Santa Stella

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Santa Stella , actually Santa Stella Scarabelli (* 1686 ; † September 18, 1759 ), was an Italian soprano . She married the Italian composer Antonio Lotti and is therefore also known under the name Santa Lotti . Another traditional nickname is La Santini .

Early career

It is not known where Santa Stella originally came from.

Santa Stella Lotti made her stage debut under the name Santa Stella as Silene in the opera Gli equivoci del sembiante by Antonio Caldara , which premiered in the carnival season of 1703 at the Teatro Nuovo in Casale Monferrato , southwest of Milan. At the same theater in 1704 she sang the title role in the opera Il gran Pompeo by an unknown composer.

In 1705 she sang in Genoa, from 1706 to 1708 in various productions at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo and the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice , where she was usually given the title role or that of the prima donna.

During the years from 1705 to 1714 she appeared in several operas by Tomaso Albinoni , Carlo Francesco Pollarolo and her future husband Antonio Lotti , as follows:

from Albinoni:

  • as Elisa in Astarto (premiere November 11, 1708 Teatro San Cassiano)
  • as Engelberta in Engelberta (premiered January 26th 1709 Venice, Teatro San Cassiano)
  • as Emilia in Il tiranno eroe ( Premiere December 26, 1710 Venice, Teatro San Cassiano)

from Pollarolo:

  • Igene in Igene, regina di Sparta ( Premiere May 1708, Vicenza, Teatro nuovo di Piazza)
  • Lavinia in Il falso Tiberino (Premiere January 12, 1709, Venice, Teatro San Cassiano)
  • Anagilda in Publio Cornelio Scipione (premiere January 9, 1712, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo )
  • Semiramide in Semiramide (premiered January 6, 1714, Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo )

from Lotti:

  • Argene in Sidonio (Pietro Pariati), dramma per musica 5 acts (November 20, 1706 Venice, Teatro San Cassiano)
  • Elena in Achille placato (Urbano Rizzi), tragedia per musica 5 acts (February 5, 1707 Venice, Teatro San Cassiano)
  • Zoe in La forza del sangue (Francesco Silvani), dramma per musica 3 acts (November 14, 1711 Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo )
  • Irene in Irene augusta (Francsco Silvani), dramma per musica 3 acts (November 22, 1713 Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo )

From 1706 to 1714 she operated in various libretti as the chamber singer of the Duke of Mantua , B. in the libretto of the performance of La Partenope , also by Antonio Caldara , in 1707 at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice .

High point: Dresden 1717 to 1719

On February 12, 1714, she married the Italian composer Antonio Lotti . For the years 1714 to 1717, after her participation in the opera Semiramide by Pollarolo, there is no evidence of any further opera performances.

In 1717 Santa Stella went to Dresden with Lotti. It can be assumed that, like her husband, she was in Italy by the Elector of Saxony and later King August III. (Poland) were “recruited” because he intended to found an Italian opera in Dresden. Both together received a fee of 9,975 thalers. They were paid as high as the later prima donna Faustina Bordoni and her husband Johann Adolph Hasse as Saxon court conductor. In Dresden she made her debut as Isis in her husband's opera Giove in Argo on October 25, 1717, with which two years later, on September 3, 1719, the celebrations (“ planetary festivals ”) for the wedding of the Elector of Saxony Friedrich August and later King August III. of Poland with the daughter of Emperor Joseph I , Maria Josefa Benedikta Antonia Theresia Xaveria Philippine (* December 8, 1699 in Vienna, † November 17, 1757 in Dresden), Archduchess of Austria , Princess of Hungary and Bohemia and built the specially for it new opera house was inaugurated. A year later she sang Silvia in the opera Ascanio ovvero Gl'odi delusi dal sangue (UA February 1718 Dresden, Redoutensaal). Santa Stella experienced her climax in Dresden as the title heroine in the opera Teofane by Antonio Lotti. Its premiere on September 13, 1719 was one of the main musical attractions of the planetary festivals, but also included the two operas from previous years, Giove in Argo (September 3, 1719) and Ascanio ovvero Gl'odi delusi dal sangue (September 7, 1719 ) were repeated.

The end of the wedding celebrations also heralded the end of the first Italian opera at the Saxon court. In October 1719 Lotti and Santa Stella, whose contracts were not renewed, left Dresden and received 160 ducats of travel money when they left. Most of the singers were also to be recruited from Georg Friedrich Handel for his second opera academy in London , such as Senesino , the soprano Margherita Durastanti , the contralto Vittoria Tesi and the bassist Giuseppe Maria Boschi .

Her work in the years after her return to Venice must remain unclear for the time being. The participation of a Santa Santini in the opera La costanza in trionfo ovvero L'Irene by Francesco Peli in 1737 in Munich and under the same name also for Ciro riconosciuto by Leonardo Leo in Turin in 1739 can be proven.

Appreciation

Santa Stella was obviously one of the most important and well-known opera singers of her time. This is shown, among other things, in the fact that her name was included among the important singers in the entry Opera in Johann Georg Sulzer's General Theory of Fine Arts .

A more extensive appraisal and description of her voice, her singing and acting achievements can be found in Johann Joachim Quantz 's curriculum vitae , which he himself drafted , which was included in Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg's Historisch-Kritische Entries about the recording of the music :

“Santa Stella Lotti had a complete, strong soprano voice, good intonation and a good trillo . The high notes gave her some trouble. The Adagio was her strength. I heard the so-called tempo rubato from her for the first time (sic!). She cut a very good figure on the Schaubühne and her action, especially in sublime characters, was incorrigible. "

The neuter Pier Francesco Tosi judged in his Opinioni de 'cantori antichi e moderni that Santa Stella won the hearts of all her listeners with the penetrating sweetness of her voice .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gli equivoci del sembiante (Antonio Caldara) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on November 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Il gran Pompeo (unknown composer) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on November 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ Libretto by Albinoni Astarto
  4. ↑ Libretto by Albinonis Engelberta
  5. ↑ libretto by Albinoni's Il tiranno eroe
  6. ↑ libretto by Pollarolos Igene, regina di Sparta
  7. ^ Libretto by Pollarolos Il falso Tiberino
  8. ^ Libretto from Pollarolo's Publio Cornelio Scipione
  9. ^ Libretto by Pollarolos Semiramide
  10. ^ Libretto by Caldaras La Partenope
  11. ^ Entry by Antonio Lotti in Ancient Grove Music, 2013 by Ben Byram-Wigfield
  12. ↑ For comparison, the other salaries in thalers mentioned for 1717: the soprano Margherita Durastanti - 5225 thalers , Maria Antonia Laurenti , called Coralli - 2375 thalers , the contralto Vittoria Tesi - 2375 thalers , Madelaine du Salvay (Maria Maddalena Salvai) - 2000 th., Livia Constantini - 1600 th. Among the singers, the famous castrato Francesco Bernardi, called Senesino - 6650 thalers, his colleague, the soprano Matteo Berselli - 4275 thalers, the bassist Giuseppe Maria Boschi - 3325 thalers. The then court composer Stefano Pallavicini received 1333 thalers. 8 g (oschen). All information from Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden… . Volume 2. Kuntze, Dresden 1862, pp. 135-136
  13. ^ Inauguration with Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden… . Volume 2. Kuntze, Dresden 1862, p. 139. The UA 1717 took place in the Redoutensaal - cf. Corago .
  14. ^ Libretto by Lottis Ascanio, ovvero Gl'odi delusi dal sangue
  15. ↑ The repetitions of Teofane on September 27th and Ascanio on September 29th, together with a French comedy performed on the 30th, rounded off the planetary festivals. Cf. Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden… . Volume 2. Kuntze, Dresden 1862, p. 148
  16. ^ Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden… . Volume 2. Kuntze, Dresden 1862, p. 149
  17. ↑ Handel already knew the bassist Boschi from the performance of Agrippina in Italy in 1709. Most of these singers were to stay with Handel until the fall of the 2nd Opera Academy in 1728. See Handel Handbook 4: Documents on life and work. Baerenreuter, Kassel 1986, p. 142
  18. ↑ Libretto by La costanza in trionfo ovvero L'Irene , here also announced as chamber singer of the Bavarian Elector (Virtuosa de SASE) and libretto by Leos Ciro riconosciuto
  19. ^ Johann Georg Sulzer: General theory of the fine arts in individual, according to the alph. Order d. Made up words on successive articles . Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Leipzig. 2nd ed. Part 3, p. 595
  20. ↑ meant is probably full
  21. ↑ means your acting skills and acting
  22. ↑ Quoted from Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg : Historical-Critical Contributions to the Recording of Music. Volume 1. Schütze, Berlin, pp. 213-214
  23. ↑ quoted from the English translation by JE Galliard, published under the title Observations on the Florid Song by Williard, London 1743, pp. 103-104 , there literally: “That Signora Lotti with a penetrating Sweetness of Voice, gained the Hearts of all her Hearers "
personal data
SURNAME Santa Stella
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scarabelli, Santa Stella (maiden name); Lotti, Santa (married name); La Santini
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian soprano
DATE OF BIRTH 1686
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1759