Giuseppe Appiani (singer)

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Giuseppe Appiani (* 29. April 1712 in Milan , Duchy of Mantua ; † 2. June 1742 in Bologna , Papal States ) was an Italian alto castrato . According to other sources, he was also known by the nickname Appianino or simply Pianino . Appiani was - alongside Farinelli , Caffarelli and Felice Salimbeni - one of the most famous graduates of the singing school of the Neapolitan composer and singing teacher Nicola Porpora .

Debut in Italy (Rome, Milan, Venice)

Appiani first appeared in Rome in 1729 in works by Leonardo Vinci . He made his first public appearance in La contesa de 'Numi , a "componimento drammatico", the libretto of which was written by the imperial court poet Pietro Metastasio , who worked in Vienna . This piece, which was commissioned by Cardinal Melchior de Polignac, celebrated the birth of the heir to the throne, Louis V Joseph of France , on November 26th and 30th, 1729 in the courtyard of the Cardinal's palace in Rome . His theatrical debut followed on December 26th of the same year at the opening of the carnival season at the Teatro delle Dame in Rome, where he appeared on stage as Erissena in Leonardo Vinci's setting of Alessandro nell'Indie , the first setting of this libretto.

On August 28, 1730 he made his debut at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan in the role of Sigismondo in the opera Arminio by Johann Adolph Hasse, who was already appointed conductor of the Saxon court orchestra at the time . In Milan he stood on the stage with two of the greatest singing talents of his time: the soprano Faustina Bordoni , who was to marry Hasse in the same year 1730, and the castrato Giovanni Carestini . At the same time, his participation in the production of Arminio Appianis was his first collaboration with Hasse.

In 1731 he returned to the Teatro delle Dame in Rome for two carnival productions :

In autumn 1731 he appeared for the first time at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice, again together with Faustina Bordoni

Further roles in Italy

Allorto also mentions a performance of the opera Tito Manlio by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo in Genoa, Teatro San Agostino, and a Clemenza di Tito by an unknown composer for 1733 . Pollarollo died in 1723; Nor is Corago documented a performance later than 1720.

Chamber singer at the Imperial Court in Vienna

On January 10, 1739 Appiani received a job as a chamber singer at the Viennese imperial court, apparently employed by Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , the wife of Emperor Charles VI. and as such also Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. (In any case, he is announced in the libretto of Artaserse by Christoph Willibald Gluck as “Virtuoso di Camera nell'attual servizio di SM la Regina di Ongberia e Boemia et cc.”) His annual salary is given as 1,800 florins.

Sudden death 1742

In 1742 Appiani was to take part in the opera Eumene by Niccolò Jommelli , which was performed at the Teatro Malvezzi in Bologna. A record fee of 3400 lire had been contractually agreed for this. Appiani still appeared at the performance on May 5, 1742. However, he fell ill during the rehearsals at Eumene and succumbed to this disease on June 2, 1742.

Appreciation

Despite a relatively short career as a singer, Appiani was highly regarded. This is shown not least by the high fees that were granted to him. In addition, there are references to his extraordinary singing talent.

In his letters from Italy, Charles de Brosses names him among the best castrati he has heard in Italy , along with Senesino , Laurenzino, Marianini, Egizietto, Angelo Maria Monticelli , Felice Salimbeni and Porporino . Only Appianino is provided with the apposition “excellent contralto”, which could indicate a special impression.

François-Joseph Fétis notes in the short entry in his Universal Biography of the Musicians that Appianino died “at the beginning of a career” that “looked extremely promising”.

Appiani as a fictional character

In her novel Verführung (2013), Tanja Kinkel elevated Appianino to the role of an actor.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Appianino at Haböck, upright piano at Allorto (see literature).
  2. ↑ December 26th is mentioned as the premiere date at Allorto, both Alessandro nell'Indie (Leonardo Vinci) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna and the entry at operabaroque.fr name January 7th 1730 as the date. See the opera's Italian libretto (digitized in the Internet Archive ).
  3. ↑ Libretto by Ciro riconosciuto, Rome 1731 (digitized version)
  4. ^ Giuseppe Appiani (singer) (libretto data set by Leos Catone in Utica ) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna ; his participation is documented at Allorto.
  5. ^ Libretto by Predieris Scipione il Giovane (digitized version)
  6. ↑ Libretto by Giacomellis Epaminonda (digital version)
  7. ↑ Libretto by Hasse's Demetrio (digitized version)
  8. ↑ Libretto by Amerovolis Cesare in Egitto (digitized version )
  9. ↑ Libretto by Brivios La Merope (digitized version )
  10. ↑ Libretto from Brivios Germania trionfante in Arminio (digitized version ) ; Participation in Allorto. Allorto mentions another opera by Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio - Didone abbandonata - for the same season .
  11. ↑ Libretto by Gluck's Artaserse (digitized version)
  12. ↑ a b Riccardo Allorto: Giuseppe Appiani. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Volume 3 (1961)
  13. ↑ In addition, Porporino's appearance is emphasized and characterized as "jeune écolier de Porpora, joli comme la plus jolie fille". Quoted from Charles de Brosses: L'Italie il ya cent ans, ou Lettres écrites d'Italie à quelques amis en 1739 et 1740. p. 366 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  14. ↑ literally: "à l'entrée d'une carrière qui semblait devoir être brillante". In: François-Joseph Fétis : Biography universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique. Vol. 1. Meline, Brussels 1837, p. 97 ( digitized in the Google book search)
  15. ^ Review of Tanja Kinkel's novel Verführung (Knaur TB 2013) at Amazon.de
personal data
SURNAME Appiani, Giuseppe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Appianino; pianino
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian old castrato
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1712
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan , Duchy of Mantua
DATE OF DEATH June 2, 1742
Place of death Bologna , Papal States