Gizziello
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Gizziello , actually Gioacchino Conti , (born February 28, 1714 in Arpino , † October 1762 in Rome ) was an Italian opera singer ( castrato , soprano ).
Life
At the age of eight, Gioacchino was neutered . The reason for this was a serious illness, which allegedly could only be cured by castration. But this is certainly not the truth, because castration was officially a criminal offense. He received free private tuition from Domenico Gizzi for 7 years in his house in Naples. Gizzi, born in 1680, was at the same conservatory ( Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio in Naples) as Farinelli's singing teacher Nicola Porpora . After completing his training, Gioacchino Conti took on the stage name Gizziello , following the tradition of many of his singing colleagues, who also named themselves after their singing teachers. B. Porporino after his singing teacher Porpora.
In 1730 the now 17-year-old Gizziello made his debut in Rome in the opera Artaserse by Vinci in the role of Arbace . He soon became a crowd favorite and moved the Romans to tears with his art of singing. His fame soon spread throughout Italy and this is how the famous castrato and pupil of Porporas, Caffarelli , learned about his famous colleague. According to a story told to Charles Burney , Caffarelli, who was singing at the Opera in Naples at the time, is said to have taken a carriage to Rome in 1731 to listen to Gizziello's performance aria. According to this anecdote, Caffarelli is said to have been so enthusiastic about his colleague's appearance that he shouted out loud with a disguised voice: “Bravo, bravissimo! Gizziello, é Caffarelli, che te lo dice! ”(Gizziello, it's Caffarelli who tells you that!). Then Caffarelli immediately drove back to Naples in the coach. This story is all the more remarkable as there is hardly any other episode known in which Caffarelli reacted so positively to one of his colleagues, on the contrary. But even this enthusiasm did not last long and years later, when Caffarelli and Gizziello were supposed to sing together at an event in Naples, Caffarelli swore to induce Gizziello to sing wrong. Gizziello found out about this project and went to Caffarelli's house in Naples, which required great courage from him, since Gizziello was afraid of his colleague. Caffarelli "perched" on a toilet bowl throughout the conversation with Gizziello. Nevertheless, both should have got along very well afterwards and the vocal performance was able to go on without incident. Gizziello was so popular in Rome that his engagement there was even extended by one season and he was only able to leave for Vienna one season later than planned.
His next stop from Vienna was London . There he made his debut in the revival of Handel's opera Ariodante . Farinelli's voice , which 22-year-old Gizziello heard for the first time in London, moved him so much that he was said to have cried and even passed out because he was so desperate that he would never be able to sing with the same perfection. In England Gioacchino Conti sang in Giustino , in Atalanta , Arminio and Berenice . It was a premiere in two respects, not only for the singer, who appeared in London for the first time, but in a certain sense also for the composer Handel, since he had never composed arias for a castrato soprano before. For Gizziello Handel changed his habits and wrote the arias for his new star more modern and much higher than for other sopranos : Gizziello was the only castrato for whom Handel prescribed a high C in an aria (in the opera Atalanta, the aria at the end of the 1st act: non sarà poco ). But even Gizziello was unable to stop the inexorable decline of the opera seria in London and on June 15, 1737 he had his last appearance in the opera Berenice, four days after Farinelli's farewell performance.
Further stations in his career included a. Spain, where he had been hired for some performances by Farinelli, who was now in charge of the opera there. There, too, Gizziello soon became the darling of the court and was allowed to sing very often in the private apartments of the king and queen. He was considered amiable. However, when they wanted to tie him to Spain with an unusual contract, Gizziello preferred to return to Italy.
In 1752 Gizziello was the opera director in Lisbon , where he had to take a break for almost a year because he could not perform because of an illness. He soon retired from the opera stage (around 1757). Religion is said to have been the only consolation in his later life regarding his poor health. But he did not go to the monastery, although this rumor persists. Gizziello died in Rome in October 1762 . Gizziello is said to have been a very humble person, despite his great ability, far from indulging in starry airs like many of his colleagues. One of his singing students was Gluck's first Orpheus , Gaetano Guadagni , whom he taught perfect singing technique in Lisbon.
Appreciation
Gizziello was widely recognized. In a letter dated April 27, 1736, the Handel admirer and friend Charles Jennens wrote to Edward Holdsworth , probably referring to the fact that in the upcoming revival of Handel's Ariodante on May 5 and 7, 1736 (which had its premiere the year before) the castrato Gizziello would be heard for the first time, but Holdsworth obviously did not know him:
“I am not surprised that you Signr. You haven't heard Conti yet, because I hear he's only 19 years old, and he probably wasn't on stage when you were in Italy. People who have heard him say that he is the best soprano (castrato) they have ever heard. The most astonishing thing about him is that with a completely natural voice he comes a full five tones higher than Farinelli and yet comes across as absolutely sweet up to the highest notes. "
literature
- Hubert Ortkemper: Angels against their will. The world of the castrati; another opera story. Dtv, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-423-30468-5 .
- Patrick Barbier: Farinelli. The castrato of kings. The biography. Econ, Düsseldorf 1995, ISBN 3-430-11176-5 .
- Saverio Tomasella: Le chant des songes. Persée, Aix-en-Provence, 2010, ISBN 978-2-35216-806-5 .
Web links
- Gizziello at Operissimo on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jennens' letter to Holdsworth dated April 27, 1736 in the collection of the Handel House in London. The original wording: "I don't wonder you have not heard of Signr. Conti, for they tell me he is but 19 years age, & per-haps had not appear'd upon the stage when you was in Italy. Those who have heard him say He is the finest Soprano they ever heard: & what is something surprizing, he goes five notes higher than Farinelli with a true natural voice, & is sweet to the very top ".
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gizziello |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Conti, Gioacchino (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian opera singer (castrato, soprano) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 28, 1714 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Arpino |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 1762 |
| Place of death | Rome |