Nicola Vaccai
Encyclopedia
Nicola Vaccai was an Italian
composer
, particularly of opera
s, and a singing teacher.
, he grew up in Pesaro
, and studied music there until his parents sent him to Rome
to study law. Having no intention of becoming a lawyer, he took voice lessons and eventually studied counterpoint with Giuseppe Jannaconi
, an important Roman composer. When Vaccai turned twenty one, he went to Naples
and became a disciple of Paisiello
, whose Barber of Seville was considered a comic masterpiece until Rossini's Barber swept it from the stage a few years later.
Vaccai launched his career in Venice
, initially earning his living by writing ballets and teaching voice. He had his first operatic success with I solitari di Scozia in Naples
in 1815. In Parma
he was commissioned to write Pietro il grande, where he was also one of the soloists in the first performance. This was followed by Zadig e Astartea (Naples, 1825) and then his best known opera Giulietta e Romeo
(Milan
, 1825).
Vaccai's sojourn in London
began with a production of his most successful opera, Romeo and Juliet, at Kings Theatre in April, 1832. His charm and continental reputation ingratiated him to society and soon he was much sought after as a teacher.
Ending his wanderings with a return to Italy, Vaccai became a director and professor of composition at the Milan
Conservatory in 1838. After six years he retired on account of poor health to his boyhood home, Pesaro, where he wrote his sixteenth opera. He died there in 1848.
, Vaccai is now chiefly remembered as a voice teacher. One of his notable students was soprano Marianna Barbieri-Nini
. Nicola Vaccai wrote many books one of which is called Metodo pratico de canto (Practical Vocal Method). This book has been transposed for different types of voice (i.e. high or low), to teach singing in the Italian legato style. The Metodo pratico was written in 1832 and is still in print, from Edition Peters
and Ricordi
, and used as a teaching tool. Vaccai notes in his introduction that only the voice of a master demonstrating accurately his exercises can really teach the student the correct techniques of true legato. The book is also an important source of information about the performance of early 19th-century opera.
Elio Battaglia
, voice teacher, edited a new teacher’s edition of the "Metodo practico" or “Practical Method of Italian Singing” by Nicholas Vaccai (Ricordi 1990, with CD of examples).
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...
, particularly of 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...
s, and a singing teacher.
Life and career as a composer
Born at TolentinoTolentino
Tolentino is a town and comune of about 20,000 inhabitants, in the province of Macerata in the Marche region of central Italy.It is located in the middle of the valley of the Chienti.-History:...
, he grew up in Pesaro
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....
, and studied music there until his parents sent him to 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...
to study law. Having no intention of becoming a lawyer, he took voice lessons and eventually studied counterpoint with Giuseppe Jannaconi
Giuseppe Jannaconi
Giuseppe Jannaconi was an Italian composer, one of the last in the style of Palestrina.Jannaconi was born in Rome, and studied under S. Rinaldini and Giuseppe Carpani. He is known for scoring many of Palestrina's works, aided by his friend Pasquale Pisari, as well as composing many of pieces of...
, an important Roman composer. When Vaccai turned twenty one, he went to 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...
and became a disciple of Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era.-Life:Paisiello was born at Taranto and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and...
, whose Barber of Seville was considered a comic masterpiece until Rossini's Barber swept it from the stage a few years later.
Vaccai launched his career in 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...
, initially earning his living by writing ballets and teaching voice. He had his first operatic success with I solitari di Scozia 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...
in 1815. In 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....
he was commissioned to write Pietro il grande, where he was also one of the soloists in the first performance. This was followed by Zadig e Astartea (Naples, 1825) and then his best known opera Giulietta e Romeo
Giulietta e Romeo (Vaccai)
Giulietta e Romeo is an opera in two acts by the Italian composer Nicola Vaccai. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based on the tragedy by of the same name by Luigi Scevola and, ultimately, on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was first performed at the Teatro alla Canobbiana, Milan on 31...
(Milan
Milan
Milan 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 ,...
, 1825).
Vaccai's sojourn in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
began with a production of his most successful opera, Romeo and Juliet, at Kings Theatre in April, 1832. His charm and continental reputation ingratiated him to society and soon he was much sought after as a teacher.
Ending his wanderings with a return to Italy, Vaccai became a director and professor of composition at the Milan
Milan
Milan 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 ,...
Conservatory in 1838. After six years he retired on account of poor health to his boyhood home, Pesaro, where he wrote his sixteenth opera. He died there in 1848.
Work as a singing teacher and Metodo pratico de canto
Later eclipsed by his rival BelliniVincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
, Vaccai is now chiefly remembered as a voice teacher. One of his notable students was soprano Marianna Barbieri-Nini
Marianna Barbieri-Nini
Marianna Barbieri-Nini was an Italian operatic soprano who had an active career in Italy's major opera houses from 1840 through 1856. She also made appearances at the Liceu in Barcelona, the Teatro Real in Madrid, Her Majesty's Theatre in London, and at theatres in Paris...
. Nicola Vaccai wrote many books one of which is called Metodo pratico de canto (Practical Vocal Method). This book has been transposed for different types of voice (i.e. high or low), to teach singing in the Italian legato style. The Metodo pratico was written in 1832 and is still in print, from Edition Peters
Edition Peters
Edition Peters, also known as C.F.Peters Musikverlag, is a German music publishing house, founded in Leipzig in 1800.From the 1860s it was largely run by members the Hinrichsen family, who were Jewish. The company was confiscated by the Nazis and administered by the "Trustee of Jewish Property"....
and Ricordi
Casa Ricordi
Casa Ricordi is a classical music publishing company founded in 1808 as G. Ricordi & Co. by violinist Giovanni Ricordi in Milan, Italy...
, and used as a teaching tool. Vaccai notes in his introduction that only the voice of a master demonstrating accurately his exercises can really teach the student the correct techniques of true legato. The book is also an important source of information about the performance of early 19th-century opera.
Elio Battaglia
Elio Battaglia
Elio Battaglia, is an Italian baritone, singing teacher, and author and lecturer in music. He was the founder and director of the course entitled, Il Lied Tedesco , which ran in Acquasparta, Italy, from 1973 to 2005, and then in Turin from 2007 to 2008.-Early Life and Education:Born in Palermo,...
, voice teacher, edited a new teacher’s edition of the "Metodo practico" or “Practical Method of Italian Singing” by Nicholas Vaccai (Ricordi 1990, with CD of examples).
Operas
| Title | |Place, theatre | |Première date |
|---|---|---|
| I solitari di Scozia | Naples, Teatro Nuovo | 18 February 1815 |
| Malvina | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto Teatro San Benedetto The Teatro San Benedetto was a theatre in Venice, particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It saw the premieres of over 140 operas, including Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, and was the theatre of choice for the presentation of opera seria until... |
8 June 1816 |
| Il lupo di Ostenda, ossia L'innocenza salvata dalla colpa |
Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 17 June 1818 |
| Pietro il grande, ossia Un geloso alla tortura |
Parma, Teatro Ducale | 17 January 1824 |
| La pastorella feudataria | Turin, Teatro Carignano | 18 September 1824 |
| Zadig ed Astartea | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 21 February 1825 |
| Giulietta e Romeo Giulietta e Romeo (Vaccai) Giulietta e Romeo is an opera in two acts by the Italian composer Nicola Vaccai. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based on the tragedy by of the same name by Luigi Scevola and, ultimately, on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was first performed at the Teatro alla Canobbiana, Milan on 31... |
Milan, Teatro della Canobbiana | 31 October 1825 |
| Bianca di Messina | Turin, Teatro Regio | 20 January 1826 |
| Il precipizio, o Le fucine di Norvegia | Milan, Teatro alla Scala | 16 August 1826 |
| Giovanna d'Arco | Venice, Teatro La Fenice | 17 February 1827 |
| Saladino e Clotilde | Milan, Teatro alla Scala | 4 February 1828 |
| Azmir e Netzareo | Madrid, Principe | 28 June 1828 |
| Alexi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 6 July 1828 |
| Saul | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 11 March 1829, but composed between 1825 and 1826 |
| Giovanna Gray | Milan, Teatro alla Scala | 23 February 1836 |
| Marco Visconti | Turin, Teatro Regio | 27 January 1838 |
| La sposa di Messina | Venice, Teatro La Fenice | 2 March 1839 |
| Virginia | Rome, Teatro Apollo | 14 January 1845 |
Sources
- Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
- G Schirmer Inc., Nicola Vaccai, 'Practical Method of Italian Singing', Edited with introduction, translation and notes by John G Paton, Library Vol. 1911
- Legger, Gianni, Drammaturgia musicale italiana, Fondazzione Teatro Reggio di Torino, n.d.