Antonio Sacchini

Antonio Sacchini ( born June 14, 1730 in Florence, † October 6, 1786 in Paris, full name Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini ) was an Italian composer.

Life

Sacchini received his musical education in Naples, where his father had a job as a cook. There he attended at the age of ten years, the Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto and studied violin with Nicolò Fiorenza, singing with Gennaro Manna and composition with Francesco Durante, who was of the opinion Sacchini would be " the composer of the century". The success of his first dramatic works, the interludes Fra Donato and Il giocatore that were listed from 1756 students in the Conservatory, led to further commitments for Neapolitan and Roman theater. At the same time he pushed his career forward within the Conservatory; until he was appointed maestro di capella straordinario, then, according to Manna resignation in 1761, the secondo maestro.

After a stopover in Venice, where he composed two serias, he had in 1763 in Padua with L' Olimpiade, a Metastasio libretto, a great success, which made ​​him known throughout Italy. He concentrated now on his compositional tasks and gave up his position at the Conservatory on. After a stay in Rome, where he was able to succeed with some comic works at the Teatro Valle, in 1768 he went to Venice, where he quickly made a name for himself as a singing teacher - he taught, among others Nancy Storace - and was devoted to church music. Over the next four years, he has combined these activities with a lively work for great Italian music centers. In 1770 he visited Munich and Stuttgart to there three serias listed.

1772 moved Sacchini to London, where he initially had great success in running it next ten years. Charles Burney describes his Tamerlano of 1773

Nevertheless, he came because of his extravagant lifestyle, which earned him many enemies in trouble, even a financial nature to escape being arrested, he went in 1781 to Paris, where he had made his name with the previous success of a reworked version of his Olimpiade, and Piccinni 's supporters was there immediately to the side provided that a erbittertern dispute with the representatives of Gluck's reform opera fought and to support their position of opera seria hoped Neapolitan character. He was introduced to Marie Antoinette and her brother Joseph II, who was at the time in Paris and an ardent supporter of Italian opera was recommended. The Queen, to hold in an effort Sacchini in France, then persuaded the directors of the Paris Opéra, to accept his salary of 10,000 francs for each of the planned three operas.

But Sacchini quickly became embroiled in various intrigues and Missgünstigkeiten: The " Gluckists " tempting him from his allies, the alienating " Piccinnists ", while the queen made ​​vulnerable because of their open preference for foreign composers. Between these poles of criticism the premiere of his Renaud was a foreseeable failure, while his next opera Chimène suffered by comparison with Piccinni's Didon, who was widely regarded as a masterpiece. His next opera Dardanus and Œdipe à Colone were premiered under unfortunate circumstances and had no success. The latter was provided by Marie Anoinette for performance at Fontainebleau, but public opinion forced them to instead the Frenchman Jean -Baptiste Lemoyne prefer. Whether this disappointment contributed to the death of the composer, as claimed by its estimated pupil Henri Berton, or whether this was a result of his long-standing gout suffering and his dissolute lifestyle, remains open.

From Sacchini hand come about 60 operas, mostly inspired by the Neapolitan school. Staying in Paris and the competition to Gluck took him the Tragédie lyrique closer. Sacchini style is more graceful than sublime, and his music lacked creative power and originality. But the dramatic truth in his operas, especially the later works is beyond all criticism, and he has never failed to work with the care of an experienced and accomplished musician. Oedipe was extremely successful even after his death, and was performed at the Académie française almost 600 times. Apart from the operas wrote Sacchini chamber music, masses, oratorios and musical settings of psalms.

Works (selection)

• Andromache, opera seria, world premiere: Naples May 30, 1761
• Alessandro Severo, opera seria in three acts, first performance: Venice Carnival 1763
• Luci Vero. Opera seria Premiere: Naples November 4, 1764
• Montezuma, opera seria in three acts, 1765
• L' isola d' amore, interludes per musica in 2 acts, first performance: Rome Carnival 1766; (as La Colonie: Paris August 16, 1775 ); (English versions: The Island of Love / The colony )
• Scipione in Cartagena, opera seria Premiere: Munich January 8, 1770
• Adriano in Siria, dramma per musica 1771
• Il Cid, opera seria: the premiere. London January 19, 1773
• Œdipe à Colone, Tragédie lyrique after a tragedy by Sophocles, premiere: January 4, 1786

Discography

The work of Sacchini is now largely fallen into oblivion. Available on CD only:

• Œdipe à COLONE. Manon Feubel, Soprano, Fabrice Mantegna, tenor, Daniel Galvez - Vallejo, tenor, Sviatoslav Smirnof, bass - baritone.

Choir and Orchestra La Camerata de Bourgogne. Conductor Jean -Paul Penin. First world recording ( June 2004). DYNAMIC 494/1-2

• Œdipe à COLONE. François Loup, Nathalie Paulin, Robert Getchell, Tony Bouttlé, Kirstin Blaise

Opera Lafayette Orchestra to the Chorus Conductor: Ryan Brown recorded 13 - 15th june 2oo5 - USA Label: NAXOS 8.660196-97

• Another shot of a Sacchini Opera still exists, but is currently out of stock: La Contadina in Corte ( opera buffa ), published by Bongiovanni 1997 ASIN B000025AYN