Giuseppe Puppo

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Giuseppe Maria Puppo (born July 12, 1749 in Lucca , † April 19, 1827 in Florence ) was an Italian violinist, composer and conductor of classical music.

Life

Giuseppe Puppo received his first music lessons in his hometown from a violinist named Fortini. From 1763 he was able to continue his education as a paying student at the Conservatorio S. Onofrio in Naples. In 1768 he returned to Lucca and took over the direction of the local orchestra from Filippo Manfredi . Art trips took him from 1775, initially for a short time to Paris and Madrid, where he was invited to make music with a brother of the king. Then he stayed under the protection of the Ambassador of Veneto in Lisbon, where he was introduced to the most distinguished houses. A subscription concert brought him so much money in 1777 that he believed himself a millionaire and immediately traveled to London to lead an elaborate lifestyle without making music. The supposed wealth was quickly used up and he was forced to give concerts again. These concerts were so successful that he quickly regained considerable wealth. Puppo liked to pretend to be a student of Tartini , this is unlikely as there are no sources for this and, according to the statement of the student Pierre Lahoussaye, he was never in Padua.

From 1784 Puppo lived and worked for 27 years in Paris, where Giovanni Battista Viotti made him head of the orchestra of the Italian opera des Théatre Monsieur in July 1789, after the death of Niccolò Mestrino . After the closure of this opera, he held the same position at the “ Théâtre Feydeau ”, after which he was orchestra director at the “ Théâtre de la République ” until 1799 . In addition to musicians such as Pierre Rode , Daniel Steibelt , Jean-Baptiste Bréval and others, Puppo was Viotti's regular chamber music partner. François-Joseph Fétis and other contemporary witnesses described Puppo as a bizarre and unsteady character who was fond of wine consumption.

After a divorce he left Paris and traveled to Naples in 1811, where he was employed as first violinist and conductor in the Teatro San Carlo . He lost this position in 1817 when he refused to perform dance music at social events. After a short time in Florence, in 1820, under the patronage of the aristocratic music lover and amateur violinist Damiani, he moved to Pontremoli, his hometown, with the obligation to give music lessons to talented students there. Here, too, he failed to fulfill his mandate and returned to Florence in 1822. He lived impoverished in the city for a few years until the wealthy English music professor and music writer Edward Taylor (* 1784, Norwich) took over the costs of accommodation in a hospice in 1826, where Puppo died a year later.

Works (selection)

  • 18 Capriccii for violin (1814) (11 of which are missing)
  • 3 duos for 2 violins
  • 6 Fantaisies for violin and piano
  • 2 concerts for violin and orchestra

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Warwick Lister: Amico: The Life of Giovanni Battista Viotti Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195372403
  2. ↑ Short CV Puppos on an Italian website
  3. ^ MGG , 2nd edition, vol. 13, columns 1051 and 1052
  4. ^ François-Joseph Fétis: Biography universelle des musiciens et bibliographie génèrale de la musique
personal data
SURNAME Puppo, Giuseppe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Puppo, Giuseppe Maria (full name); Puppo, Joseph; Mister Puppy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian violinist and classical composer
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1749
PLACE OF BIRTH Lucca
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1827
Place of death Florence