This Week in Classical Music: April 27, 2020.Scarlatti père. Alessandro Scarlatti, one of the most interesting opera composers of the Italian Baroque, was born on May 2nd of 1660 in Palermo.He’s considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera, the school that gave the world such composers as Nicola Porpora, Leonardo Vinci, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Niccolò Piccinni, Giovanni Paisiello and Domenico Cimarosa.Scarlatti’s family moved to Rome when he was 10.He married a Roman girl at 18 and then managed to establish connections at the very top of the Roman society: he stayed at the palace of the famous sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini; Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, a patron of arts and a member of Accademia dell'Arcadia, provided a libretto to several of Scarlatti’s operas and introduced him to the circle of Queen Christina of Sweden (Scarlatti himself would eventually join the prestigious Academy, founded under the patronage of Queen Christina).
The cultural and musical life of Rome at the end of the 17th century was flourishing.This was somewhat of a miracle, as not that long prior, in 1527, Rome was devastated during the catastrophe of the Sack of Rome, when the mutinous troops of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, entered and pillaged the city, killing and raping its inhabitants and plundering everything of value.The troops stayed in the city and continued the plunder for almost eight months, till the food ran out.When they left, the population of Rome was 10,000 – a year earlier it had been 55,000.The Sack of Rome marked the end of the Italian Renaissance, as most artists left Rome and never returned (though the event gave birth to the period called Mannerism).But despite everything, the devastated Rome was rebuilt, Michelangelo completed the design of the great cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica and Carlo Maderna finished its monumental façade in 1612.Baroque changed the face of the city, and Bernini, the sculptor of genius, embellished it as never before.By the end of the 16th century the population of Rome grew to 100,000 and by the time of Scarlatti it was even larger.The popes and the cardinals, despite all the corruption and nepotism, proved to be great patrons of arts; Cardinal Pamphili was one of the most important.His birthday was just two days ago – he was born on April 25th of 1653. We’ve written about Queen Christina and Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, two great patrons of art – we should write about Benedetto Pamphili as well, he very much deserves it.
Scarlatti’s opera Gli equivoci nel sembiante (“Equivocal Appearances”) was so successful that Queen Christina appointed him her maestro di cappella; at the time Scarlatti was just eighteen.In the following six years, six of his operas were staged in Rome, quite a success for a young composer.But opera came under pressure from the church and the pope: religious authorities considered this art profane, and most operas were staged in private theaters.In 1684 Scarlatti received an offer from the Viceroy of Naples to become his maestro di cappella and left Rome.Here’s the aria Onde, ferro, fiamme e morte (Waves, iron, flames and death) from Gli equivoci nel sembiante.Renata Fusco is the soprano.
Alessandro Scarlatti, 2020
This Week in Classical Music: April 27, 2020. Scarlatti père. Alessandro Scarlatti, one of the most interesting opera composers of the Italian Baroque, was born on May 2nd of 1660 in.jpg "Young Alessandro Scarlatti")
Palermo. He’s considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera, the school that gave the world such composers as Nicola Porpora, Leonardo Vinci, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Niccolò Piccinni, Giovanni Paisiello and Domenico Cimarosa. Scarlatti’s family moved to Rome when he was 10. He married a Roman girl at 18 and then managed to establish connections at the very top of the Roman society: he stayed at the palace of the famous sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini; Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, a patron of arts and a member of Accademia dell'Arcadia, provided a libretto to several of Scarlatti’s operas and introduced him to the circle of Queen Christina of Sweden (Scarlatti himself would eventually join the prestigious Academy, founded under the patronage of Queen Christina).
The cultural and musical life of Rome at the end of the 17th century was flourishing. This was somewhat of a miracle, as not that long prior, in 1527, Rome was devastated during the catastrophe of the Sack of Rome, when the mutinous troops of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, entered and pillaged the city, killing and raping its inhabitants and plundering everything of value. The troops stayed in the city and continued the plunder for almost eight months, till the food ran out. When they left, the population of Rome was 10,000 – a year earlier it had been 55,000. The Sack of Rome marked the end of the Italian Renaissance, as most artists left Rome and never returned (though the event gave birth to the period called Mannerism). But despite everything, the devastated Rome was rebuilt, Michelangelo completed the design of the great cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica and Carlo Maderna finished its monumental façade in 1612. Baroque changed the face of the city, and Bernini, the sculptor of genius, embellished it as never before. By the end of the 16th century the population of Rome grew to 100,000 and by the time of Scarlatti it was even larger. The popes and the cardinals, despite all the corruption and nepotism, proved to be great patrons of arts; Cardinal Pamphili was one of the most important. His birthday was just two days ago – he was born on April 25th of 1653. We’ve written about Queen Christina and Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, two great patrons of art – we should write about Benedetto Pamphili as well, he very much deserves it.
Scarlatti’s opera Gli equivoci nel sembiante (“Equivocal Appearances”) was so successful that Queen Christina appointed him her maestro di cappella; at the time Scarlatti was just eighteen. In the following six years, six of his operas were staged in Rome, quite a success for a young composer. But opera came under pressure from the church and the pope: religious authorities considered this art profane, and most operas were staged in private theaters. In 1684 Scarlatti received an offer from the Viceroy of Naples to become his maestro di cappella and left Rome. Here’s the aria Onde, ferro, fiamme e morte (Waves, iron, flames and death) from Gli equivoci nel sembiante. Renata Fusco is the soprano.