Giacinto Andrea Cicognini

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Giacinto Andrea Cicognini (born November 13, 1606 in Florence , † November 1649 in Venice ) was an Italian playwright and librettist ; he was the son of the poet and playwright Jacopo Cicognini.

Life

Cicognini completed his education in 1627 at the University of Pisa . From 1640 to 1645 he lived in Florence as legal advisor to the poet and playwright Giambattista Ricciardi. In 1647 he wrote his first own libretto, Il Celio , which was set to music by Sapiti and Baglioni. Later that year he moved to Venice, where he worked as secretary to Francesco Boldieri, a nobleman who administered the assets of the Order of St. John . His fame as a playwright and librettist grew with the number of dramas, tragedies, comedies and librettos that he wrote for theaters and opera houses in Venice. The composers he worked for included Francesco Cavalli , Antonio Cesti and Francesco Lucio.

Cicognini was thus one of the most important actors in 17th century opera; he combined elements of tragedy and comedy and often showed signs of Spanish influence. His most famous libretti are Giasone (set to music by Cavalli 1649) and Orontea (set to music by Lucio 1649 and Cesti 1656), which would become the most popular operas of the 17th century in Europe. The text by Salvatore Sciarrinos , the opera Luci mie traditrici premiered at the Schwetzingen Festival in 1998, is based on the drama Il tradimento per l'onore , incorrectly attributed to Cicognini, the author of which has since been identified as Francesco Stramboli.

The success of his works in the context of professional as well as academic and courtly performance practice meant that after Cicognini's death his plays were printed in numerous editions. The popularity and circulation of these prints, in turn, motivated book printers to also praise pieces by other authors as Cicognini works, which is why it is still not always possible to say with certainty which dramas actually come from him. The first Italian-language performances of his works in German-speaking countries can be recorded for 1656 in Innsbruck ( Orontea ) and 1659 at the Viennese court ( Le gelosie fortunate del prencipe Rodrigo and Il Don Gastone di Moncada ). The first translations and adaptations for professional theater were created around the Innsbruck court, where the principals Johann Ernst Hoffmann and Peter Schwarz were employed as court comedians with a troupe from 1659 onwards. For the German version of Le gelosie fortunate del re di Valenza , Count Veit Ernst Künigl first made a rough translation in Innsbruck, which was adapted by the actor Christoph Blümel in 1662 under the title Comædia Von Der glüeckseligen Eÿfersucht zweschen Rodrich and Delomira von Valenza . In addition to this piece, Adamira or Das amliebte und Beloved Ehrenbild as well as Don Gaston or Mirror of True Friendship proved to be box office hits for numerous German-speaking traveling troops in the following decades . During the first decades of the 18th century, the importance of Cicognini as a playwright both in Italy and in German-speaking countries gradually waned; to this day he is one of the largely forgotten playwrights of the 17th century.

Works (selection)

source

  • Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich .: Gale, 2009.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Silvia Castelli: Giacinto Andrea Cicognini. Un figlio d'arte nella Firenze secentesca. In: Flavia Cancedda, Silvia Castelli: Per una bibliografia di Giacinto Andrea Cicognini. Alinea, Florenz 2001, pp. 25-75. The correct year of death 1649 can be proven by a funeral service in honor of Cicognini in Florence, which was held on November 21, 1649, cf. ibid. p. 64.
  2. ↑ On the Spanish models of Cicognini's works cf. Nicola Michelassi, Salomé Vuelta García: Il Teatro Spagnolo a Firenze nel Seicento. Alinea, Florenz 2013, pp. 103-109.
  3. ↑ Cf. Anna Tedesco: Cicognini's Giasone. Between Music and Theater. In: Ellen Rosand (ed.): Reading Cavalli's Operas for the Stage. Manuscript, Edition, Production. (Ashgate interdisciplinary studies in opera) Ashgate, Burlington 2013, ISBN 978-1-4094-1218-2 , pp. 229-260.
  4. ^ Carl B. Schmidt:  Orontea. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  5. ↑ Luci mie traditrici on IRCAM , accessed on May 2, 2017. On the problem of authorship cf. Diego Símini: Il corpus teatrale di Giacinto Andrea Cicognini. Pensa multimedia, Lecce et al. a. 2012, p. 126.
  6. ↑ A list of the pieces according to the current state of research in Diego Símini: Il corpus teatrale di Giacinto Andrea Cicognini. Opere autentiche, apocrife e di dubbia attribuzione. Pensa multimedia, Lecce et al. a. 2012, pp. 125-126. Flavia Cancedda and Silvia Castelli compiled a bibliography of the manuscripts and prints, cf. Flavia Cancedda, Silvia Castelli: Per una bibliografia di Giacinto Andrea Cicognini. Successo teatrale e fortuna editoriale di un drammaturgo del Seicento. (= Secoli d'oro, 24) Alinea, Florence 2001.
  7. ^ William C. Holmes: Yet Another Orontea. Further report between Venice and Vienna. In: Maria Teresa Muraro (ed.): Venezia e il melodramma nei Seicento. Olschki, Florenz 1976, pp. 199-225.
  8. ↑ a b Don Roderich's blissful jealousy at Thespis Digital.
  9. ^ Herbert Seifert: The opera at the Viennese imperial court in the 17th century. Hans Schneider, Tutzing 1985, p. 443 f.
  10. ↑ Adamira or Das amliebte und Beloved Ehrenbild at Thespis Digital.
  11. ↑ Bärbel Rudin: The text library of the Eggenberg court comedians in Ceský Krumlov / Bohemian Krumau (1676–1691). In: Jill Bepler, Helga Meise (eds.): Collecting, reading, translating as courtly practice in the early modern period. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2010, pp. 88–90.
personal data
SURNAME Cicognini, Giacinto Andrea
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian playwright and librettist
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1606
PLACE OF BIRTH Florence
DATE OF DEATH November 1649
Place of death Venice