Andrea Pacini

Andrea Pacini , called " Il Lucchesino " (* about 1690 in Lucca - June 1764 ) was an Italian he Alt - castrato opera singer, composer and clergyman . Today he is best known for his participation in several operas by Georg Friedrich Handel .

Andrea Pacini based on a caricature by Anton Maria Zanetti

Life

His exact date of birth is not known and apparently nothing is known about his education. His nickname "Lucchesino" is derived from his hometown Lucca.

He made his operatic debut in Venice in 1708 at the Teatro San Cassiano in Tomaso Albinoni's Astarto (premiere: November 11, 1708) and in the opera Engelberta with music by Francesco Gasparini and Albinoni (premiere: 1709); he sang in an ensemble with the famous castrato Domenico Cecchi called Cortona, and with Santa Stella and Senesino (Francesco Bernardi). Engagements in Florence (1709–1710), Rome , Lucca (1711) and Ferrara (1713) followed.

1713-14 in Naples he sang at the important Teatro San Bartolomeo in a total of 10 operas, including Porsenna by Antonio Lotti and Alessandro Scarlatti's Scipione nelle Spagne (premiere: January 21, 1714), alongside the famous Nicolino Grimaldi .

From 1714 to 1716 in Venice Pacini was used by Antonio Vivaldi as primo uomo , in his opera Orlando finto pazzo and in the pasticcio Nerone fatto Cesare .

Until 1720 the singer had appearances in the opera houses of Lucca, Livorno , Bologna , Turin , Milan , Genoa and Florence. From 1720 to 1730 Pacini was officially employed as a singer at the court of Parma , but this did not prevent him from continuing his operatic career in other places in Italy and abroad.

During the Carnival of 1721 in Rome he sang in the Teatro Capranica alongside his colleagues Farfallino (Giacinto Fontana), Antonio Bernacchi and the young Carestini in Giovanni Bononcini's Crispo (premiere: January 28, 1721), and the role of Ottone in Alessandro Scarlatti's Griselda .
Then Pacini went back to Naples, where he sang alongside Faustina Bordoni, among other things, the title role in Leonardo Vinci's Publio Cornelio Scipione (November 4, 1722).
In the spring of 1724 he was also on stage in Parma with Faustina Bordoni (and Vittoria Tesi ) in Giovanni Maria Capelli's Venceslao .

In the same year Andrea Pacini accepted a call to London to work as a secondo uomo alongside Senesino and Francesca Cuzzoni at the Royal Academy of Music . He made his successful debut as the tyrannical Tamerlano in Handel's opera of the same name. Pacini's virtuoso interpretation was perceived as "extremely gripping" according to Lady Bristol (" the new man takes extremely "). Handel then composed the role of the wise old counselor Unulfo in Rodelinda for him . In a revival of Handel's Giulio Cesare , the composer gave him the role of Tolomeo and wrote a new aria for him. In London Pacini also appeared in operas by Attilio Ariosti and in the pasticcio Elpidia (with music by Vinci and Orlandini).

After his stay in England he sang for a few years on Italian stages in Florence, Venice, Genoa and Parma. In the spring of 1729 he stood next to the famous Farinelli and Faustina Bordoni in Parma , in Giacomelli's Lucio Papirio dittatore .
He also sang alongside Farinelli in his hometown of Lucca in the autumn of 1730, namely the title role in Johann Adolph Hasse's successful opera Artaserse .
Pacini's last proven appearance was probably in the 1731–32 season at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, in Orlandini's Ifigenia in Aulide (premiere: February 4, 1732), alongside Francesca Cuzzoni, Antonia Merighi and Antonio Pasi .

After retiring from the stage, Andrea Pacini entered a monastery in his hometown of Lucca , where he also composed music for the mass celebrations there (1744).

If you believe a caricature by Anton Maria Zanetti , Andrea Pacini was enormously fat, with a body like a huge egg, with short arms and legs that almost disappear behind the huge belly (fig. Above); the representation is also somewhat reminiscent of a fat bird (a pigeon?), probably in allusion to its singing skills. As funny as this caricature may be, it is unfortunately difficult to judge what it really looked like.

Andrea Pacini should not be confused with the castrato Antonio Pacini, who at about the same time was one of the singers in the court orchestra of Versailles and was portrayed by Watteau .

Voice and singing

Andrea Pacini was a fairly successful singer, whose low alto voice with a range from a to e '' must have had both great agility and considerable volume. Why he didn't become as famous as his colleagues Senesino or Bernacchi is difficult to understand in retrospect, maybe it was due to his looks (see above) or his voice wasn't very first class (?). Pacini also had a certain emotional span. This is proven by Handel's rather dramatic role in Tamerlano . The aria “ A dispetto ” in the last act of this opera is a brilliant virtuoso piece, just like the first version of Unulfo's aria “ Sono i colpi della sorte ” written for Pacini in the first act by Rodelinda .

literature

• Winton Dean : Pacini, Andrea (opera) ['Il Lucchesino'] , on Oxford Music online (full access only with subscription; English; accessed July 25, 2020)
• Francisca Paula Vanherle: Andrea Pacini , in: Castrati: The History of an Extraordinary Vocal Phenomenon and a Case Study of Handel's Opera Roles for Castrati written for the First Royal Academy of Music (1720–1728) (dissertation), University of Texas, Austin , December 2002, pp. 130-138

Web links

• Andrea Pacini, dit Il Lucchesino , short biography online at Quell'Usignolo (French; accessed on July 26, 2020)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Winton Dean : Pacini, Andrea (opera) ['Il Lucchesino'] , on Oxford Music online (full access only with subscription; English; accessed on July 26, 2020)
2. ^ Astarto (Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Andrea Pacini, dit Il Lucchesino , short biography online at Quell'Usignolo (French; accessed on July 26, 2020)
4. ^ Engelberta (Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
5. ^ Scipione nelle Spagne (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
6. ^ Crispo (Giovannis Bononcini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
7. ^ Griselda (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
8. ^ Publio Cornelio Scipione (Leonardo Vinci) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
9. ^ Venceslao (Giovanni Maria Capelli) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
10. ↑ Francisca Paula Vanherle: Andrea Pacini , in: Castrati: The History of an Extraordinary Vocal Phenomenon and a Case Study of Handel's Opera Roles for Castrati written for the First Royal Academy of Music (1720-1728) (dissertation), University of Texas, Austin, December 2002, pp. 130-138, here: 131
11. ^ Lucio Papirio dittatore (Geminiano Giacomelli) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
12. ^ Artaserse (Johann Adolf Hasse) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
13. ^ Ifigenia in Aulide (Giuseppe Maria Orlandini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
14. ↑ Vanherle brings some music samples from "Sono i colpi". Francisca Paula Vanherle: Andrea Pacini , in: Castrati: The History of an Extraordinary Vocal Phenomenon and a Case Study of Handel's Opera Roles for Castrati written for the First Royal Academy of Music (1720-1728) (dissertation), University of Texas, Austin , December 2002, pp. 130-138, here: 134 f
15. ↑ The first version of “Sono i colpi”, sung by Marie-Nicole Lemieux, can be heard on: Handel: Rodelinda , with Simone Kermes, Marijana Mijanovic, Marie-Nicole Lemieux and others. a., Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis, Archiv Produktion / Deutsche Grammophon, 2005 (as an appendix, after the actual opera, on CD No. 3; see also booklet p. 34. Caution, at the original point in the 1st act you can hear the completely different and simpler second version of the aria!)