Ferdinando Bertoni
Ferdinando Bertoni (born August 15, 1725 in Salò , Brescia , † December 1, 1813 in Desenzano ) was an Italian organist , conductor and composer .
Life
Ferdinando Bertoni began his training in Salò, went to Bologna in 1744 and became a student of the famous Padre Martini . At the end of 1745 he moved to Venice , where he worked as an organist and harpsichord teacher. In the same year his first opera La Vedova accorta was performed here, which quickly found its way to Florence and Milan . In 1752 he was given the position of first organist at San Marco . He was now an established musician and composer and in the following years created numerous operas and oratorios , most of which were successfully performed; Travels took him to Naples , Parma , Padua and Turin . An encounter with Mozart and his father Leopold in 1771 happened during this time.
In 1778 he was given leave of absence for two years and traveled to London , where he met Johann Christian Bach along with many other important musicians . Here, too, his operas were successfully performed. After another short stay in England, he finally returned to his Italian homeland in 1784. In the following year his career as a musician was crowned: he was given the position of first conductor at San Marco. He held this important office until 1808. At his own request, he withdrew to Desenzano to join the family of his deceased sister and spent his last years there.
Among his students was the famous castrato Gaspare Pacchierotti , with whom he remained lifelong on friendly terms and who sang the male lead in many of his operas (including in London) and thus contributed to their success. Pacchierotti sang one last time for Bertoni at his funeral when he was over 70 years old.
plant
The main focus of his work is undoubtedly on vocal music. 49 operas, 21 oratorios and 13 cantatas have come down to us, compared to just 6 symphonies and a few chamber music works (6 string quartets and 6 sonatas for piano and violin ) , among others . During his lifetime he hardly appeared as a composer of purely instrumental works. Of the numerous sacred works listed under his name, quite a few can actually be attributed to Padre Martini, whom he often approached for such "collegial assistance".
Style and meaning
His operas were completely committed to the style of the Italian opera of his time, and he was only able to free himself from these conventions in very few cases. It is the chamber music works that received little attention during his lifetime, in which he went beyond the rigid forms of Italian opera music.
literature
- Fabio Fano: BERTONI, Ferdinando Giuseppe. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 9: Berengario – Biagini. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1967.
- Constantin von Wurzbach : Bertoni, Ferdinand . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 1st part. University book printer L. C. Zamarski (formerly JP Sollinger), Vienna 1856, p. 339 ( digitized version ).
Web links
- List of stage works by Ferdinando Bertoni based on the MGG at Operone
- Search for operas by Ferdinando Bertoni (search term in the Autore field : "Bertoni Ferdinando") in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Sheet music and audio files by Ferdinando Bertoni in the International Music Score Library Project
- Sheet music in the public domain by Ferdinando Bertoni in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bertoni, Ferdinando |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bertoni, Ferdinando Gasparo (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian organist, conductor and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 15, 1725 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Salò , Brescia |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 1, 1813 |
| Place of death | Desenzano , Lake Garda |