Luigi Rossi

Luigi Rossi (c. 1598; † February 20, 1653 ) was an Italian composer of the early Baroque.

Life and work

A native of Southern Italy Luigi Rossi studied in Naples. He stood as a composer, singer and lutenist at the Prince Medici in Florence, and Cardinal Antonio Barberini in Rome in services. In 1632 he wrote the cantata Lamento della Regina di Svetia to the death of the Swedish king Gustav Adolf at Lützen. He became the then most popular composers of Europe through this cantata.

In 1641 he entered Rome in the service of Pope Urban VIII, where his first opera, Il palazzo d' Atlante incantato in 1642 listed in the following years, further cantatas and oratorios. He is considered a master of the cantata, of which he wrote more than 250.

In 1646 he was appointed to the court in Paris, later his second opera Orfeo was here, with the castrato Atto Melani in the lead role and Marc'Antonio Pasqualini in the role of Aristeo, premiered, which established the fame of Italian operas. Rossi's former employer Cardinal Mazarin, however, was heavily criticized because of the extremely magnificent performance.