Gian Francesco de Majo

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Gian Francesco de Majo

Gian Francesco de Majo or "Ciccio de Majo" or "Cicillo de Majo" (born March 24, 1732 in Naples , † November 17, 1770 ibid) was a composer of the Neapolitan school .

Life

Gian Francesco de Majo came from a family of musicians. His father Giuseppe de Majo was court organist and from 1745 first conductor of the royal court orchestra. He composed mainly chamber music and comic operas in the Neapolitan dialect. Nothing more is known about Gian Francesco's musical training. But it must have been intense, because he made his debut as 2nd harpsichordist of the court orchestra at the age of 15, for which he received the honorary title of "extraordinary organist". It was not until 3 years later that he also received a regular salary and in 1758 was promoted to second organist. From this time his sacred works are known.

After the debut of his first opera Ricinero Re de 'Goti in Parma in 1759 , which was also successfully performed in Rome a year later, opera has since been the focus of his work: around this time, however, the first signs of tuberculosis appeared .

Despite his first operatic successes, he took further composition lessons from Padre Giambattista Martini in Bologna from 1763 . There he also met Carlo Broschi , known as Farinelli. Through the mediation of the two he received commissions in Vienna, such as the festival opera for the coronation of Joseph II as Roman-German king . After many successful productions in almost all cultural centers in Europe, he returned to Naples in 1765 in the hope of being able to succeed his father. This plan failed because Niccolò Piccinni was preferred. He then left Naples for further opera projects.

In early 1770, due to his deteriorating health, he finally returned to Naples and died there on November 17, 1770.

He was very much appreciated by his contemporaries. When the 14-year-old Mozart heard de Majos church music on his visit to Naples, he called it “bellissima” in a letter. In addition to his operas, he also created sacred works, such as the oratorio Gesù sotto il peso della croce in 1764 or the passion music La passione di Gesù Cristo, performed in Milan in 1778 . Like his contemporaries Niccolò Jommelli and Tommaso Traetta , all compositional possibilities of the time were at his disposal. Depending on the client's wishes, he could deliver classic opera series or “reform operas ” while maintaining the same quality.

Operas

Surname libretto premiere
Ricimero, re de 'Goti Pietro Pariati and Apostolo Zeno 1759, Parma
Astrea placata Pietro Metastasio 1760, Naples
Cajo Fabricio Apostolo Zeno 1760, Naples
Almeria Marco Coltellini 1761, Livorno
Artaserse Pietro Metastasio 1762 (?), Venice
Catone in Utica Pietro Metastasio 1762 (?), Turin
Demofoonte Pietro Metastasio 1763, Rome
Alcide negli Orti Esperidi Marco Coltellini 1764, Vienna
Ifigenia in Tauride Mattia Verazi 1764, Mannheim
Motezuma Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi 1765, Turin
La costanza fortunata Ludovico Savioli 1765, Madrid
Alessandro Mattia Verazi after Pietro Metastasio 1766, Mannheim
Antigono Pietro Metastasio 1767, Venice
Ipermestra Pietro Metastasio 1768, Naples
Antigone Gaetano Roccaforte 1768 (?), Rome
Didone abbandonata Pietro Metastasio 1769, Venice
Adriano in Siria Pietro Metastasio 1769 (?), Rome

literature

  • Sabine Rademacher, contribution to the program of the opera Allessandro nell 'Indie of the Nationaltheater Mannheim , 228th season.

Web links

Commons : Gian Francesco de Majo  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dataset on Alessandro at Operone , accessed on October 1, 2014.