Giovanni Verocai

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Giovanni Verocai [also: Verocaj, Verokai, Verrocai] (* around 1700 in Venice , † December 13, 1745 in Braunschweig ) was an Italian composer and violinist .

Live and act

Verocai is mentioned for the first time in Johann Mattheson's Foundation of an Honorary Gate as a violinist in the Italian opera company of the Impresario Santo Burigotti in Breslau between 1727 and 1729, where he also worked as a composer of arias for the opera pasticcio Griselda . Possibly he was a student of Antonio Vivaldi . In 1729 he left Breslau. Although it was suspected that Verocai subsequently worked in Dresden, there is no evidence of Verocai's stay in Dresden from 1729 to 1731 in the musicians' directory of Elector August the Strong , which is why it can be assumed that Verocai was in Warsaw at that time , where Dresden court musicians were also employed. Von Vajsbach (Weißbach), an authorized minister at the time, reported from Warsaw: “The singer Ljudovika's husband, Mr. Volski, came to me, and he brought Verocai with him. Verocai was not in the royal service until then, although he was entered in the list that was brought to me. "

In February 1731 Verocai came as one of the 22 musicians of the Polish band selected by Elector August for one year, where on May 9, 1731, his solo cantata Cantata per il giorno dell'incoronazione di Sua Maestra Imperiale di Russia as the coronation cantata for the Russian Empress Anna Ioanovna was performed. After the Russian court moved to St. Petersburg and the one-year stay of the Polish band had ended, the musicians left Russia, with the exception of Verocai and the Venetian cellist Gasparo Janeschi. In 1732 Verocai joined the "Italian Company" of the Russian court and became its concertmaster with a salary of 1000 rubles. The only surviving work from this period is the sonata volume Douzes Sonates à Violon seul avec la basse , which was printed in St. Petersburg between 1735 and 1738 and is dedicated to Charles I of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, his future employer.

At the end of May 1738, Verocai left Russia with the aim of Braunschweig, where he was to become court conductor. There is much speculation in research about the reasons why Verocai turned his back on Russia: Leonid Butir suspects that Verocai was no match for the newly arrived violin virtuosos who came to St. Petersburg around 1735, which is why he looked for a new employer. Boris Vol'man and Ljudmila Gurevič also support this thesis, who see Verocai's sonatas as "the hand of an experienced musician and interpreter", but do not attribute any creative talent to him. Other reasons could also have been the unhealthy climate and his wife's departure from Russia. Sophie Amalia Kayser (born September 25, 1711 in Darmstadt; † May 12, 1747 in Braunschweig), the daughter of the violinist Johann Kayser and the singer Margaretha Susanna Kayser , left Russia in 1735 to perform Verocai's first opera Il disprezzo d'amore in Hamburg . In 1737 she became prima donna at the Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel court.

Before Verocai arrived at the court in Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, he composed his comic opera Il Costantino during a stay in Warsaw , which was performed in Warsaw on February 10, 1739. He then became Kapellmeister and director of the Italian Court Opera in Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, where he also worked as a composer of at least 13 operas. In addition, in 1745 he must have had relationships with the Württemberg court and the then senior music director Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello (1690–1758). This is evident from a handwritten note by Verocai from 1745, in which he confirms that he had received 20 ducats from Brescianello. His operas were regularly performed in Braunschweig until 1747, although there is no indication in the libretti that the composer had died at the end of 1745. These performances were supervised by his wife.

Works

Operas

All of his operas are lost.

  • Il disprezzo d'amore or The contempt for love , pastorale, premiere : Hamburg 1736
  • Il Costantino , dramma ridicolo per musica; Premiere: Warsaw, February 10th, 1739
  • Venceslao , dramma per musica; Libretto: Apostolo Zeno ; Premiere: Braunschweig 1739
  • Penelope , dramma per musica; Libretto: Pietro Pariati ; WP: Braunschweig 1740
  • Demofoonte , dramma per musica; Libretto: Pietro Metastasio ; Premiere: Braunschweig, February 1742
  • Zenobia and Radamistus , dramma per musica (sinfonia and arias); Libretto and probably also the music of the recitatives: Georg Caspar Schürmann , based on Zenobia by Pietro Metastasio; Premiere: Braunschweig, summer 1742
  • Cato in Utica , dramma per musica; Libretto based on Catone in Utica by Pietro Metastasio; Premiere: Braunschweig, spring 1743
  • Hissifile , dramma per musica; Libretto based on Issipile by Pietro Metastasio; WP: Braunschweig 1743
  • La forza dell'amore e dell'odio , dramma per musica; Premiere: Braunschweig 1744
  • Sesostri , dramma per musica; Libretto after Pietro Pariati; Premiere: Braunschweig 1744
  • The faithful Emirena , dramma per musica; Libretto: Georg Caspar Schürmann, based on Adriano in Siria by Pietro Metastasio; Premiere: Braunschweig, February 2nd, 1745
  • Apollo fra pastori , pastorale in musica, premiere: Braunschweig 1746
  • Il ciro riconosciuto , dramma per musica; Libretto: Pietro Metastasio; Premiere: Braunschweig, February 1746
  • Achille in Sciro , dramma per musica; Libretto: Pietro Metastasio; Premiere: Braunschweig, August 1746
  • Apollo fra i pastori , pastoral; Premiere: Braunschweig 1746
  • Temistocle in bando , dramma per musica; Libretto: Pietro Metastasio; Premiere: Braunschweig 1747

Other works

  • Cantata per il giorno dell'incoronazione di Sua Maestra Imperiale di Russia ; Moscow 1731
  • Douzes Sonates à Violon seul avec la Basse ; St. Petersburg 1735–38
  • Labirinto musicale per 2 violini e basso continuo ; circa 1740
  • Sinfonia
  • Arias

Web links

Commons : Giovanni Verocai  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Claudio Sartori (translated by Marianne Damm): Verocai, Giovanni . In: Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart , p. 77676 (cf. MGG vol. 13, p. 1501 ff.) Bärenreiter-Verlag 1986 ( digital library volume 60).
  2. ^ Johann Mattheson : Basis of an honor gate , Hamburg 1740, pp. 376–377.
  3. ↑ a b c Alina Żórawska-Witkowska: Article Verocai , in: The music in past and present , 2nd revised edition, ed. by Ludwig Finscher, Person Teil, vol. 16, Kassel et al. 2006, col. 1507–1508.
  4. ↑ a b Leonid Butir: Article Verokai (Verocai) , in: Muzykal'nyj Petersburg. XVIII. Ėncyklopedičeskij slovar ' , ed. by Anna Porfir'eva u. a., vol. 1, St. Petersburg 2000, p. 168 f.
  5. ^ Robert-Aloys Mooser: Violonistes-Compositeurs italiens en Russie au XVIIIe siècle. Verocai , Milan 1938, p. 4.
  6. ↑ Alina Żórawska-Witkowska: The Saxon Court of the Kingdom of Poland , in: Music at German Courts , 1715-1760, ed. by Samantha Owens, Barbara Reul, Janice Stockigt, Woodbridge 2011, p. 62.
  7. ↑ Anna Porfir'eva and Larisa Berezovčuk: Article Pridvornyj orkestr (Court Orchestra) , in: Muzykal'nyj Peterburg. XVIII. Ėncyklopedičeskij slovar ' , ed. by Anna Porfir'eva u. a., Vol. 2, St. Petersburg 2000, pp. 414-417
  8. ↑ Anna Porfir'eva: Article Italianskaja kampanija , in: Muzykal'nyj Peterburg. XVIII. Ėncyklopedičeskij slovar ' , ed. by Anna Porfir'eva u. a., Vol. 1, St. Petersburg 2000, pp. 408-409.
  9. ^ Robert-Aloys Mooser: Annales des la musique et des musiciens en russie au XVIIIme siècle . Volume 1. Des origines a la mort de Pierre III (1762) , 3 vol., Geneva 1948, p. 172.
  10. ↑ Boris Vol'man: Russkie pečatnye noty v XVIII veke , Leningrad 1957, p. 26
  11. ↑ Ljudmila Gurevič: The Russian violin baroque , in: Phenomena and ways of music-cultural exchange. Germany and Russia in the 18th century. Conference report 14th Arolser Barock-Festspiele 1999 , ed. by Friedhelm Brusniak and Klaus-Peter Koch, (= Arolser Contributions to Music Research, 8 ), p. 32.
  12. ^ Hans Joachim Marx:  Kayser, Sophie Amalia. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  13. ^ Sonja Erhardt: Instrumental Music at the Court of St. Petersburg in the 18th Century , Heidelberg, 2013, pp. 81–82 (unpublished master's thesis).
  14. ↑ Carolyn V. Ricketts:  Verocai, Giovanni. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
personal data
SURNAME Verocai, Giovanni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Verocaj, Giovanni; Verokai, Giovanni; Verrocai, Giovanni
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian composer and violinist
DATE OF BIRTH around 1700
PLACE OF BIRTH Venice
DATE OF DEATH December 13, 1745
Place of death Braunschweig