Siface (singer)

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Giovanni Francesco Grossi called Siface (* 12 February 1653 in Chiesina Uzzanese (in Pistoia ); † 29. May 1697 in Ferrara ), was one of the most famous Italian singers ( Alt - castrato ) of the 17th century. He also went down in history because of his tragic death.

Life

So far nothing is known about his youth and education. The scene of his early career was papal Rome , whose musical life at that time was dominated by masters such as Bernardo Pasquini , Stradella , Alessandro Melani , Corelli , Alessandro Scarlatti and others. v. a. was coined. He took the stage name Siface , under which Giovanni Francesco Grossi became famous, from the opera character of the same name in Francesco Cavalli's Scipione africano , which he sang in Rome in 1671 at the age of 18.

He made his debut at the Teatro Tordinona in 1673 in GA Boretti's Eliogabalo , and at the same time he was promoted by Queen Christine of Sweden , so that when he entered an Arciconfraternita in 1674 he was referred to as musico della regina (musician of the queen).

Together with papal singers, he sang at solemn ceremonies in the Roman churches of San Luigi dei Francesi and Santa Maria Maggiore between 1672 and 1680 , and was an official member of the papal chapel (Cappella pontificia) from April 10, 1675 to September 5, 1677 , where he was classified as a soprano soprannumerario (“surplus or extraordinary soprano”). Due to an engagement outside of Rome, however, he was released from service in the chapel in the spring of 1676 and in order to have more freedom for his operatic career, he ended his employment the following year, much to the regret of the other singers.

He also took part in numerous oratorios in Rome , including the title role in Alessandro Stradella's masterpiece San Giovanni Battista in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in 1675 . Between 1674 and 1678 he sang in the Oratorio del Crocefisso in works by Alessandro Melani , Giuseppe Antonio Bernabei , Paolo Lorenzani , Francesco Foggia and A. Masini.

From spring 1677 at the latest, one of Siface's patrons was the music-loving Cardinal Benedetto Pamphilj , in whose private theater the singer a. a. participated in Bernardo Pasquini's La vita è un sogno di notte (December 1684) and in Alessandro Scarlatti's oratorio Santa Maria Maddalena (1685).

1679–80 Siface was in Venice , where he appeared in Pietro Simone Agostini's Il Ratto delle Sabine (The Rape of the Sabine Women) in the newly opened Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo . From 1679 he was a virtuoso in the service of the Duke of Modena , Francesco II. D'Este .

Between 1680 and 1684 he worked again in Rome, including at the Teatro Tordinona and with Christine of Sweden. During this period there was a minor scandal when, in the summer of 1683, Siface refused to sing for the French ambassador in Rome, François Annibal II d'Estrées , because he had never paid (or given gifts for his singing on previous occasions) ) would have. D'Estrées was so furious that he threatened him with a stick and ordered Cardinal Francesco Maidalchini, where Siface lived, to throw him out of the house. The singer then fled to the palace of his patron, the Duke of Modena.
In 1684 Siface became a member of the Roman musicians' association (Congregazione) of Santa Cecilia .

In Naples he appeared in 1684 and 1685 in works by Francesco Provenzale and Alessandro Scarlatti (Il Pompeo) . In 1686 he traveled to Florence , where he sang in an accademia (a kind of concert) at the court of Cardinal de ' Medici .

This was followed by a short tour to London (via Paris ) to the court of Jacob II , whose wife was a sister of the Duke of Modena. In honor of the singer and on the occasion of his departure from England, Henry Purcell composed the harpsichord piece Sefauchi’s Farewell , which was published in The second part of Musick's Hand-maid by Playford in 1689 , and which can possibly be understood as a kind of musical portrait.

In December 1687 Siface was back to performances in Naples and in 1688 in Florence. Then he went to Modena, where he a. a. in Domenico Gabrielli's Il Mauritio and Legrenzi Eteocle e Polinice occurred. In the following years he stayed mainly in northern Italy, where he sang at theaters in Modena, Reggio Emilia , Milan , Parma , Piacenza and Bologna . His last appearance in Rome, he should loudly Ademollo 1695 at a ceremony in St Peter's have had. In 1696 he appeared in Modena in Bernardo Pasquini's oratorio I fatti di Mosè in Egitto .

Siface's life took a tragic turn through his love affair with the widowed Countess Elena Marsili, whom he had met at the court of the Duke of Modena. However, the Marsili Duglioli family was against this relationship and locked Elena in a monastery . After Siface had sung in the church of Santo Spirito in Ferrara during the Whitsun celebrations in 1697, he was murdered by hired murderers on May 29, 1697 while traveling to Bologna near Ferrara. The commissioners of the act were his lover's two brothers.

His body was buried in the Church of San Paolo in Ferrara.

Roles for Giovanni Francesco Grossi, called Siface

"The famous singers Siface , and the knight Matteucci , were both extraordinary because of the rare beauty of the voice and the way of singing for the heart."

- Giovanni Battista Mancini : Pensieri, e riflessioni pratiche sopra il canto figurato (Vienna, 1774)

The vast majority of the repertoire in which Siface sang is now completely forgotten; The same applies to the style of singing (castrati voice, decorations, etc.) of his time, which makes it difficult to assess the art and impact of this singer and other famous contemporaries. An exception is Stradella's oratorio San Giovanni Battista , of which there are some recordings in which the title role he has created is mostly occupied by modern countertenors , whose voices and singing style, however, even in the best of cases, cannot really be compared with a baroque castrato. In 2018 the Italian countertenor Filippo Mineccia attempted to revive the famous alto and his repertoire with his CD Siface - Amor castrato .

The following list contains a selection of roles in operas and serenatas especially composed for the voice of Siface; the date and place of the premiere are also given . In addition, of course, he sang in many other works (including oratorios), some of which are mentioned in the text above.

  • Ostilio in Il ratto delle Sabine by Pietro Simone Agostini , 1680 in Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo
  • In La Psiche, o vero Amore innamorato by Alessandro Scarlatti , 1683 in Naples, Palazzo Reale
  • Costanzo in Le due germani rivali by Carlo Ambrogio Lonati , 1686 in Modena, Teatro Fontanelli
  • Cosroe in Il Maurizio by Domenico Gabrielli , 1689 in Modena, Teatro Fontanelli
  • Apollo in Il favore de gli dei by Bernardo Sabadini , 1690 in Parma, Gran Teatro
  • Thetide in La gloria d'amore by Bernardo Sabadini, 1690 in Parma, gardens of the Palazzo ducale
  • Curzio in L 'ingresso alla gioventù di Claudio Nerone by Antonio Giannettini , 1692 in Modena, Teatro Fontanelli
  • Euristene in Demetrio tiranno by Bernardo Sabadini, 1694 in Piacenza, Teatro Nuovo; with Francesco Antonio Pistocchi in the title role
  • Idaspre in L 'Aiace by Carlo Ambrogio Lonati, 1694 in Milan, Regio Teatro
  • Title role in Almansorre in Alimena by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo , 1696 in Reggio Emilia

literature

  • A. Ademollo: I teatri di Roma nel secolo decimosettimo , Rome 1888, pp. 141-144
  • R. Casimiri: "Oratorij del Masini, Bernabei, Melani, Di Pio, Pasquini e Stradella in Roma nell'anno santo 1675", in: Note d'archivio per la storia musicale , XIII, 1936, pp. 162–166;
  • Hugh Chisholm (Ed.): Grossi, Giovanni Francesco . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 12 : Gichtel - harmonium . London 1910 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
  • Marko Deisinger: Music-related sources from the correspondence between Rome and the Vienna Imperial Court , in: Musicologica Brunensia 53 (2018, 3)
  • Luca Della Libera:  GROSSI, Giovanni Francesco, detto Siface. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 59:  Graziano – Grossi Gondi. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2002, ((Italian), accessed October 15, 2019; main source for this article).
  • Luca Della Libera: "La musica nella basilica di S. Maria Maggiore a Roma, 1676-1712: nuovi documenti su Corelli e sugli organici vocali e strumentali", in: Recercare, VII , 1995, pp. 108, 110, 114
  • A. Liess: “Materials on the Roman music history of the Seicento. Musicians' lists of the oratorio San Marcello 1664–1725 “, in: Acta musicologica, XXIX , 1957, pp. 149–151, 153–158
  • "Siface", in: The New Grove Dictionary of music and musicians , Vol. XXIII, London, 2001, p. 370.
    Michael Tilmouth:  Grossi, Giovanni Francesco ['Siface']. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).

CD recordings

  • “Siface, L'amor castrato” - arias & overtures for Siface from operas by Stradella, Pallavicino, Pasquini, Cavalli, Agostini, Lonati, Bassani, Giannettini, Purcell, Scarlatti; with Filippo Mineccia (countertenor), the Ensemble Nereydas and Javier Ulises Illan (direction). Glossa 2018. ( online at jpc )
  • Alessandro Stradella: San Giovanni Battista (title role for Siface; representative selection)
    • with Gérard Lesne (as S. Giovanni), Catherine Bott (Salome), Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski a . a., published by Erato, 1992.
    • with Roberto Balconi (as S. Giovanni), Sylva Pozzer (Salome), Orchestra Harmonices Mundi, Claudio Astronio a. a., published by stradivarius, 2006.
    • with Martín Oro (as S. Giovanni), Anke Hermann (Salome), Academia Montis Regalis, Alessandro de Marchi a. a., published by hyperion, 2008

Individual notes

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Luca Della Libera:  GROSSI, Giovanni Francesco, detto Siface. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 59:  Graziano – Grossi Gondi. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2002, ((Italian), accessed October 17, 2019).
  2. ↑ As of autumn 2019
  3. ↑ a b c d Tim Ashley: “Filippo Mineccia: Siface; L'amor castrato ", CD review on the website of: Gramophone (English; accessed October 17, 2019)
  4. ↑ This probably indicates an exclusive use as a soloist.
  5. ↑ "... le sue dimissioni dalla Cappella Sistina furono accolte con estremo rammarico dagli altri cantori."; in: Luca Della Libera: "GROSSI, Giovanni Francesco, detto Siface", in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 59 , 2002, online in: Treccani (Italian; accessed October 17, 2019)
  6. ↑ a b Information on the CD "Siface, L'amor castrato" (2018), with Filippo Mineccia (countertenor), the Ensemble Nereydas and Javier Ulises Illan (conductor) on the Glossa website (accessed October 17, 2019)
  7. ^ Il ratto delle Sabine (Pietro Simone Agostini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  8. ↑ " Fece dire l'Amb [asciato] r di Francia à Gio. Francesco Musico chiamato comunem [en] te col nome di Siface, che voleva cantasse la sera. Rispose questi esser stuffo di cantare à uffo, e tacciando di scrocco l'Amb [asciato] re p [er] non haverli mai donato cosa alcuna benche molte volte l'havesse fatto cantare, con altri termini poco riverenti ricusò di servirlo. L'Amb [asciato] re alterato fece minacciarlo di bostone, this al Card. Maidalchino che lo scacciasse di sua Casa, dove egli abitava, se ne andò nel Palazzo del Duca di Modona, al q [ua] le serve, e si sente che dopo se ne sia partito ". 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. 25–26, and Appendix: 4. Correspondence 64 (Rome July 17, 1683)
  9. ^ Il Pompeo (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  10. ↑ Henry Purcell: "Complete Piano Works", ed. v. István Máriássy, Urtext, Könemann Music, Budapest, 2000, p. 24 and information in the notes (without page number)
  11. ^ Il Maurizio (Domenico Gabrielli) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  12. ↑ Eteocle e Polinice (Giovanni Legrenzi) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  13. ↑ Alessandro Ademollo: I teatri di Roma nel secolo decimosettimo , Rome 1888, pp. 141-144; here after Luca Della Libera: "GROSSI, Giovanni Francesco, detto Siface", in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 59 , 2002
  14. ↑ The murder of Siface is vaguely reminiscent of the biography of the composer Alessandro Stradella, who was also murdered by her family because of a love story with a young Venetian noblewoman. In contrast to Stradella, who kidnapped the girl or ran away with him, Siface seems to have behaved more cautiously (perhaps because of his physical "handicap"?).
  15. ↑ here in the translation by Johann Adam Hiller in: Instructions for musical = zierlichen Gesange (Leipzig: Johann Friedrich Junius, 1780), preface, p. XVII
  16. ↑ The number of works mentioned here is only small because the singers of opera performances in the 17th century are often not even known (sometimes not even the composers).
  17. ^ Il ratto delle Sabine (Pietro Simone Agostini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  18. ^ La Psiche, o vero Amore innamorato (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  19. ^ Le due germani rivali (Carlo Ambrogio Lonati) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  20. ^ Il Maurizio (Domenico Gabrielli) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  21. ^ Il favore de gli dei (Bernardo Sabadini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  22. ^ La gloria d'amore (Bernardo Sabadini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  23. ↑ L'ingresso alla gioventù di Claudio Nerone (Antonio Giannettini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  24. ↑ Demetrio tiranno (Bernardo Sabadini) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna
  25. ↑ L 'Aiace (Carlo Ambrogio Lonati) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna . (accessed on October 17, 2019)
  26. ^ Almansorre in Alimena (Carlo Francesco Pollarolo) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
personal data
SURNAME Siface
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grossi, Giovanni Francesco; Sefauchi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian opera singer, castrato
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1653
PLACE OF BIRTH Chiesina Uzzanese near Pistoia
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 1697
Place of death at Ferrara