Angelo Amorevoli

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Angelo Amorevoli as Antigono in Antigono by Johann Adolph Hasse (1744)
Angelo Amorevoli as Manlio in Attilio Regolo by Johann Adolph Hasse (1750)
Angelo Amorevoli as Segeste in Johann Adolph Hasse's revival of Arminio for the carnival (January) 1753
Angelo Amorevoli in the title role of Solimano in the opera of the same name by Hasse (Dresden 1753)

Angelo Maria Amorevoli (born September 16, 1716 in Venice , † November 15, 1798 in Dresden ) was an Italian opera singer ( tenor ). He was considered one of the outstanding singers of his time. From 1742 he worked - apart from guest performances elsewhere - in Dresden, where he also died.

biography

First engagements

Amorevoli had made a name for himself as a singer very early on. At the age of 13 he was already on stage in Treviso and Rome , a year later, in 1730, in Venice and Rome. In Venice, during his appearance at the Dalisa opera, he made the acquaintance of Johann Adolph Hasse, who had already been appointed Kapellmeister at the Saxon royal court . Between 1731 and 1736 he worked in various productions, alternating in Turin ( Riccardo Broschi : Ezio ), Milan ( Geminiano Giacomelli : Cesare in Egitto ) and Venice ( Nicola Porpora : Annibale ; Hasse: Alessandro nell'Indie ).

Debut with Faustina Bordoni and Carestini

On September 24, 1735 he performed with an “ensemble vraiment superbe” in Pesaro. Together with Faustina Bordoni and Giovanni Carestini , with whom he would later appear in London and Dresden, and with another castrato who would later be heard in Dresden, Giuseppe Appiani , he was heard in the title role of the first performance of Hasse's Tito Vespasiano .

Naples (1736-1739) - Turin

From 1736 to 1739 he worked in Naples, where he appeared in four operas by Leonardo Leo , two operas by Domenico Sarri , but also Leonardo Vinci , Giovanni Alberto Ristori and Nicola Porpora .

At Christmas 1740 he was Mitrane in the opera Arsace by Francesco Feo, with which the new Royal Theater in Turin was inaugurated.

London (1741–1743)

His next long engagement took Amorevoli to London, where he was heard for the first time on November 10, 1741 as tenor in the opera Alessandro in Persia at the King's Theater . At the end of the 1730s, however, the great times of Italian opera were already over in London: After a bitter struggle in 1737, in which both companies wanted to outdo each other with stars and lure the audience away by both offering opera performances on the same days with Georg Friedrich Handel's rival aristocratic opera finally went bankrupt, Handel had rented the King's Theater again for two seasons, but had already performed more oratorios. From the 1739/1740 season, Handel switched to the smaller Lincoln's Inn Field Theater and, after the last operas Deidamia and Imeneo, which had little success , did not bring out any new operas there after 1741, but instead switched to English-language, non-stage oratorios.

Amorevoli had apparently been appointed to the King's Theater in London together with the Italian castrato Angelo Maria Monticelli , where another opera company was now trying to produce at least a few Italian operas. If one compares the fee of 850 guineas, which Amorevoli could claim for the entire season 1741/1742, with that which the castrato Monticelli received as Primo uomo (1000 guineas), it can be deduced that Amorevoli was obviously already a sought-after tenor at that time was.

For the first season of 1741/42, another five productions are listed in which Amorevoli is said to have participated. In the following season 1742/43, Amorevoli is said to have appeared in five productions, in two of them ( Gianguir and Temistocles ) in the title role. His last appearance in London is given for May 17, 1743.

Milan (1744–1745)

An interlude led Amorevoli back to Italy, where he took part in two operas in the Regio Ducal Teatro in Milan (Galuppi: Ricimero and Gluck: Ippolito ).

Dresden (1745–1798)

In 1745, Amorevoli was employed at the Saxon Court Theater in Dresden with a starting salary of 2,400 thalers. A year later, Amorevoli received a raise in salary of a further 400 thalers along with "the promise that the same would stay with his widow after his death".

Amorevoli stayed in Dresden most of the rest of his life, even if individual guest appearances took him to other cities. The first performance in which Amorevoli took part is apparently the premiere of Johann Adolph Hasse's opera Arminio , which took place on October 7, 1745 for the annual celebrations for the name day of the Saxon Elector Friedrich August III. took place in Dresden. With Arminio Amorevoli made a convincing debut, because as Segeste he sang the aria "Solcar pensa un mar sicuro" in this production, which is considered to be one of the most demanding and virtuoso aria di tempesta (parables in which storms or violent natural events are thematized) ever written for male voices has been characterized.

Other Hasse operas in which Amorevoli took part include:

  • Leucippo (Hubertusburg October 7, 1747) - Narete
  • Attilio Regolo (Dresden, January 17, 1750) - Manlio
  • Ipermestra (Hubertusburg, October 7, 1751 - Danao, rè d'Argo
  • Arminio (resumption of Dresden, January 1753) - Segeste
  • Solimano (Dresden, February 5, 1753) - Solimano
  • L'eroe cinese (Hubertusburg, October 7, 1753) - Leango
  • Artemisia (Dresden, February 6, 1754) - Sebaste
  • L'olimpiade (Dresden, February 16, 1756) - Clistene

Despite his permanent engagement at the Dresden court, there were longer stays at the Viennese imperial court and in Milan in 1748 and 1749. During the Seven Years' War at the end of the 1750s, Amorevoli, like many other members of the Saxon State Orchestra and Court Opera, did not stay in Dresden. There are many more appearances in Parma (1759) and Milan (1760) during this period. In general, the frequency of appearances at this time is significantly lower than before.

From 1762 to 1763 he stayed with other members of the court orchestra, such as the Elector Friedrich August III. in his exile too, in Warsaw. After the elector's death and Friedrich Christian took over power, Amorevoli stayed at the Dresden court opera despite the radical changes and cuts. B. to the court conductor Johann Adolph Hasse and his wife Faustina Bordoni , who were dismissed without a pension - continued to work at the Dresden court, but only as chamber singers and in church works. He kept his post as chamber singer until at least 1771.

Amorevoli died on November 15, 1798 in Dresden.

repertoire

  • Lanciani: Amore e gratitudine
  • Vivaldi: Ottone in villa (WA Treviso, October 1729) - Cajo Silio
  • Porpora: Mitridate (Rome, Teatro Capranica, January 7th 1730) - Mitridate (title role)
  • Porpora: Siface (Rome, Teatro Capranica, February 7, 1730) - Orcano
  • Hasse: Dalisa (Venice, Teatro San Samuele , May 17, 1730) - Ottone
  • Brochure: Ezio (Turin, Carnival, 1731)
  • Porpora: Annibale (Venice, November 14, 1731) - Annibale (title role)
  • Giovanni Porta : Gianguir (Milan, Regio Ducal Teatro Carnival, 1732) - Gianguir (title role)
  • Giovanni Porta : La Semiramide (Milan, Regio Ducal Teatro Carnival, 1733) - Zoroastro
  • Orlandini: L'innocenza giustificata (Florence, Teatro alla Pergola, September 4, 1734) - role unclear
  • Giacomelli: Cesare in Egitto (Milan, Carnival, 1735) - Lentulo
  • Giacomelli: Cesare in Egitto (WA Venice, autumn 1735) - Toloemeo
  • Hasse: Tito Vespasiano (premiere of La clemenza di Tito ; Pesaro September 24, 1735) - Tito Vespasiano (title role)
  • Hasse: Alessandro nell'Indie (WA der Cleofide from Dresden; Venice, Teatro San Bartolomeo, November 4, 1736) - Alessandro
  • Sarro: Achille in Sciro (Naples, Teatro San Carlo, November 4, 1737) - Ulisse
  • Leo: L'olimpiade (Naples, Teatro San Carlo, December 19, 1737) - Clistene
  • Leo: Le nozze di Amore e Psiche (Naples, Teatro San Carlo, June 23, 1738) - Lycas / Giove
  • Leo, Broschi and others: Demetrio (2nd version, pasticcio, Naples, Teatro San Carlo, June 30, 1738) - Fenicio
  • Sarro: La Partenope (Naples 1739) - Armindo
  • Ristori: Adriano in Siria (Naples, Teatro San Carlo, December 19, 1739) - Osroa
  • Porpora: Il trionfo di Camilla (Naples, Teatro San Carlo, January 20, 1740) - Latino
  • Lampugnani: Adriano in Siria (Vicenza, Teatro delle Grazie, May 1740) - Osroa
  • Feo: Arsace (Turin, Nuovo Teatro Regio, December 26, 1740; at the opening) - Mitrane
  • Arena: Artaserse (Turin Nuovo Teatro Regio, January 21, 1741) - Artabano
  • Sweater: Vologeso re de 'Parti (Reggio Emilia, spring 1741) - Lucio Vero
  • Pietro Domenico Paradisi : Alessandro in Persia
  • Pescetti: Polidoro - Polimnestor
  • Giuseppe Scarlatti : Arminio in Germania (Florence, Teatro alla Pergola, June 24, 1741) -
  • Galuppi: Penelope (London, December 12, 1741) - role unclear
  • Meraspe o l'olimpiade - role unclear (London, 1741/1742)
  • Cefalo e Procri - role unclear (London, 1741/1742)
  • Hate u. a. (Pasticcio): Gianguir (London, King's Theater November 2, 1742) - Gianguir (title role)
  • Mandane (London, King's Theater, 1742) - Dorimaspes
  • Galuppi: Scipione in Cartagine (London, King's Theater March 2, 1742) - Asdrubale
  • Enrico (London, King's Theater January 1, 1743) - role unclear
  • Porpora: Temistocle (London, King's Theater, 1743) - Temistocles (title role)
  • Galuppi: Sirbace (London, King's Theater, 1743) - Rosbales
  • Hasse: Antigono (Hubertusburg, October 7, 1743; Dresden January 20, 1744)
  • Galuppi: Ricimero (Milan, Regio Ducal Teatro, December 26, 1744) - Rodoaldo
  • Gluck: Ippolito (Milan, Regio Ducal Teatro, January 31, 1745) - Teseo
  • Hasse: Arminio (Dresden, October 7, 1745, also resumption in 1753) - Segeste
  • Ristori: Amore Insuperabile - Marte
  • Hasse: Leucippo (Hubertusburg, October 7, 1747) - Narete
  • Gluck: Semiramide riconosciuta (Vienna, May 14, 1748) - Mirteo
  • Wagenseil: Alessandro nell'Indie (Libretto: Fanti; August 11, 1748 - Vienna) - Alessandro
  • Sweater: Il Demetrio (Milan, Regio Ducal Teatro Carnival 1749) - Fenicio
  • Galuppi: Semiramide riconosciuta (Milan, Regio Ducal Teatro di Milano, January 25, 1749) - Ircano
  • Hasse: Attilio Regolo (Dresden, January 17, 1750) - Manlio
  • Jommelli / Bernasconi / Wagenseil / Holzbauer: Euridice (Vienna, Hof-Burgtheater, July 26, 1750) - Dafni
  • Hasse: Arminio (resumption of Dresden, January 1745) - Segeste
  • Hasse: Solimano (Dresden, February 5, 1753) - Solimano
  • Hasse: L'eroe cinese (Hubertusburg, October 7, 1753) - Leango
  • Hasse: Artemisia (Dresden, February 6, 1754) - Sebaste
  • Hasse: L'olimpiade (Dresden, February 16, 1756) - Clistene
  • Traetta: Ippolito ed Aricia (Parma, Nuovo Teatro Regio Ducale - May 9, 1759) - Teseo
  • Lampugnani: La Giulia (Milan, Regio Ducal Teatro, December 26, 1760) - Marziano
  • Sciroli: La Merope (Milan, Regio Ducal Teatro, January 1761) - Polifonte

Contemporaries about Amorevoli, his voice and his acting talent

As early as 1730, Amorevoli was one of the best-paid singers of his time.

In 1741, Elector Karl Albert von Bayern heard Amorevoli in Pullis Vologeso and praised him for his natural and at the same time extremely agile voice. His coloratura and decorations are unique. Charles Burney writes in his General History Of Music on the occasion of Amorevoli's appearance in Alessandro in Persia von Paradisi (Rome 1730): “Amorevoli was an admirable tenor. I have heard better voices of his pitch, but never on stage, more taste and expression. "(" A. is an excellent tenor. Even if I have heard better voices in his pitch, then never on stage and definitely none with more taste and expression. ”).

Fürstenau quotes an unspecified contemporary who describes Amorevoli in 1750 as a man “of a mayoral reputation, medium height, black-brown face”, continues: “His excellent tenor voice, fine, good action, fine expressions, his regular gait, all of these make him to such a good actor as he is really a good singer. ”He also speaks of the fact that Amorevoli“ stayed in Dresden for a long time ”and was“ very popular ”in general.

The Saxon Biography writes: “A. was an outstanding soloist of his time in his vocal field alongside tenor Ottavio Albuzzi: the extreme mobility of the larynx, his good articulation and his vocal range, which reached from d to b '' and had a particularly beautiful sound between c 'and b' in the tenor register , enabled him to master the most difficult coloratura passages. "

Web links

Commons : Angelo Amorevoli  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Operas by Hasse  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. F. Piovanno: Un opéra inconnu de Gluck. Edited volumes of the International Music Society . Vol. 9 (1907-1908), 232
  2. ^ Hasse: Tito Vespasiano. Libretto of the first performance, Pesaro 1735
  3. After Kay Lipton: Angelo Amorevoli. Grove Music Online (accessed October 4, 2015) Amorevoli was also shown in Vivaldis Feraspe in Vienna on November 7, 1739 . However, there is no evidence of such a performance in Corago . Amorevoli cannot be found in the only performance of this opera in Venice in autumn 1739.
  4. to the second performance of the opera. Apparently he had not yet arrived for the premiere on October 31, 1741. So Biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 with reference to Walpole
  5. Corago knows an opera of this name by Pietro Domenico Paradisi (1707 - 25/08/1791), which was performed in 1741 at London's King's Theater on Haymarket. If you believe Hedwig and EH Mueller von Azow: Georg Friedrich Handel. Biography. Letters and writings. Hildesheim / New York 1977, p. 151 , Alessandro in Persia was a pasticcio, the arias by Leonardo Leo , Johann Adolph Hasse , Giuseppe Arena , Giovanni Pescetti , Giovanni Battista Lampugnani and Domenico Scarlatti . The latter also states that the opera was performed 12 times.
  6. About Amorevoli and especially his time in London in the Biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77
  7. ^ So consistent in Grove Music Online and Biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 . However, some of these productions cannot be further verified (see under repertoire)
  8. ^ Biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 .
  9. ^ Salary according to Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of the Electors of Saxony and Kings of Poland Friedrich August I. (August II.) And Friedrich August II. (August III.). Dresden: Kuntze 1862, p. 239 . Fürstenau gives - probably erroneously - 1742 as the starting year. Amorevoli was one of the best-paid singers at the Dresden court from the start. The bassist Biaggio Campagnari , who had been engaged a year before him, received 1000 thalers, the soprano Salvatore Pacifico, who was hired in 1743, received 600 thalers, and Giovanni Bindi had to "work up" from 1100 thalers starting salary of 1500 thalers in 1740 to 2000 thalers in 1743. Only the soprano rest stop Venturo Rocchetti should have received 2000 thalers since 1738. (All information see ibid, Fürstenau 1862, p. 239) If one compares the information with the salaries in 1756, the picture is put into perspective. Fürstenau pays the following salaries for 1756: the castrato Domenico Annibali - 2000 thalers, his castrato colleague Pasquale Bruscolini - 3000, the sopranos Caterina Pillaja (2000) and Teresa Albuzzi-Todeschini and Faustina Bordoni - 3000 thalers each. The top spot was taken in 1756 by the castrato Angelo Maria Monticelli with 4,000 thalers. Cf. Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden. Part 2, On the history of music and theater at the court of the Electors of Saxony and Kings of Poland, Friedrich August I. (August II.) And Friedrich August II. (August III.). Dresden: Kuntze 1862, p. 394
  10. ^ Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of the electors of Saxony and kings of Poland Friedrich August I. (August II.) And Friedrich August II. (August III.). Dresden: Kuntze 1862, p. 239 Fürstenau also mentions the annual fee of 2800 thalers for the year 1756 (ibid, p. 394). For Philipp Kreisig gives : Domenico Annibali - member of the selected circle of the Virtuosi di SM il Ré di Polonia, Elettore di Sassonia. In: The Dresden court of the 18th century and its vocal gods (series of articles by students of the TU Dresden in the monthly Semper of the Semperoper Dresden. Part 3, TU Dresden, Dresden can be downloaded as a Word document  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo : The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this note. A conversion from 1200 to 87000 EUR.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / tu-dresden.de  
  11. ^ Grove Music Online gives - probably erroneously - Leucippo 1747.
  12. Rodolfo Celletti: Storia del belcanto. La Nuova Italia, 1986, p. 129 , only snippet view: "è uno dei piú virtuosistici che siano stati scritti"
  13. determined according to the overview of the costumes in the vestibule of the opera )
  14. ^ Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden. Part 2, On the history of music and theater at the court of the Electors of Saxony and Kings of Poland, Friedrich August I. (August II.) And Friedrich August II. (August III.). Dresden: Kuntze 1862, pp. 249–250 attributes this to the fact that Christoph Willibald Gluck in July 1747 together with the theater group of Angelo Mingotti , who also performed operas repeatedly in Dresden in the summer months, on the occasion of the wedding of Friedrich Christian of Saxony with Maria Antonia Walpurgis performed his own opera La nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe on the Pillnitz garden stage.
  15. Alina Zorawska-Witkowska: The Saxon Court of the Kingdom of Poland. In: Samantha Owens, Barbara M. Reul: Music at German Courts, 1715–1760: Changing Artistic Priorities. Rochester, NY: Boydell 2011, pp. 70-71
  16. ^ On the changes after 1863, Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden. Part 2, On the history of music and theater at the court of the Electors of Saxony and Kings of Poland, Friedrich August I. (August II.) And Friedrich August II. (August III.). Dresden: Kuntze 1862, pp. 372–374 . His fee was also significantly reduced (from 2,800 to 1,000 thalers), but in comparison with the other members of the court orchestra, Amorevoli remained one of the best-paid artists. Compare to the fees after 1864: Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden. Part 1. On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden. On the history of music and theater at the court of the Electors of Saxony, Johann Georg II., Johann Georg III. and Johann Georg IV. Dresden: Kuntze 1861, pp. 155–156
  17. So biography in the Saxon Biography . It should be noted, however, that Amorevoli was also listed later among the employees of the court orchestra, for example in the Electoral Saxon Court and State Calendar: 1777, p. 64 or the Musical Almanac for Germany: To the year 1782 .
  18. ^ Libretto resumption of Treviso October 1729
  19. Hasse: Dalisa. libretto
  20. ^ Libretto Turin 1731, catalog entry , here with Hasse's wife Faustina Bordoni
  21. ^ Libretto Venice 1731
  22. ^ Libretto Milan 1732
  23. ^ Libretto Milan 1733
  24. ^ William Holmes: Opera Observed: Views of a Florentine Impresario in the Early Eighteenth Century. P. 195 for Amorevoli's involvement; Corago for date of performance.
  25. ^ Libretto Milan 1735
  26. ^ Libretto Venice 1735
  27. Libretto UA Pesaro (udT Tito Vespasiano) 1735
  28. Libretto WA Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo November 4, 1736
  29. ^ Reinhard Strohm: Dramma Per Musica: Italian Opera Seria of the Eighteenth Century. P. 109
  30. ^ Libretto Naples 1738
  31. ^ Libretto Naples 1739
  32. ^ Biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 , obviously its "premiere" in London. No libretto for London is found in Corago .
  33. ^ After Sarah Yuill McCleave: Dance in Handel's London Operas. S. 224 was Horace Walpole in his letters, reports that all of London Pescetti's new opera (Polidoro) wanted to see. The position at Horace Walpole is of course: We have a new opera by Pescetti, but a very bad one; However, all the town runs after it, for it ends with a charming dance. (Quoted from The Letters of Horace Walpole. Vol I: 1735–1748. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard 1842, p. 218 ) A name is not mentioned. That it is still Polidoro , s. here .
  34. The performance is verified, cf. Corago . Information on the occupation cannot be found.
  35. a b Die Oper and Amorevolis participation in it according to Grove Music Online and Biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 . Such a work for London in 1741/1742 is nowhere to be found.
  36. ^ Charles Burney: A General History of Music: From the Earliest Ages to the Present. London: Payne, Robson, Clark & ​​Robinson 1789. Volume 4, pp. 448-449
  37. ^ Opera and date proven by Carl Mennicke: Hasse and the Graun brothers as symphonists. Leipzig: Breitkopf 1906, p. 496 . Rolle according to the Biographical Dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 .
  38. ^ Opera documented by Corago , the role in Biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 . A digitized version of the libretto cannot be found.
  39. ^ Opera documented by Corago . Role unclear according to Biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 .
  40. ^ Opera mentioned in Mr. Roman's spuriosity shop: a thematic catalog of 503 works (1213 incipits and other excerpts) from approx. 1680–1750 by more than sixty composers . Rolle according to the Biographical Dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 .
  41. ^ Opera documented by Corago . Rolle according to the Biographical Dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers and other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800 . Vol. 1, p. 77 .
  42. ^ Libretto, Dresden, 1744 (excerpt)
  43. ^ Libretto Dresden 1747
  44. Gluck apparently made the contact while working for the traveling theater group of Angelo Mingotti . Together with Amorevoli, the Dresden-based soprano Venturo Rocchetti also appeared in this Gluck opera. Cf. Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of the Electors of Saxony and Kings of Poland Friedrich August I. (August II.) And Friedrich August II. (August III.). Dresden: Kuntze 1862, p. 250
  45. ^ Corago
  46. Kay Lipman: Angelo Amorevoli in Grove Online Music (accessed October 4, 2015) refers to billing in connection with the opera Siface.
  47. Kay Lipman: Angelo Amorevoli in Grove Music Online without further source
  48. A General History Of Music: From The Earliest Ages to the Present Period . London: Payne, Robson, Clark & ​​Robeson 1789. Volume 4, pp. 446-447 .
  49. ^ Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of the electors of Saxony and kings of Poland Friedrich August I. (August II.) And Friedrich August II. (August III.). Dresden: Kuntze 1862, p. 239
  50. ^ Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of the electors of Saxony and kings of Poland Friedrich August I. (August II.) And Friedrich August II. (August III.). Dresden: Kuntze 1862, p. 239
  51. ^ Gabi Maria Volkmann: Angelo Amorevoli . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .