Nicolò Grimaldi

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Nicolini (?) Rehearsing at the Queen's Theater in London. Marco Ricci , An opera rehearsal (image detail, ca.1709)

Nicolò Francesco Leonardo Grimaldi (also Nicola Francesco Leonardo Grimaldi ), known as Nicolino or Nicolini (born April 5, 1673 in Naples , † January 1, 1732 there ) was a Neapolitan opera singer and castrato (originally soprano , later mezzo-soprano and alto ). He was one of the most famous singers and opera actors of his time with an unusually long career, and also sang in several early operas by Georg Friedrich Handel .

Life

Nicolino came in Naples to the world and was in the Church of St. Anne on April 5, 1673 baptized . His parents were Nicola Francesco Leonardo Grimaldi and Barbara Santoro. In addition to Nicolino, other family members had to do with music: his brother Antonio Maria was also a singer and from 1693 worked as a tenor in the royal chapel of Naples, and his sister Caterina Speranza married the composer Nicola Fago in November 1701 .

Nicolino received his musical training at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini as a pupil of the important Neapolitan composer Francesco Provenzale , who made his debut in 1685 in his opera Stellindaura at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in a page role. Five years later, in 1690, he became a singer at the Capella del Tesoro di San Gennaro in the Cathedral of Naples ; he also belonged to the court chapel of the Palazzo Reale . He owed these jobs to Provençal.

In his early days in Naples, Nicolino sang mainly in works by Alessandro Scarlatti , for example the part of Caritas in the oratorio La religione giardiniera (alias Il giardino di Rose ) in the Neapolitan church of San Pietro Martire, next to the Alt Domenico Melchiorri (“ l'Aquilano "), and the virtuoso bassist Antonio Manna (" Abbate Camerini "). At the Teatro San Bartolomeo, too, he sang primarily in the world premieres of Alessandro Scarlatti's operas La caduta de 'decemviri (1697), Il prigioniero fortunato (1698), La Donna ancora è fedele (1698) , Laodicea e Berenice (1701), and in Tiberio imperatore d'Oriente (1702). His colleagues often included famous singers such as Matteuccio , Vittoria Tarquini or Maria Maddalena Musi .

In 1699 he performed in Rome and Bologna , and in the following years expanded his career on stages throughout Italy, including Parma , Bologna, Genoa , Reggio Emilia and especially Venice ; but he kept returning to Naples. Between 1705 and 1707 he was in Venice, where he played the title roles in Francesco Gasparini's operas Antioco (November 1705) and Ambleto (December 1705). For his brilliant performance in Antioco , he was named Cavaliere della Croce di San Marco . Also in 1707 he sang in the Venetian Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in A. Scarlatti's Il trionfo della libertà and in Antonio Caldara's Il selvaggio eroe , alongside Santa Stella and Diamante Maria Scarabelli ("la Diamantina") and others. a.

Nicolo Grimaldi with the soprano Lucia Facchinelli, caricature by Anton Maria Zanetti (before or around 1730)

At the end of 1708 Nicolino became the first castrato on a London stage in a half-English version of Alessandro Scarlatti's Pirro e Demetrio and sang 1709 a. a. in Giovanni Bononcini's Camilla . His success was so immense that the entrance fees were raised for his performances. In addition to various other works, which were also initially performed half in Italian and half in English, he appeared in the opera L'Idaspe fedele by Francesco Mancini in March 1710 , where he fought a (fake) lion in a famous scene. The fact that he was half-naked (with his bare torso) at the same time caused a sensation among the ladies in the audience, and as a result there were satirical articles by opponents of Italian opera.
After appearances in Bononcini's L'Etearco in January 1711, he sang the title role in the premiere of Georg Friedrich Handel's opera Rinaldo in February of the same year, thus helping the composer to achieve a brilliant success on his debut in London. Shortly thereafter, in March 1711 Nicolino also belonged to the first Italian opera company in Ireland Dublin occurred. After further opera appearances in London ( inter alia in Gasparini's Antioco and Ambleto ) his English contract expired in early 1712 and he returned to Italy. On the occasion of his departure, Joseph Addison wrote in the Spectator on June 14, 1712 that England was losing with Nicolini "the greatest performer of dramatic music who is now alive or who may ever appear on the stage" (" the greater performer in dramatic music that is now living or that perhaps ever appeared upon a stage ").

The singer first went to Venice, where he sang La verità nell'inganno in Le gare generose by Tommaso Albinoni and in Gasparini's Carnival in 1713 . From August 1713 he was back in his Neapolitan homeland and sang the role of Muzio Scevola in Antonio Lotti's Porsenna (November 19, 1713) at the Teatro San Bartolomeo . Until 1715 he also appeared in a number of new operas by Alessandro Scarlatti, namely in L'amor generoso , Scipione nelle Spagne (1714), Arminio , and Tigrane (Carnival 1715).

In the spring of 1715 he returned to England again for two years. In May of that year he sang the title role in the London premiere of Handel's new opera Amadigi and in several revivals of Rinaldo . Nicolino gave his farewell concert from England in April 1717.

Back in Italy, he performed mainly in Naples and Venice in the following years. In October 1718 he sang a performance of Handel's Rinaldo in the Palazzo Reale in Naples (with additional arias by Leonardo Leo ). To celebrate a victory of the Sicilians over the British admiral George Byng , Nicolino performed a serenata by Leo in January 1719 in his own palazzo in Chiaia , in which he himself together with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli ("la Romanina") and the alto Giovan Battista Minelli sang. This was followed on February 4th by Alessandro Scarlatti's opera Cambise at the Teatro San Bartolomeo.

Francesca Cuzzoni with Nicolino as "Mohr", caricature by Anton Maria Zanetti (before or around 1730)

In later years, while his voice sank more and more to an alto due to age, Nicolino celebrated further successes in important opera productions, where he stood on stage together with opera stars of the younger generation, such as Marianna Benti Bulgarelli , Francesca Cuzzoni , Vittoria Tesi , Faustina Bordoni and Lucia Facchinelli , as well as the castrati Antonio Bernacchi and Giovanni Carestini (see the list of roles below). Together with the Bulgarelli he worked in 1724 in Domenico Natale Sarro's Tragedia per musica Didone abbandonata , the first setting of a libretto by Pietro Metastasio .

Alongside Farinelli , Nicolino sang in the Carnival of 1729 at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice in Leos Catone in Utica , Porporas Semiramide riconosciuta , in the pasticcio L'abbandono di Armida by Antonio Pollarolo , and the following year in operas by Riccardo Broschi and Giovanni Antonio Giay . Johann Adolf Hasse wrote the part of Artabano in the opera Artaserse (Venice 1730) for Nicolino , which contains the famous aria Pallido il sole (and where he again appeared alongside Farinelli, who later had this aria in his program).

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi had planned Nicolino for the role of Marziano in his opera La Salustia (Naples 1732), but the singer died before the premiere. At his own request, he was "on an impeccable life" in a simple ceremony in a Franciscan - cowl buried.

Nicolino was one of the few castrati who was praised by contemporaries not only for her singing skills, but also for her acting talent. Therefore, it is not surprising that he took on a number of dramatically demanding character roles in his later years when he was no longer able to perform as a primo uomo .

Roles for Nicola Grimaldi called Nicolino

The following is a small selection of parts that were composed specifically for Nicolino. Roles in operas originally composed for other singers are not mentioned here.

  • Icilio in La caduta de 'decemviri by Alessandro Scarlatti ; Premiere: 1697, Naples , Teatro San Bartolomeo ; with Matteuccio (Matteo Sassano), Vittoria Tarquini , Maria Maddalena Musi a . a.
  • Ismeno in Il Muzio Scevola by Giovanni Bononcini ; WP: Carnival 1698, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Matteuccio (Matteo Sassano), Maria Maddalena Musi, Vittoria Tarquini a. a.
  • Arconte in Il prigioniero fortunato by Alessandro Scarlatti; Premiere: 1698, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Maria Maddalena Musi, Giov. Battista Cavana et al. a.
  • Roberto in La Donna ancora è fedele by Alessandro Scarlatti; Premiere: 1698, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo
  • Arminio in La pace generosa by Marc'Antonio Ziani ; WP: February 10, 1700, Venice , Teatro San Salvatore; with Maria Landini a . a.
  • Antioco in Laodicea e Berenice by Alessandro Scarlatti; April 1701, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo
  • Cleante in Tiberio imperatore d'Oriente by Alessandro Scarlatti; May 8 or 17, 1702, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Maria Maddalena Musi, Nicola Paris a . a.
  • Casimiro in Venceslao by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo ; Premiere: February 7th, 1703, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo ; with Diamante Maria Scarabelli ("la Diamantina") a. a.
  • Title role in Antioco by Francesco Gasparini ; November 10, 1705, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano
  • Title role in Ambleto by Francesco Gasparini; December 26th 1705, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano
  • Arunte Tarquinio in Il trionfo della libertà by Alessandro Scarlatti; Premiere: February 5, 1707, Venice , Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo ; with Matteuccio, Diamante Maria Scarabelli ("la Diamantina") a. a.
  • Abide in Il selvaggio eroe by Antonio Caldara ; Premiere: November 20, 1707, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo; with Santa Stella , Diamante Maria Scarabelli ("la Diamantina") a. a.
  • Title role in L 'Idaspe fedele by Francesco Mancini ; WP: March 23, 1710, London , King's Theater in the Haymarket; with Isabella Girardeau , Margarita de l'Espine , Valentino Urbani , Giuseppe Maria Boschi u. a.
  • Title role in Rinaldo by Georg Friedrich Händel ; Premiere: February 24th 1711, London , Queen's Theater; with Elisabetta Pilotti-Schiavonetti , Isabella Girardeau , Valentino Urbani , Giuseppe Maria Boschi u. a.
  • Arminio in Le gare generose by Tommaso Albinoni ; Premiere: November 5, 1712, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano
  • Oronte in Artaserse by Antonio Lotti ; Premiere: October 8, 1713, Naples, Palazzo Reale
  • Luceio in Scipione nelle Spagne by Alessandro Scarlatti; Premiere: January 21, 1714, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo
  • Casimiro in Vincislao by Francesco Mancini; Premiere: December 26th 1714, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli ("la Romanina"), Santa Marchesini a. a.
  • Title role in Tigrane by Alessandro Scarlatti; Premiere: February 16, 1715, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli ("la Romanina") a. a.
  • Title role in Amadigi by Georg Friedrich Händel ; Premiere: May 25th 1715, London; with Elisabetta Pilotti -Schiavonetti, Anastasia Robinson , Diana Vico u. a.
  • Title role in Arsace by Francesco Gasparini ; WP: Carnival 1717–1718, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli (“la Romanina”), Faustina Bordoni , Antonio Bernacchi a . a.
  • Pirro in Astianatte by Giovanni Bononcini; WP: Carnival 1718, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli (“la Romanina”), Faustina Bordoni, Antonio Bernacchi a. a.
  • Title role in Cambise by Alessandro Scarlatti; Premiere: February 4th 1719, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli (“la Romanina”), Giovan Battista Minelli a . a.
  • Teseo in Arianna e Teseo by Leonardo Leo ; November 26, 1721, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Faustina Bordoni, Antonia Merighi
  • Title role in Bajazete by Leonardo Leo; Premiere: August 28, 1722, Naples, Palazzo Reale; with Faustina Bordoni, Antonia Merighi a. a.
  • Title role in Siface by Francesco Feo ; Premiere: May 13th 1723, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli (“la Romanina”), Antonio Merighi, Annibale Pio Fabri a . a.
  • Doristo in Amare per regnare by Nicola Porpora ; Premiere: December 12th 1723, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli ("la Romanina"), Antonia Merighi, Annibale Pio Fabri a. a.
  • Enea in Didone abbandonata by Domenico Natale Sarro ; Premiere: February 1, 1724, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli ("la Romanina"), Antonia Merighi, Annibale Pio Fabri a. a.
  • Enea in Didone abbandonata by Tommaso Albinoni; Premiere: December 26th 1724, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli ("la Romanina") a. a.
  • Enea in Didone abbandonata by Nicola Porpora; WP: April 29, 1725, Reggio Emilia, Teatro del Pubblico; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli ("la Romanina") a. a.
  • Title role in Siface by Nicola Porpora; Premiere: December 26th 1725, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo; with Marianna Benti Bulgarelli ("la Romanina"), Lucia Facchinelli , Giovanni Carestini a . a.
  • Title role in Siroe, re di Persia by Leonardo Vinci ; Premiere: February 2nd, 1726, Venice, Teatro Grimani; with Giovanni Carestini, Marianna Benti Bulgarelli (“la Romanina”), Lucia Facchinelli a. a.
  • Teseo in Arianna e Teseo (2nd version) by Nicola Porpora; Premiere: November 22nd 1727, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo; with Lucia Facchinelli, Annibale Pio Fabbri a. a.
  • Catone in Catone in Utica by Leonardo Leo ; Premiere: December 26th 1728, Venice , Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo ; with Farinelli , Lucia Facchinelli, Domenico Gizzi a. a.
  • Scitalce in Semiramide riconosciuta by Nicola Porpora; Premiere: February 12th 1729, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo; u. a. with Farinelli and Lucia Facchinelli
  • Artabano in Artaserse by Johann Adolph Hasse ; Premiere: February 11, 1730, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo; with Farinelli, Francesca Cuzzoni , Filippo Giorgi a . a.
  • Title role in Idaspe by Riccardo Broschi ; Premiere: January 25th 1730, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo; with Farinelli, Francesca Cuzzoni, Filippo Giorgi a. a.
  • Scitalce in Semiramide riconosciuta by Francesco Araia ; Premiere: October 1st, 1731, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Lucia Facchinelli a. a.

literature

  • Charles Ancillon: Eunuchism display'd ; describing all the different sorts of eunuchs; the esteem they have met with in the world, and how they came to be made so; wherein principally is examin'd, whether they are capable of marriage, and if they ought to be suffer'd to enter into that state; the whole confirm'd by the authority of civil, canon, and common law, and illustrated with many remarkable cases by way of precedent; Also a comparison between Signior Nicolini and the three celebrated eunuchs now at Rome, viz. Pasqualini, Pauluccio, and Jeronimo (or Momo); with several observations on modern eunuchs; occasion'd by a young lady's falling in love with Nicolini, who sung in the opera at the Hay-market, and to whom she had like to have been married. London, 1718.
  • Winton Dean: Nicolini , on Oxford Music online , 2001 (English)
  • Nicola Grimaldi dit Nicolino , biography and discography on Quell'usignolo (French; accessed December 6, 2019)
  • Claudia Möller: The castrati and their art of singing . Diploma thesis, University of Music and Theater 2003.
  • Hubert Ortkemper: Angels against their will. The world of the castrati; another opera story . Dtv, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-423-30468-5 .
  • John Rosselli: The Castrati as a Professional Group and a Social Phenomenon, 1550-1850. In: Acta Musicologica. Volume 60, fascicule 2, May-August 1988, pp. 143-179
  • Ennio Speranza: Grimaldi, Nicola (Nicolò, Nicolino; detto anche Nicolini) , in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 59 , 2002, online on Treccani (Italian; accessed December 6, 2019)

Movie

  • Cristina Trebbi (director): victims and seduced. The fate of the castrati . ZDF, Mainz 2010 (43 min.)

Web links

Commons : Nicolino  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Winton Dean: Nicolini , on Oxford Music online , 2001 (English)
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Ennio Speranza: Grimaldi, Nicola (Nicolò, Nicolino; detto anche Nicolini) , in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 59 , 2002, online at Treccani (Italian; accessed December 6, 2019)
  3. ^ Dinko Fabris: Music in Seventeenth-Century Naples: Francesco Provenzale , Routledge, 2017; Extract online on Google Books (Italian; viewed December 6, 2019)
  4. ↑ Nicolò Grimaldi at Operissimo  on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon
  5. ↑ The religion as a gardener alias the garden of roses
  6. ↑ The work is better known today under the title Il giardino di Rose , which it received for a performance in Rome in 1707 in the Palazzo of the Marquis Francesco Maria Ruspoli; Handel also took part on the harpsichord. Nicolò Maccavino, Ausilia Magaudda: La religione giardiniera (Napoli, 1698) - Il giardino di Rose (Roma, 1707): Nuove Acquisizioni , in: Devozione e Passione - Alessandro Scarlatti nel 350th anniversario della nascita , (Conservatorio di musica F. Cilea , Reggio Emilia) Rubettino Editore, 2013, pp. 303–368, here: 305–306 (Italian)
  7. ↑ La caduta de 'decemviri (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  8. ^ Il prigioniero fortunato (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  9. ↑ Nicolò Maccavino, Ausilia Magaudda: La religione Giardiniera (Napoli, 1698) - Il Giardino di Rose (Roma, 1707): Nuove Acquisizioni in: Worship and Passione - Alessandro Scarlatti nel 350. anniversario della nascita , (Conservatorio di musica F. Cilea, Reggio Emilia) Rubettino Editore, 2013, pp. 303–368, here: 306 footnote 11 (Italian)
  10. ^ Laodicea e Berenice (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  11. ^ Tiberio imperatore d'Oriente (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  12. ^ Antioco (Francesco Gasparini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  13. ^ Ambleto (Francesco Gasparini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  14. ↑ "Knight of the Cross of Saint Mark"
  15. ^ Il trionfo della libertà (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  16. ^ Il selvaggio eroe (Antonio Caldara) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  17. ^ John Rosselli: The Castrati as a Professional Group and a Social Phenomenon, 1550-1850. In: Acta Musicologica. Volume 60, fascicule 2, May-August 1988, pp. 143-179, here: p. 173.
  18. ↑ La caduta de 'decemviri (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  19. ^ Il Muzio Scevola (Giovanni Bononcini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  20. ^ Il prigioniero fortunato (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  21. ^ La Donna ancora è fedele (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  22. ↑ Nicolò Maccavino, Ausilia Magaudda: La religione Giardiniera (Napoli, 1698) - Il Giardino di Rose (Roma, 1707): Nuove Acquisizioni in: Worship and Passione - Alessandro Scarlatti nel 350. anniversario della nascita , (Conservatorio di musica F. Cilea, Reggio Emilia) Rubettino Editore, 2013, pp. 303–368, here: 306 footnote 11 (Italian)
  23. ^ La pace generosa (Marc'Antonio Ziani) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  24. ^ Laodicea e Berenice (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  25. ^ Tiberio imperatore d'Oriente (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  26. ^ Venceslao (Carlo Francesco Pollarolo) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  27. ^ Antioco (Francesco Gasparini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  28. ^ Ambleto (Francesco Gasparini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  29. ^ Il trionfo della libertà (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  30. ^ Il selvaggio eroe (Antonio Caldara) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  31. ^ L 'Idaspe fedele (Francesco Mancini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  32. ↑ Le gare generose (Tommaso Albinoni) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  33. ^ Artaserse, re di Persia (Antonio Lotti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  34. ^ Scipione nelle Spagne (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  35. ↑ Vincislao (Francesco Mancini) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  36. ↑ Tigrane, overo L'impegno egual d'amore e di fede (Alessandro Scarlatti) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  37. ^ Arsace (Michelangelo Gasparini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  38. ^ Astianatte (Giovanni Bononcini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  39. ↑ Cambise (Alessandro Scarlatti) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  40. ^ Arianna e Teseo (Leonardo Leo) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  41. ↑ Bajazete, imperador de 'Turchi (Leonardo Leo) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  42. ^ Siface (Francesco Feo) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  43. ^ Amare per regnare (Nicola Porpora) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  44. ^ Didone abbandonata (Domenico Natale Sarro) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  45. ^ Didone abbandonata (Tommaso Albinoni) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  46. ^ Didone abbandonata (Nicola Porpora) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  47. ^ Siface (Nicola Porpora) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  48. ^ Siroe, re di Persia (Leonardo Vinci) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  49. ^ Arianna e Teseo (Nicola Porpora) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  50. ^ Catone in Utica (Leonardo Leo) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  51. ^ Semiramide riconosciuta (Nicola Porpora) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  52. ^ Artaserse (Johann Adolf Hasse) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  53. ^ Idaspe (Riccardo Broschi) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  54. ^ Semiramide riconosciuta (Francesco Araia) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
personal data
SURNAME Grimaldi, Nicolò
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grimaldi, Nicolò Francesco Leonardo (full name); Grimaldi, Nicola Francesco Leonardo; Grimaldi, Nicolino
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Neapolitan opera singer (soprano, later alto)
DATE OF BIRTH April 5, 1673
PLACE OF BIRTH Naples
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1732
Place of death Naples