Saverio Mercadante
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 179517 December 1870) was an Italian
composer, particularly of opera
s. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti
or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of operatic structures, melodic styles and orchestration contributed significantly to the foundations upon which Giuseppe Verdi
built his dramatic technique.
, near Bari
(Apulia); his precise date of birth has not been recorded, but he was baptised on 17 September 1795. Mercadante studied flute, violin and composition at the conservatory in Naples
, and organized concerts among his compatriots The opera composer Gioachino Rossini said to the conservatory Director, Niccolo Zingarelli
, "My compliments Maestro - your young pupil Mercadante begins where we finish". In 1817 he was made conductor of the college orchestra, composing a number of symphonies, and concertos for various instruments - including six for flute about 1818-1819, and whose autograph scores are in the Naples conservatory, where they were presumably first performed with him as soloist.
The encouragement of Rossini led him to compose for the opera, where he won considerable success with his second such work (Violenza e Constanza), in 1820. His next three operas are more or less forgotten, but an abridged recording of Maria Stuarda, Regina di Scozia was issued by Opera Rara
in 2006. His next opera Elisa e Claudio was a huge success, and had occasional revivals in the 20th century.
He worked for a time in Vienna
, in Madrid
, in Cadiz
, and in Lisbon
, but re-established himself in Italy in 1831. He was invited by Rossini to Paris in 1836, where he composed I Briganti for four of the most-known singers of the time, Giulia Grisi
, Giovanni Battista Rubini
, Antonio Tamburini
and Luigi Lablache
, all of whom worked closely with Bellini
. While there, he had the opportunity to hear operas by Meyerbeer
and Halévy
, which imparted a strong influence on him, especially the latter's La Juive
. This influence took the form of greater stress on the dramatic side.
caused a final break. But Mercadante's style began to shift with the presentation of I Normanni a Parigi at the Teatro Regio in Turin
in 1832: "It was with this score that Mercadante entered on the process of development in his musical dramaturgy which, in some aspects, actually presaged the arrival of Verdi, when he launched, from 1837 on, into master works of his artistic maturity: the so-called "reform operas".
The beginnings of the so-called "reform movement", of which Mercadante was part, arose from the publication of a manifesto by Giuseppe Mazzini
which he wrote in 1836, the Filosofia della musica.
In the period after 1831 he composed some of his most important works. These included Il giuramento
which was premiered at La Scala
in November 1837. One striking and innovative characteristic of this opera has been noted:
Early in following year, while composing Elena da Feltre
(which premiered in January 1839), Mercadante wrote to Francesco Florimo laying out his ideas about how opera should be structured, following the "revolution" begun in his previous opera:
Elena da Feltre followed; one critic found much to praise in it:
These temporarily put him in the forefront of composers then active in Italy, although he was soon passed by Giovanni Pacini
with Saffò
and Giuseppe Verdi
with several operas, especially Ernani.
, were also quite successful. Many performances of his operas were given throughout the 19th century and it has been noted that some of them received far more than those of Verdi's early operas over the same period of time.
He generated more instrumental works through his life than most of his contemporaries due his lifelong preoccupation with the orchestral scores, and, from 1840, being the Director of the Naples conservatory for the last 30 years of his life. From 1863 he was almost totally blind.
In the decades after his death in Naples in 1870, his output was largely forgotten, but it has been occasionally revived and recorded since World War II, although it has yet to achieve anything like the present-day popularity of the most famous compositions by his slightly younger contemporaries Donizetti
and Bellini
.
The French soloist Jean-Pierre Rampal notably recorded several Mercadante concertos for flute and string orchestra, including the grand and romantic E minor concerto, which has since gained some popularity among concert flautists.
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, 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. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of operatic structures, melodic styles and orchestration contributed significantly to the foundations upon which Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
built his dramatic technique.
Early years
Mercadante was born in AltamuraAltamura
Altamura is a town and comune of Apulia, southern Italy. It is located on the Murge plateau in the province of Bari, 45 km South-West of Bari, close to the border with Basilicata. As of 2011 its population was of 69,728.-Overview:...
, near Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
(Apulia); his precise date of birth has not been recorded, but he was baptised on 17 September 1795. Mercadante studied flute, violin and composition at the conservatory 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...
, and organized concerts among his compatriots The opera composer Gioachino Rossini said to the conservatory Director, Niccolo Zingarelli
Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli
Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli was an Italian composer, chiefly of opera.-Early career:Zingarelli was born in Naples, where he studied at the Santa Maria di Loreto Conservatory under Fenaroli and Speranza....
, "My compliments Maestro - your young pupil Mercadante begins where we finish". In 1817 he was made conductor of the college orchestra, composing a number of symphonies, and concertos for various instruments - including six for flute about 1818-1819, and whose autograph scores are in the Naples conservatory, where they were presumably first performed with him as soloist.
The encouragement of Rossini led him to compose for the opera, where he won considerable success with his second such work (Violenza e Constanza), in 1820. His next three operas are more or less forgotten, but an abridged recording of Maria Stuarda, Regina di Scozia was issued by Opera Rara
Opera Rara
Opera Rara is a British record label, founded in the early 1970s by Americans Patric Schmid and Don White to promote concerts of rare and/or forgotten operas by Giacomo Meyerbeer and Donizetti and such other "bel canto" composers as Giovanni Pacini, Saverio Mercadante, and Federico Ricci.The...
in 2006. His next opera Elisa e Claudio was a huge success, and had occasional revivals in the 20th century.
He worked for a time in Vienna
Vienna
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...
, in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, in Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, and in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, but re-established himself in Italy in 1831. He was invited by Rossini to Paris in 1836, where he composed I Briganti for four of the most-known singers of the time, Giulia Grisi
Giulia Grisi
Giulia Grisi, also known as Madame De Candia was an Italian opera singer...
, Giovanni Battista Rubini
Giovanni Battista Rubini
Giovanni Battista Rubini was an Italian tenor, as famous in his time as Enrico Caruso in a later day. His ringing and expressive coloratura dexterity in the highest register of his voice, the tenorino, inspired the writing of operatic roles which today are almost impossible to cast...
, Antonio Tamburini
Antonio Tamburini
Antonio Tamburini was an Italian operatic baritone.Born in Faenza, then part of the Papal States, Tamburini studied the orchestral horn with his father and voice with Aldobrando Rossi, before making his debut as a singer, aged 18, in La contessa di colle erbose . He went on to become one of the...
and Luigi Lablache
Luigi Lablache
Luigi Lablache was an Italian opera singer of French and Irish heritage. He was most noted for his comic performances, possessing a powerful and agile bass voice, a wide range, and adroit acting skills: Leporello in Don Giovanni was one of his signature roles.-Biography:Luigi Lablache was born in...
, all of whom worked closely with Bellini
Vincenzo 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...
. While there, he had the opportunity to hear operas by Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
and Halévy
Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy , was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera La Juive.-Early career:...
, which imparted a strong influence on him, especially the latter's La Juive
La Juive
La Juive is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on February 23, 1835.-Composition history:...
. This influence took the form of greater stress on the dramatic side.
Return to Italy, 1831
When Mercadante returned to Italy after living in Spain and Portugal, Donizetti's music reigned supreme in Naples, an ascendancy which did not end until censorship problems with the latter's PoliutoPoliuto
Poliuto is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Pierre Corneille's play Polyeucte . It was composed in 1838 and first performed on 30 November 1848 at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples...
caused a final break. But Mercadante's style began to shift with the presentation of I Normanni a Parigi at the Teatro Regio in 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...
in 1832: "It was with this score that Mercadante entered on the process of development in his musical dramaturgy which, in some aspects, actually presaged the arrival of Verdi, when he launched, from 1837 on, into master works of his artistic maturity: the so-called "reform operas".
The beginnings of the so-called "reform movement", of which Mercadante was part, arose from the publication of a manifesto by Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...
which he wrote in 1836, the Filosofia della musica.
In the period after 1831 he composed some of his most important works. These included Il giuramento
Il giuramento
Il giuramento is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. The libretto, by Gaetano Rossi, is based on Victor Hugo's play Angélo, tyran de Padoue...
which was premiered at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in November 1837. One striking and innovative characteristic of this opera has been noted:
Early in following year, while composing Elena da Feltre
Elena da Feltre
Elena da Feltre is an opera in three acts by 19th century Italian composer Saverio Mercadante from a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, well-known as librettist of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Verdi's Il trovatore. The premiere took place at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 1 January 1839...
(which premiered in January 1839), Mercadante wrote to Francesco Florimo laying out his ideas about how opera should be structured, following the "revolution" begun in his previous opera:
- "I have continued the revolution I began in Il giuramento: varied forms, cabalettas banished, crescendos out, vocal lines simplified, fewer repeats, more originality in the cadances, proper regard paid to the drama, orchestration rich but not so as to swamp the voices, no long solos in the ensembles (they only force the other parts to stand idle to the detriment of the action), not much bass drum, and a lot less brass band".
Elena da Feltre followed; one critic found much to praise in it:
These temporarily put him in the forefront of composers then active in Italy, although he was soon passed by Giovanni Pacini
Giovanni Pacini
Giovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas...
with Saffò
Saffò
Saffò is an opera in three acts by Giovanni Pacini on a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on a play by Franz Grillparzer, after the legend of the ancient Greek poetess Sappho.-Performance history:...
and Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
with several operas, especially Ernani.
Later works
Some of Mercadante's later works, especially Orazi e CuriaziOrazi e Curiazi
Orazi e Curiazi is an opera by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. It takes the form of a tragedia lirica in three acts. The libretto, by Salvadore Cammarano is based on the Roman legend of the fight between the Horatii and the Curiatii...
, were also quite successful. Many performances of his operas were given throughout the 19th century and it has been noted that some of them received far more than those of Verdi's early operas over the same period of time.
He generated more instrumental works through his life than most of his contemporaries due his lifelong preoccupation with the orchestral scores, and, from 1840, being the Director of the Naples conservatory for the last 30 years of his life. From 1863 he was almost totally blind.
In the decades after his death in Naples in 1870, his output was largely forgotten, but it has been occasionally revived and recorded since World War II, although it has yet to achieve anything like the present-day popularity of the most famous compositions by his slightly younger contemporaries Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
and Bellini
Vincenzo 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...
.
The French soloist Jean-Pierre Rampal notably recorded several Mercadante concertos for flute and string orchestra, including the grand and romantic E minor concerto, which has since gained some popularity among concert flautists.
Operas
- L'apoteosi d'Ercole (19 August 1819, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- Violenza e costanza, ossia I falsi monetari (19 January 1820, Teatro Nuovo, Naples) [also as: Il castello dei spiriti (1825, Lisbon)]
- Anacreonte in Samo (1 January 1820, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- Il geloso ravveduto (October 1820, Teatro Valle, Rome)
- Scipione in Cartagine (26 December 1820, Teatro Argentina, Rome)
- Maria Stuarda regina di Scozia (29 May 1821, Teatro Comunale, Bologna)
- Elisa e ClaudioElisa e ClaudioElisa e Claudio, ossia L'amore protetto dall'amicizia is a two-act melodramma semiseria by the 19th Century Italian composer Saverio Mercadante from a libretto by Luigi Romanelli based on the play, Rosella by Filipo Casari...
, ossia L'amore protetto dall'amicizia (30 October 1821, Teatro alla Scala, Milan) - Andronico (26 December 1821, Teatro La Fenice, Venice)
- Il posto abbandonato, ossia Adele ed Emerico (21 September 1822, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- Amleto (26 December 1822, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- Alfonso ed Elisa (26 December 1822, Teatro Nuovo, Mantua) [rev. as: Aminta ed Argira (1823, Reggio Emilia)]
- Didone abbandonata (18 January 1823, Teatro Regio, Turin)
- Gli sciti (18 March 1823, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- Costanzo ed Almeriska (22 November 1823, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- Gli amici di Siracusa (7.2.1824 Teatro Argentina, Rome)
- Doralice (18.9.1824 Karntnertortheater, Wien)
- Le nozze di Telemaco ed Antiope (5 November 1824, Karntnertortheater, Wien) [pasticcio]
- Il podestà di Burgos, ossia Il signore del villaggio (20 November 1824, Karntnertortheater, Wien)
- Nitocri (26.12.1824 Teatro Regio, Turin)
- Ipermestra (29 December 1825, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- Erode, ossia Marianna (12 December 1825, Teatro La Fenice, Venice)
- Caritea, regina di Spagna (Donna Caritea), ossia La morte di Don Alfonso re di Portogallo (21 February 1826 Teatro La Fenice, Venice)
- Ezio (3 February 1827, Teatro Regio, Turin)
- Il montanaro (16 April 1827, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- La testa di bronzo, ossia La capanna solitaria (3 December 1827, priv. theatre of Barone di Quintella at Laranjeiras, Lisbon, revised for Teatro Carignano, Turin, 1831) [libretto written 1816 for Soliva]
- Adriano in Siria (24 February 1828, Theatre S. Carlos, Lisbon)
- Gabriella di Vergy (8 August 1828, Theatre S. Carlos, Lisbon) [rev: 1832, Genoa]
- La rappresaglia (21 February 1829, Teatro Principal, Cadiz)
- Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamaccio (10 February 1830, Teatro Principal, Cadiz)
- Francesca da Rimini (1831, probably unperformed)
- Zaïra (31 August 1831, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples) [libretto written 1829 for Bellini]
- I normanni a Parigi (7 February 1832, Teatro Regio, Turin)
- Ismalia, ossia Amore e morte (27 October 1832, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- Il conte di Essex (10 March 1833, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- Emma d'Antiochia (8 March 1834, Teatro La Fenice, Venice)
- Uggero il danese (11 August 1834, Teatro Riccardi, Bergamo)
- La gioventù di Enrico V (25 November 1834, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- I due Figaro (26 January 1835, Teatro Principe, Madrid) [composed 1826]
- Francesca Donato, ossia Corinto distrutta (14 February 1835, Teatro Regio, Turin) [rev.1845, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples]
- I briganti (22 March 1836, Théâtre Italien, Paris) [rev. with additions 1853]
- Il giuramentoIl giuramentoIl giuramento is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. The libretto, by Gaetano Rossi, is based on Victor Hugo's play Angélo, tyran de Padoue...
(3 Nov 1837, Teatro alla Scala, Milan) - Le due illustri rivali (3 October 1838, Teatro La Fenice, Venice)
- Elena da FeltreElena da FeltreElena da Feltre is an opera in three acts by 19th century Italian composer Saverio Mercadante from a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, well-known as librettist of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Verdi's Il trovatore. The premiere took place at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 1 January 1839...
(1 January 1839, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples) - Il bravo (La veneziana) (9 March 1839, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
- La vestaleLa vestale (Mercadante)La vestale is an opera by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. It takes the form of a tragedia lirica in three acts...
(10 March 1840, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples) - La solitaria delle Asturie, ossia La Spagna ricuperata (12 March 1840, Teatro La Fenice, Venice)
- Il proscritto (4 January 1842, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- Il reggente (2 February 1843, Teatro Regio, Turin) [rev. with adds. 11 November 1843, Trieste]
- Leonora (5 December 1844, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
- Il Vascello de Gama (6 March 1845, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- Orazi e CuriaziOrazi e CuriaziOrazi e Curiazi is an opera by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. It takes the form of a tragedia lirica in three acts. The libretto, by Salvadore Cammarano is based on the Roman legend of the fight between the Horatii and the Curiatii...
(10 November 1846, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples) - La schiava saracena, ovvero Il campo di Gerosolima (26 December 1848, Teatro alla Scala, Milan) [rev. 1850 Teatro S. Carlo, Naples]
- Medea (3 January 1851, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- Statira (8 January 1853, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- Violetta (10 January 1853, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
- Pelagio (12 February 1857, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples)
- VirginiaVirginia (Mercadante)Virginia is an opera, a tragedia lirica, in three acts by composer Saverio Mercadante. The Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano is based on Vittorio Alfieri's tragedy of the same name. Alfieri's play was in turn taken from a story in Livy's Ab Urbe condita...
(7 April 1866, Teatro S. Carlo, Naples) [composed December 1849 - March 1850] - L'orfano di Brono, ossia Caterina dei Medici [only 1st act]
External links
- A Mercadante discography (rather outdated)