Maria Landini

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Maria Landini (also: Maria de Chateauneuf-Landini or Maria Landini-Conti ; * 1667 - 1668 or 1670 ; † June 22, 1722 ) was an Italian baroque opera singer ( soprano ) who worked in Italy, Hanover and Vienna .

Life

Youth in Rome

Gaspar van Wittel : View of the Tiber in Rome , 1685 ( KHM Vienna)

There is a certain lack of clarity about her origin, it is said that she was born in Hamburg in 1667 or 1668 , another source speaks of 1670 as the year of birth. Her mother, Francesca Portuì, called " Fanchon ", was a chambermaid of Queen Christine of Sweden , whom she met in Paris and married to a captain of her bodyguard, Francesco Landini from Pesaro . However, an anonymous author of a Historia degli intrighi galanti claimed that Mary's actual father was Orazio Del Monte, a nobleman who lived in the immediate vicinity of Palazzo Riario (now Palazzo Corsini ), the Roman residence of Christine of Sweden.

Maria was nicknamed "Mariuccia" in her youth and grew up at the Roman court of Christine of Sweden as her protégé. She lived in Palazzo Riario, where she received musical and vocal training, as did several other singers, including the beautiful Angela Maddalena Voglia known as "Giorgina", with whom the Landini often performed at the Queen's musical events. For example, the two sang in July 1687 and July 1688 at Christine's residence in festive serenatas in front of a large audience. Here the Landini was called " virtuosa di Sua Maestà ". A joint appearance by "Mariuccia" and Giorgina at the queen's house is also documented for September 2, 1688. After another serenata on the evening of September 20, 1688 in the jasmine garden of Maria's alleged biological father, Orazio Del Monte, the latter died of a stroke .

Career in Germany and Italy

After Christine's death in 1689, Maria Landini went to Germany and was in Hanover by mid-1691 at the latest. In the year mentioned she was loaned to the court of Celle together with the castrati Clementino ( Clemens Hader ) and “Nicolino” (probably Nicola Paris ) . She stayed in Hanover until around 1696 and was part of the ensemble of Agostino Steffani's La libertà contenta during the carnival of 1693 on February 3 and 6 , again together with Clementino, “Nicolino” and the tenor Antonio Borosini . In Hanover in 1695 she married the actor “Chateauneuf” (sometimes referred to as Count Castelnuovo or Mallo di Castelnovo). Therefore she called herself in the episode often "Maria di Chateauneuf Landini" or "Maria Landini di Castelnovo".

The Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice

At the end of the 1690s she was back in Italy, where she entered the service of the Duke of Mantua , Ferdinando Carlo von Gonzaga-Nevers , and in 1698 (in Mantua) appeared in Giovanni Bononcini's successful opera Il trionfo di Camilla , together with Nicola Tricarico and Anna Maria Lisi . In the Carnival of 1699-1700 she was recorded for the first time in Venice , where she played at the Teatro San Salvatore as prima donna in the world premieres of Marc'Antonio Ziani's operas Il duello d'Amore e di Vendetta (premiere: December 27, 1699) and La pace generosa (premiere: February 10, 1700), both times alongside Nicolino ( Nicola Grimaldi ) as primo uomo .

In the following years until 1711 she appeared in other theaters in Northern Italy in addition to Mantua and Venice. In 1701 she was in Genoa the Valeria in Bononcini's Muzio Scevola alongside Nicola Paris, and in 1703 in Casale Monferrato she sang alongside the famous castrato Cortona ( Domenico Cecchi ) and Diamante Maria Scarabelli in Gli equivoci del sembiante by Antonio Caldara . Caldara also used it in Bologna in 1709 in his L 'inimico generoso as prima donna, in a star production with Senesino , Scarabelli and bass Giuseppe Maria Boschi .

In 1710 Maria Landini sang for the first time at the imperial court in Vienna, in the oratorios Sant'Alessio by Camilla de Rossi and La sapienza umana by Ziani, as well as in the operas Muzio Scevola by Giovanni Bononcini and La decima fatica d'Ercole by Johann Joseph Fux .

In 1711 she was once again in Venice at the Teatro San Cassiano , where she sang the title role in the world premiere of Francesco Gasparini's Merope in the Carnival of 1712 . Even before her opera appearance, she heard the Venetian nobleman and composer Benedetto Marcello - and later author of a famous satire on opera - and left a description of Maria Landini in a letter from October 1711, where he shared her in part with the equally famous Santa Stella compared:

“I've heard the Landini, who is really no longer very young, but you can't say that she is particularly old, especially since she looks very good and is very graceful. She sings incomparably (according to my weak judgment), with more power ( virtù ) than the Santa and with an even more refined taste. Your voice is better because it doesn't tire singing; Regarding the action, it is said everywhere that it is very special and maybe unique if you like a part - as they say, that is the case with this role, with which you are very satisfied. So I hope that she completely compensates for the deficiencies of Santa. "

- Benedetto Marcello : letter of October 16, 1711 to the Princess Borghese

Prima donna in Vienna

Bernardo Bellotto : Schottenkirche and Freyung in Vienna (KHM, Vienna)

From January 1713 until her death in 1722, Maria Landini officially became a member of the imperial court orchestra in Vienna under Charles VI. and received an enormous salary of 4,000 florins , more than any other Viennese musician at the time. After the death of her first husband in October 1714, she married the court composer Francesco Conti in the Schottenkirche in Vienna , who was also widowed - his first wife Teresia Kugler was a daughter of the prima donna Giulia Masotti and was also a singer at the imperial court.

In the next few years Landini often sang leading roles under the name "la Conti" or "La Contini" in numerous works by her husband and other composers at the Viennese court, including operas by Johann Joseph Fux: Dafne in lauro (1714), Orfeo ed Euridice (1715), Angelica, vincitrice d'Alcina (1716) and Diana placata (1717); also in Antonio Caldara's operas Il Maggior Grande (1716), Cajo Marzio Coriolano and La Verità nell'Inganno (1717), Ifigenia in Aulide (1718) and Apollo in Cielo (1720). In 1719 she appeared in Francesco Gasparini's Don Chisciotte in Sierra Morena , among others , and embodied the role of Venus (Venere) in Contis Elisa .

Landini made her last appearances on the opera stage in 1721 in Contis Alessandro in Sidone . After that, she became seriously ill and made her will . In May 1722, she and her husband planned a trip to Padua . However, she died in July 1722.

Maria Landini had several children from their two marriages: Francesca, Ferdinand, Caterina and Ignazio.

After her death, Francesco Conti entered into a third marriage with the next Viennese prima donna Maria Anna Lorenzoni.

literature

  • Dagmar Glüxam, Christian Fastl: Landini-Contini (Landini-Conti, La Conti, La Contini, La Landina, di Chateauneuf, detta Landini, di Castelnuovo), Maria. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 3, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-7001-3045-7 .
  • Janet K. Paige: Sirens on the Danube: Giulia Masotti and Women Singers at the Imperial Court , in: Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, Volume 17 (2011) No. 1, 2015, online (English; accessed January 2, 2020)
  • Colin Timms: Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music , Peyton and Barber, Oxford University Press, 2003, online (English; accessed January 2, 2020)
  • Hermine Weigel Williams: The years 1713–1722 (3rd chapter), in: Francesco Bartolomeo Conti: His Life and Music , Routledge, 1999/2018. Excerpts online as a Google Book (English; accessed on January 2, 2020)
  • Anna Zilli: Christina of Sweden queen of music in Rome and the women singers at her service , in: Il Ganassi, Anno 17, no.14 , Fondazione Italiana per la Musica Antica (Italian)

Web links

  • Maria Landini dite Contini (also [Landini-Conti] [La Landina] [Continin] [Maria Chateauneuf] [Landini, di Castelnuovo]) , short biography on Quell'Usignolo (French; accessed on January 2, 2020)

Individual notes

  1. ↑ also: Mariuccia, La Landina, Landini di Chateauneuf, Landini di Castelnuovo, Landini-Conti, Landini-Contini, La Conti, La Contini, die Continin. See: Dagmar Glüxam / Christian Fastl: Landini-Contini (Landini-Conti, La Conti, La Contini, La Landina, di Chateauneuf, detta Landini, di Castelnuovo), Maria , in: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon online (accessed January 2, 2020) ; also Anna Zilli: Christina of Sweden queen of music in Rome and the women singers at her service , in: Il Ganassi, Anno 17, no.14 , Fondazione Italiana per la Musica Antica (Italian), pp. 2-3. See also: Maria Landini dite Contini (aussi [Landini-Conti] [La Landina] [Continin] [Maria Chateauneuf] [Landini, di Castelnuovo]) , short biography on Quell'Usignolo (French; accessed on January 2, 2020)
  2. ↑ a b c d e Anna Zilli: Christina of Sweden queen of music in Rome and the women singers at her service , in: Il Ganassi, Anno 17, no.14 , Fondazione Italiana per la Musica Antica (Italian), p. 2
  3. ↑ a b c d Colin Timms: Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music , Peyton and Barber, Oxford University Press, 2003, online , p. 61
  4. ↑ The French nickname (usually for Françoise) and the somewhat strange surname with the stressed last syllable, as well as the mother's stay in Paris, could indicate that she was actually French.
  5. ^ "History of the gallant intrigues"
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h Anna Zilli: Christina of Sweden queen of music in Rome and the women singers at her service , ..., p. 3
  7. ↑ a b Marko Deisinger: Music-related sources from the correspondence between Rome and the Imperial Court of Vienna , in: Musicologica Brunensia 53 (2018, 3), University of Vienna, pp. 26-27, and Appendix: 17. Correspondence 66 (Rome July 10th 1688)
  8. ↑ "Her Majesty's virtuoso"
  9. ^ Colin Timms: Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music , Peyton and Barber, Oxford University Press, 2003, online , pp. 59-61
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Dagmar Glüxam / Christian Fastl: Landini-Contini (Landini-Conti, La Conti, La Contini, La Landina, di Chateauneuf, detta Landini, di Castelnuovo), Maria , in: Oesterreichisches Music dictionary online (accessed January 2, 2020)
  11. ↑ a b c Hermine Weigel Williams: The years 1713-1722 (3rd chapter), in: Francesco Bartolomeo Conti: His Life and Music , Routledge, 1999/2018. Excerpts online as a Google Book , pp. 43, 50, 58 and 66.
  12. ^ Il trionfo di Camilla, regina di Volsci (Giovanni Bononcini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  13. ↑ WP = world premiere
  14. ^ Il duello d'amore e di vendetta (Marc'Antonio Ziani) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  15. ^ La pace generosa (Marc'Antonio Ziani) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  16. ↑ Le gare dell'amore eroico, o sia Il Muzio Scevola (Giovanni Bononcini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  17. ^ Gli equivoci del sembiante (Antonio Caldara) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  18. ↑ L 'inimico generoso (Caldara) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  19. ↑ a b Janet K. Paige: Sirens on the Danube: Giulia Masotti and Women Singers at the Imperial Court , in: Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, Volume 17 (2011) No. 1, 2015, online , Section 6.5
  20. ^ Merope (Francesco Gasparini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  21. ↑ She was probably in her early 40s.
  22. ↑ acting skills, acting skills
  23. ^ Italian original: “ Ho sentito la Landini che veramente non è molto giovine, ma non si può dir tanto vecchia, mentre è benissimo fatta et assai avvenente. Canta senza comparatione (a mio debole giudizio) con più virtù della Santa e con gusto ancora più raffinato. La voce è migliore perchè non fatica nel cantare; circa l'attione poi la fama ne discorre per tutto che sia particolare e forse unica, quand'habbia una parte a suo modo, come si dichiara che sia questa, della quale è sodisfattissima. Spero per tanto che risarcisca pienamente le mancanze della Santa. ".
  24. ↑ Marco Bizzarini: Benedetto Marcello , L'Epos, Palermo 2006, p. 45
  25. ↑ Janet K. Paige: Sirens on the Danube: Giulia Masotti and Women Singers at the Imperial Court , in: Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, Volume 17 (2011) No. 1, 2015, online , Section 6.3 and 7.1
  26. ↑ Hermine Weigel Williams: The years 1713-1722 (3rd chapter), in: Francesco Bartolomeo Conti: His Life and Music , Routledge, 1999/2018. In excerpts online as Google Book , footnote 33
personal data
SURNAME Landini, Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mariuccia; La Landina; Landini di Chateauneuf, Maria; Landini di Castelnuovo, Maria; Landini-Conti, Maria; Landini-Contini, Maria; La Conti; La Contini; the continin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian opera singer
DATE OF BIRTH uncertain: around 1668
DATE OF DEATH June 22, 1722