- Imeneo in Atene (Ludwigsburg, 1765)
- Il matrimonio per concorso (Ludwigsburg, 1766) – libretto by Gaetano Martinelli
- La critica (Ludwigsburg, 1766)
- Vologeso (Ludwigsburg, 1766) – libretto by Mattia Verazi
- Il matrimonio per concorso (Ludwigsburg, 1766)
- Il cacciatore deluso (TübingenTübingenTübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
, 1767) – libretto by Gaetano Martinelli - Fetonte (Ludwigsburg, 1768)
- L'unione coronata (Solitude, 1768)
- La schiava liberata (Ludwigsburg, 1768) – libretto by Gaetano Martinelli
- Armida abbandonataArmida abbandonataArmida Abbandonata is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Niccolò Jommelli. The libretto, by Francesco Saverio De Rogatis, is based on the epic poem Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso. The opera was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples on 30 May 1770. The young Wolfgang...
(Naples, 1770) – libretto by Francesco Saverio de' Rogati - Demofoonte (Naples, 1770)
- Ifigenia in TaurideIfigenia in Tauride (Jommelli)Ifigenia in Tauride is an opera in three acts by Niccolò Jommelli set to a libretto by the Mannheim court poet Mattia Verazi. It premiered on 30 May 1771 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples to celebrate the name day of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies...
(Naples, 1771) – libretto by Mattia Verazi - L'amante cacciatore (Rome, 1771)
- Achille in Sciro (Rome, 1771)
- Le avventure di Cleomede (1771) – libretto by Gaetano Martinelli
- Cerere placata (Naples, 1772)
- Il trionfo di Clelia (Naples, 1774) – libretto by Metastasio
- Arcadia conservata
- La Griselda
- La pellegrina
Recording
- 1 concerto in Neapolitan Flute Concertos, Auser MusiciAuser MusiciAuser Musici is a period instrument ensemble centered in Pisa that specializes in early music repertory from the Tuscan region of Italy.-History, Mission, and Activities:...
, Carlo Ipata, director, Hyperion CDA67784 (2010)