Giovanni Porta
Giovanni Porta (* 1675 in Venice and the Veneto, † June 21, 1755 in Munich) was an Italian composer.
Life
Porta studied in Venice by Francesco Gasparini. From 1706 to 1710 he held probably at the court of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni in Rome. In April 1710 he married Leonora Zanchi, with whom he had three children. 1710-11 he was maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Vicenza, 1714-16, he held the same position at the cathedral of Verona. 1716 he returned to Venice and worked in the coming years, especially as an opera composer. 1726-37, he was also maestro di coro at the Ospedale della Pietà and wrote in this function numerous sacred works for female choir and orchestra. After two unsuccessful applications as maestro di composizione at the Ospedale dei Derelitti ( Ospedaletto, 1733) and as maestro di cappella at St. Mark's Basilica ( 1736) Porta in 1737 went to Munich to the court of the Elector Karl Albrecht, where he worked until his death as court conductor. His wife probably died in February 1742; seven years later, in December 1749 Porta married a German widow with two children. After his death in 1755 Andrea Bernasconi took his place.
Work
From Porta vocal music is only passed on by.
Stage Works
Between 1716 and 1738 Porta wrote for theater in Venice, Rome, London, Milan, Naples, Florence, Bologna, Mantua, Munich 30 operas, several of them in collaboration with other composers such as Francesco Gasparini and Tomaso Albinoni. Among his librettists were, inter alia, Apostolo Zeno (7 operas), Pietro Metastasio ( 4) and Domenico Lalli (4). Completely preserved are only four operas:
- L' Argippo ( Lalli ), Venice 1717
- Farnace ( Lucchini ), Bologna 1731
- Gianguir ( Zeno ), Milan 1732
- Iphigenia in Aulis ( " Teutsch - musica metallic tragedy ," Zeno ), Munich 1738
Of 13 other operas, at least some arias are known from the other only the text book. The authenticity of an opera ( Artaserse, Munich 1739 ) is doubtful.
In addition to the operas Porta composed at least six other stage works, including three cantatas, a serenata, a azione teatrale and an oratorio. Get them are the cantatas Caro padre, ah forse and Apollo in Tempe.
Sacred Works
Portas spiritual oeuvre comprises at least 103 Psalms, 19 trade shows, 18 Magnificat, eight motets, five credo four Passions, three Miserere, Tantum ergo two, a Te Deum and other individual works. A Laetatus sum and a Magnificat lie since 1995 before printed.
Style
Portas operas are typical representatives of the Venetian style of the 1720s and 1730s; they are characterized, inter alia, to by fast runs, arpeggios, large melodic leaps, extended sequences and tutti unison passages. His sacred music, with its virtuoso solo sets, trills, leaps and bounds and long melismas also influenced by opera.