Alessandro Felici

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Alessandro Felici (born November 21, 1742 in Florence , † August 21, 1772 there ) was an Italian composer, organist and harpsichordist. The focus of his activity was on incidental music.

Life

Alessandro Felici was the son of the composer Bartolomeo Felici . After his first lessons with his father, he studied with Giuseppe Castrucci in Florence from 1756 to 1764 and then with Gennaro Manna in Naples until 1765 . At fourteen he already had a good reputation as an organist and harpsichordist. In 1767 he became a teacher at his father's composition and organ school, where among his students were the singers Francesco Porri and Luigi Cherubini . He died in Florence in 1772 at the age of less than thirty. In 1778 his estate was sold by the heirs. Since then, many of his works have been lost.

In May 1768 his first opera, the dramma giocoso La serva astuta, was performed at the Teatro Cocomero in Florence. His dramma per musica Antigono had an overwhelming success in January of the following year at the Teatro della Pergola . He was then commissioned to write the dramatic cantata Apollo in Tessaglia for the inauguration concerts of the Accademia degl'Ingegnosi . Felici's most successful opera is the dramma giocoso L'amore soldato, which was first performed in 1769 at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice and then played in opera houses in Turin, Parma, Florence, Dresden, Munich and Sassuolo. It is also his only opera whose score has been preserved.

Alessandro Felici's music is expressive in comparison with that of some of his contemporaries and, especially in melancholy passages, already foreshadows romanticism. His harpsichord concertos show an unusual maturity for his age, which suggests that he would have had the potential to become one of the leading composers of his time.

Works

Operas

La serva astuta - title page of the libretto, Florence 1768
L'amore soldato - title page of the libretto, Venice 1769
  • La serva astuta, dramma giocoso in three acts; Premiere: May 5, 1768, Florence, Teatro Cocomero; in autumn 1769 as La cameriera astuta in the Teatro Ducale Milan; 1770 in Vienna and Bergamo; Carnival 1773 in Jesi; Carnival 1776 in San Severino; lost
  • L'amante contrastata, dramma giocoso in two acts; Libretto: Giacomo Lendenesi; Premiere: Autumn 1768, Venice, Teatro San Moisè ; lost
  • Antigono , dramma per musica in three acts; Libretto: Pietro Metastasio ; Premiere: January 18, 1769, Florence, Teatro della Pergola ; lost
  • L'amore soldato, dramma giocoso in three acts; Libretto: Nicolò Tassi; Premiere: Autumn 1769, Venice, Teatro San Moisè; in Turin in autumn 1770; Carnival 1771 in Parma, on May 3, 1771 in Florence; 1773 in Dresden and Munich; Summer 1773 in Sassuolo
  • Intermezzi zu Beverley (Béverlei) by Bernard-Joseph Saurin , “tragedia urbana in prosa”; probably composed in 1769; Premiere: January 6th 1782, Florence, Tintori; lost
  • La donna di spirito, farsetta in two acts; Libretto: Marcello Bernardini ; Premiere: February 13th 1770, Rome, Teatro Capranica; lost
  • Two substitute arias for Alessandro nelle Indie by Antonio Sacchini ; dramma per musica in three acts; Libretto: Pietro Metastasio; WP: Carnival 1771, Livorno, San Sebastiano
  • La lavandaia (doubtful); Premiere: Autumn 1770, Turin, Teatro Carignano
  • Ariana e Teseo (doubtful), dramma per musica; Libretto: Pietro Pariati ; Premiere: January 29, 1772, Florence, Teatro della Pergola

Spiritual works

  • Il Daniello, oratorio; Premiere: 1767, Florence, Compagnia detta “del Nicchio”; lost
  • Oratorio del Natale; WP: 1768, Florence, S. Filippo Neri; lost
  • S Alessio riconosciuto, oratorio; WP: 1769, Florence, Congregazione e Ospizio detto del Melani; lost
  • Dixit Dominus for four voices and instruments; 1766
  • Fair; 1767, Florence, S. Marco
  • Fair; 1771, Florence, S. Giuseppe
  • Motet with salve regina ; 1771, Florence, S. Gaetano
  • Messa per S Cecilia; completed by Bartolomeo Felici ; 1775, Florence, S. Niccolò; 1778, Florence, S. Giuseppe
  • Credo for four voices and orchestra
  • Credo concertato for three voices and instruments

Secular vocal works

  • Apollo in Tessaglia, cantata for three voices; Libretto: Luigi Semplici; March 12, 1769, Florence, Accademia degl'Ingegnosi; lost
  • Cantata a tre voci; Libretto: Francesco Lambardi; WP: April 1, 1770, Florence, Accademia degl'Ingegnosi; lost
  • Idol mio amato bene for two sopranos and two violins (also with additional wind instruments)
  • Ti rendo al caro bene for four voices and orchestra; probably part of a melodrama
  • Veloce al par d'un barbaro

Instrumental works

  • Three concerts for keyboard instrument and orchestra
  • Concert for harpsichord "ad uso di Isabella Scarlatti"
  • Six sonata da camera for harpsichord
  • Sonata for harpsichord with obbligato violin
  • Sonata for harpsichord and two violins

Web links

Commons : Alessandro Felici  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Digital copies

  1. ↑ La serva astuta. Libretto (Italian), Florence 1768. Digital copy from the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna .
  2. ↑ L'amante contrastata. Libretto (Italian), Venice 1768. Digitized version of the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna .
  3. ↑ Antigono. Libretto (Italian), Florence 1769. Digitized version of the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna .
  4. ↑ L'amore soldato. Libretto (Italian), Venice 1769. Digitized version of the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna .
  5. ↑ La donna di spirito. Libretto (Italian), Rome 1770. Digitized version of the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Fabio Bisogni, Marianne Damm (transl.):  Felici (family). In: Friedrich Blume (Hrsg.): The music in past and present (MGG). First edition, Volume 16 (Supplement 2: Eardsen - Zweibrücken). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 1976, DNB 550439609 , Sp. 197-199 (= Digital Library Volume 60, pp. 21861-21865).
  2. ^ A b c Robert Lamar Weaver:  Felici, Alessandro. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
personal data
SURNAME Felici, Alessandro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian composer, organist and harpsichordist
DATE OF BIRTH November 21, 1742
PLACE OF BIRTH Florence
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1772
Place of death Florence