Simon Mayr
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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...
.
Life
He was born in Mendorf near AltmannsteinAltmannstein
Altmannstein is a municipality in the district of Eichstätt in Bavaria in Germany....
, Landkreis Eichstätt
Eichstätt (district)
Eichstätt is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, Donau-Ries, Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, Roth, Neumarkt, Kelheim and Pfaffenhofen, and by the city of Ingolstadt.-History:...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, and studied theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at the University of Ingolstadt
University of Ingolstadt
The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law and medicine, all of which were contained in the Hoheschule...
, continuing his studies in Italy from 1787. He was closely associated with the Bavarian Illuminati
Illuminati
The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
of Adam Weishaupt
Adam Weishaupt
Johann Adam Weishaupt was a German philosopher and founder of the Order of Illuminati, a secret society with origins in Bavaria.-Early life:...
while a student in Ingolstadt, and the ideals of the French Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
were a strong influence on his philosophy as a musician as corroborated by his famed Zibaldone or "Notebooks" compiled toward the end of his career.
Shortly thereafter, he took music lessons with Carlo Lenzi, and later with Ferdinando Bertoni
Ferdinando Bertoni
Ferdinando Bertoni was an Italian composer and organist.He was born in Salò, and began his music studies in Brescia, not far from his birthplace. Around 1740 he went to Bologna, where he studied till 1745 with the famous music theorist Giovanni Battista Martini...
. He moved to Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
in 1802 and was appointed maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Bergamo
Cathedral of Bergamo
Bergamo Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Bergamo, Italy, dedicated to Saint Alexander of Bergamo, patron saint of the city. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bergamo.-History:...
, succeeding his old teacher Lenzi. He held the post until his death, and became a central figure in the city's musical life, organizing concerts and introducing Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's music there. He was music teacher to 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...
. By the end of his life, he was blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
. He died in Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
and is buried in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore, Bergamo
The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is a church in Bergamo, Northern Italy.-History:The church was founded in 1137 on the site of another church from the 8th century dedicated to St Mary, which had been in turn erected over a Roman temple of the Clemence. The high altar was consecrated in 1185 and...
there, just in front of the tomb of his famous pupil.
Mayr's astonishing list of works, among which are almost seventy 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, are rarely performed today.
Recordings
- Ginevra di ScoziaGinevra di ScoziaGinevra di Scozia is an opera in two acts by Simon Mayr set to an Italian libretto by Gaetano Rossi based on Antonio Salvi's, Ginevra, principessa di Scozia, which in turn was adapted from Cantos 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. Ginevra di Scozia premiered on 21 April 1801 at the...
- Elisabeth Vidal (soprano); Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano); Antonio Siragusa (tenor); Luca Grassi (baritone); Giuseppina Piunti (soprano); Marco LazzaraMarco LazzaraMarco Lazzara is an Italian countertenor who sings a wide-ranging repertoire from baroque composers to those of the 20th century and has performed in a number of notable premieres and revivals of rarely performed operas...
(countertenor); Orchestra del Teatro Verdi di Trieste; Tiziano Severini (conductor). Label: Opera Rara ORC23 - Fedra (Chiaudani, Nelsen, Zagorski, Lee; Schaller) OEHMS Classics 920
- La Rosa Bianca e la Rosa Rossa (Antonacci, Anselmi, Serraicocca, Canonici, Facini; Briccetti) Fonit Cetra RFCD 2007
- Verter (Herrmann, Gemmabella, Cicchetti, Salsi, Zarelli; Terracini) Bongiovanni GB 2343-4.
- Sisara Accademia I Filarmonici di Verona, Simon Mayr Chor conducted by Franz Hauk Guild GmbH 2004
- Medea in CorintoMedea in CorintoMedea in Corinto is an opera in Italian by the composer Simon Mayr. It takes the form of a melodramma tragico in two acts. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based on the Greek myth of Medea and the plays on the theme by Euripides and Pierre Corneille...
(Eaglen, Kenny, Ford, Miles; Parry) Opera Rara ORC11 [1993] - Konzertmitschnitte von Werken von Johann Simon Mayr. Wilhelm Schmailzl, Karlskron [1996]
- Samuele Fono-Schallplattengesellschaft, Laer [1997]
- La Passione Kammerorchester Ingolstadt Guild [2002]
- David in Spelunca Engaddi Naxos [2008]
- L'amor coniugaleL'amor coniugaleL'amor coniugale is an opera in one act by Simon Mayr set to an Italian libretto by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered at Padua's Teatro Nuovo on 26 July 1805.-Background and performance history:...
, Naxos Oper, [2008] - Tobiae Matrimonium Simon Mayr Chor + Ensemble, Naxos [2009]
- Medea in CorintoMedea in CorintoMedea in Corinto is an opera in Italian by the composer Simon Mayr. It takes the form of a melodramma tragico in two acts. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based on the Greek myth of Medea and the plays on the theme by Euripides and Pierre Corneille...
Theater St. GallenTheater St. GallenThe Theater St. Gallen is a performing arts center for opera, musical, ballet, and theatre in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and considered to be the oldest professional theatre in Switzerland....
, Oehmsclassic [2010]
Film
- Martin Pfeil: Der vergessene Musiker: Johann Simon Mayer (1763-1845). INTV Media Ingolstadt, 1995 (VHS, 30 Min.)