Giovanni Gregorio Cotaldo Paisiello was born on May 8, 1740 in Taranto in Sicily. He received his musical education at a Jesuit school and continued it at the Sant'Onofrio Conservatory, first under the direction of Durante and then Cotumacci. As a composer, Paisiello was popular not only in Italy, but also in Germany, where his works were performed with German text.
He began his brilliant career with two comic operas for the theater in Bologna - “La pupilla” and “Il mondo al rovercio”, which were a huge success and brought him fame. This first success prompted Paesiello to work mainly on the creation of operas. During his life he wrote about a hundred of them. He wrote operas of various genres for theaters in Naples, Milan, Florence, Rome and St. Petersburg.
In 1776, Paisiello was invited to Russia as a composer and conductor of the Italian court opera. He spent eight years in Russia, during which time he wrote about ten operas and many cantatas. Several piano pieces were written for Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, wife of the heir to the throne, Paul. The princess took lessons from Paezuelo, and for her he composed a textbook - “Rules for good accompaniment on the harpsichord.”
Paisiello made his debut in St. Petersburg with the opera Nittetti. Then “Achilles on Skyros” and “Alcides at the Crossroads” were staged. In 1781, the premiere of his opera “The Maid and Mistress” took place in Tsarskoye Selo, and a year later “The Barber of Seville” was staged in St. Petersburg. Some of the previously created works were reworked by Paisiello for the Russian stage. The opera “Moonlight World” was performed at the opening of the Stone Theater in St. Petersburg in 1783. The composer wrote a lot of instrumental music for court festivities, took part in “home” concerts in the palace, where he accompanied Catherine II’s wonderfully singing maid of honor Sinyavina. The Vorontsov family patronized the Italian composer.
In 1786, Paisiello finally returned to his homeland in Naples. Here he becomes conductor of the court chapel and remains in this position for six years. After his departure from Russia, Paisiello not only did not weaken his friendly ties with representatives of the Russian nobility, but also acted as a kind of “musical agent” for them abroad, sending notes, reporting the latest musical news, and trying in every possible way to help.
In 1792, Paisiello was invited by Napoleon to Paris as director of the Tulieri Chapel. His opera “Proserpine” was staged here, which was not successful and was coldly received by French musicians. Unacceptable conditions of service, and, in part, the reaction to the staged opera, force the composer to return to Naples, to his former position as conductor of the court chapel. Political events in Italy in 1815 caused his resignation from service, although he retained his bandmaster's salary. The 74-year-old composer could not cope with such a blow of fate and died in 1816.
It is necessary to recall here that Paisiello is also known as a composer of church music. He wrote an oratorio on the Passion of the Lord, a Christmas pastoral, two requiems, three large orchestral masses and about thirty small four-part masses.
Victor Kashirnikov
And a teacher. A master of comic opera, he had a significant influence on the formation of the style of Mozart and Rossini.
| Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello |
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|---|---|
| Portrait by Vigée-Lebrun, |
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| basic information | |
| Birth name | Italian Giovanni Gregorio Cataldo Paisiello |
| Date of Birth | 9th May(1741-05-09 ) |
| Place of Birth | Roccaforzata |
| Date of death | June 5(1816-06-05 ) (75 years old) |
| A place of death | |
| Professions | |
| Years of activity | Naples |
| Genres | opera, symphonic music |
| Audio, photo, video on Wikimedia Commons | |
Biography
Giovanni Paisiello received his primary musical education at the Jesuit school in Taranto, and in -1763 he studied in Naples, at the Sant'Onofrio a Capuana Conservatory, where one of his teachers was Francesco Durante. The success of the opera buffa “The Chatterbox” (Il ciarlone), staged in 1764 in Bologna, inspired Paisiello to continue working mainly in this genre. In the following years, his operas, after their premiere in Naples, where the composer lived since 1766, were staged with constant success in other cities of Italy. Orders came from Milan, Venice, Modena; the most famous operas of this period are “The Chinese Idol” (L'idolo cinese, 1766), “Don Quixote” (Don Chisciotte della Mancia, 1769), “Artaxerxes” (1771), “Alexander in India” (Alessandro nelle Indie, 1773 ), "Andromeda" (1774).
In Petersburg
By the mid-70s, the composer's fame spread beyond Italy. In 1776, Paisiello was invited by Catherine II to St. Petersburg and became, after B. Galuppi and T. Traetta, the third outstanding Italian composer to head the musical life of the capital of the Russian Empire. Paisiello remained the court composer until 1784.
In St. Petersburg he wrote at least 10 operas and interludes, his debut was the opera “Nitteti”, written on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio (1777), and the most famous of those written in Russia “The Maid-Mistress” on a libretto by G. Federico (La Serva padrona, 1781) and “The Barber of Seville” based on the comedy by P. Beaumarchais (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, 1782). Paisiello's operas were performed both in the court and in the city public theater - the Maly (Volny) on Tsaritsyn Meadow (now the Field of Mars).
Paisiello also wrote music for court festivities - divertissements for wind instruments. He gave music lessons to Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, for whom he composed clavier pieces and instrumental ensembles. In 1782 he published a textbook “Rules for good playing of the partimento, or fundamental bass, on the harpsichord” ( Regole per bene accompagnare il partimento o sia il basso fondamentale sopra il cembalo), which generalized the widespread didactic practice in his homeland of implementing digital bass within the framework of standard (for major-minor key) models.
As a court conductor, Paisiello also participated in St. Petersburg spiritual concerts, for which he wrote, in particular, “The Passion of Jesus Christ” to a libretto by P. Metastasio (Passione di Gesu Cristo, 1783).
After St. Petersburg
But among the composer's many admirers was Napoleon, who in 1802 invited Paisiello to Paris. Here, in 1803, Paisiello wrote Proserpina, based on the French libretto by F. Kino, in the traditions of the old Italian opera seria; after
G. Paisiello belongs to those Italian composers whose talent was most clearly revealed in the genre of buffa opera. The period of brilliant flowering of this genre in the second half of the 18th century is associated with the work of Paisiello and his contemporaries - B. Galuppi, N. Piccinni, D. Cimarosa. Paisiello received his primary education and first musical skills at the Jesuit college. Most of his life was spent in Naples, where he studied at the San Onofrio Conservatory with F. Durante, a famous opera composer, mentor of G. Pergolesi and Piccinni (1754-63).
Having received the title of assistant teacher, Paisiello taught at the conservatory, and devoted his free time from classes to composition. By the end of the 1760s. Paisiello is already the most famous composer in Italy; his operas (mainly buffa) are successfully staged in theaters in Milan, Rome, Venice, Bologna, etc., meeting the tastes of a fairly wide, including the most enlightened public.
Thus, the famous English music writer C. Burney (author of the famous “Musical Travels”) spoke highly of the buffa opera “The Machinations of Love” he heard in Naples: “...I really liked the music; it was full of fire and fantasy, the ritornellos abounded in new passages, and the vocal parts were filled with such elegant and simple melodies that you remember and take away with you after the first listening or can be performed at home by a small orchestra and even, in the absence of another instrument, by a harpsichord "
In 1776, Paisiello went to St. Petersburg, where he served as a court composer for almost 10 years. (The practice of inviting Italian composers had long been established at the imperial court; Paisiello’s predecessors in St. Petersburg were the famous maestros B. Galuppi and T. Traetta.) Among the numerous operas of the “St. Petersburg” period is “The Servant-Mistress” (1781), a new interpretation of the plot, half a century back used in the famous opera by Pergolesi - the founder of the buffa genre; as well as “The Barber of Seville” based on the comedy by P. Beaumarchais (1782), which for several decades enjoyed enormous success among the European public. (When the young G. Rossini again turned to this plot in 1816, many regarded this as the greatest audacity.)
Paisiello's operas were staged both at court and in theaters for a more democratic audience - the Bolshoi (Kamenny) in Kolomna, the Small (Volny) on Tsaritsyn Meadow (now the Field of Mars). The duties of the court composer also included the creation of instrumental music for court festivities and concerts: Paisiello’s creative heritage includes 24 divertissements for wind instruments (some have program names - “Diana”, “Noon”, “Sunset”, etc.), keyboard pieces, chamber ensembles. Paisiello’s oratorio “The Passion of Christ” (1783) was performed at St. Petersburg spiritual concerts.
Returning to Italy (1784), Paisiello received a position as composer and conductor at the court of the King of Naples. In 1799, when Napoleon's troops, with the support of revolutionary Italians, overthrew the Bourbon monarchy in Naples and proclaimed the Partenopean Republic, Paisiello took the post of director of national music. But after six months the composer was removed from his post. (The Republic fell, the king returned to power, the bandmaster was charged with treason - instead of following the king to Sicily during the unrest, he went over to the side of the rebels.)
Meanwhile, a tempting invitation came from Paris - to head Napoleon's court chapel. In 1802 Paisiello arrived in Paris. However, his stay in France was not long. Indifferently received by the French public (the opera seria “Proserpina” and the interlude “Camilette” written in Paris were not successful), he returned to his homeland in 1803. In recent years, the composer lived a secluded, secluded life, maintaining connections only with his closest friends.
Paisiello's more than forty-year career was filled with extremely intense and varied activity - he left more than 100 operas, oratorios, cantatas, masses, numerous works for orchestra (for example, 12 symphonies - 1784) and chamber ensembles. The greatest master of buffa opera, Paisiello raised this genre to a new level of development, enriched the techniques of comedic (often with an element of sharp satire) musical characterization of the characters, and strengthened the role of the orchestra.
Late operas are distinguished by a variety of ensemble forms - from the simplest “concord duets” to grand finales in which the music reflects all the most complex vicissitudes of the stage action. Freedom in choosing subjects and literary sources distinguishes Paisiello’s work from many of his contemporaries who worked in the buffa genre. Thus, in the famous "" (1788-89) - one of the best comic operas of the 18th century. - features of pastoral and idyll are intertwined with witty parody and satire. (Themes from this opera formed the basis for L. Beethoven's piano variations.) Traditional techniques of serious mythological opera are ridiculed in The Imaginary Philosopher. An unsurpassed master of parodic characteristics, Paisiello did not ignore even Gluck’s “Orpheus” (buffa operas “The Deceived Tree” and “The Imaginary Socrates”). The composer was also attracted to exotic oriental subjects that were fashionable at that time (“Polite Arab”, “Chinese Idol”), and “Nina, or Crazy in Love” has the character of a lyrical sentimental drama. Paisiello's creative principles were largely adopted by W. A. Mozart and had a strong influence on G. Rossini. In 1868, already in his declining years, the famous author of “The Barber of Seville” wrote: “In a Parisian theater, Paisiello’s “The Barber” was once presented: a pearl of artless melodies and theatricality. He has achieved enormous and well-deserved success."
I. Okhalova
Essays:
operas- The Chatterbox (Il сiarlone 1764, Bologna), The Chinese Idol (L'idolo cinese, 1766, post. 1767, Nuovo Hotel, Naples), Don Quixote (Don Chisciotte della Mancia, 1769, Fiorentini Hotel) , Naples), Artaxerxes (1771, Modena), Alexander in India (Alessandro nelle Indie, 1773, ibid.), Andromeda (1774, Milan), Demophon (1775, Venice), Imaginary Socrates (Socrate immaginario, 1775, Naples), Nitteti (1777, St. Petersburg), Achilles on Skiros (Achille in Sciro, 1778, ibid.), Alcides at the Crossroads (Alcide al bivio, 1780, ibid.), The Servant-Mistress (La serva padrona, 1781, Tsarskoe Selo), Seville The Barber, or Vain Precaution (Il barbiere di Siviglia ovvero La precauzione inutile, 1782, St. Petersburg), The Lunar World (Il mondo della luna, 1783, Kamenny T-r, St. Petersburg), King Theodore in Venice (Il re Teodoro in Venezia, 1784 , Vienna), Antigonus (Antigono, 1785, Naples), Cave of Trofonius (La grotta di Trofonio, 1785, ibid.), Phaedra (1788, ibid.),
Italian opera composer who worked extensively in Russia
Biography
Giovanni Paisiello received his primary musical education at the Jesuit school in Taranto, and from 1754-1763 he studied in Naples, at the Sant'Onofrio a Capuana Conservatory, where one of his teachers was Francesco Durante. The success of the buffa opera "The Chatterbox" (Il ciarlone), staged in 1764 in Bologna, inspired Paisiello to continue working primarily in this genre. In the following years, his operas, after their premiere in Naples, where the composer lived since 1766, were staged with constant success in other cities of Italy. Orders came from Milan, Venice, Modena; the most famous operas of this period are “The Chinese Idol” (L"idolo cinese, 1766), “Don Quixote” (Don Chisciotte della Mancia, 1769), “Artaxerxes” (1771), “Alexander in India” (Alessandro nelle Indie, 1773 ), "Andromeda" (1774).
In Petersburg
By the mid-70s, the composer's fame spread beyond Italy. In 1776, Paisiello was invited by Catherine II to St. Petersburg and became, after B. Galuppi and T. Traetta, the third outstanding Italian composer to head the musical life of the capital of the Russian Empire. Paisiello remained the court composer until 1784; here he wrote at least 10 operas and interludes, his debut was the opera “Nitteti”, written on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio (1777), and the most famous of those written in Russia “The Maid-Mistress” on a libretto by G. Federico (La Serva padrona, 1781) and “The Barber of Seville” based on the comedy by P. Beaumarchais (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, 1782). Paisiello's operas were performed both in the court and in the city public theater - the Maly (Volny) on Tsaritsyn Meadow (now the Field of Mars); With the performance of the opera “The Moonlight World” to a libretto by C. Goldoni in 1783, the Stone Theater was opened in St. Petersburg.
Paisiello also wrote music for court festivities - divertissements for wind instruments; he gave music lessons to Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, for whom he composed clavier pieces and instrumental ensembles; for his student, Paisiello wrote a textbook “Rules of good accompaniment on the harpsichord” (Regole per bene accompagnare il partimento: about sia il basso fondamentale sopra il Cembalo, 1782).
As a court conductor, Paisiello also participated in St. Petersburg spiritual concerts, for which he wrote, in particular, “The Passion of Jesus Christ” to a libretto by P. Metastasio (Passione di Gesu Cristo, 1783).
After St. Petersburg
In 1784, Paisiello returned to his homeland and became the court conductor and composer of the King of Naples. By this time, Paisiello had already received recognition in Vienna, for which in 1784 he wrote the opera “King Theodore in Venice” (Il re Teodoro in Venezia, 1784); During this period, along with opera buffa (“The Cave of Trophonia”, “The Miller’s Woman”, etc.), the composer increasingly turned to the genre of opera seria; “Antigone” (Antigono, 1785), “Phaedra” (1788) were born in Naples ), “Abandoned Dido” (Didone abbandonata, 1794), “Andromache” (1797), etc.
In 1799, French troops, supported by Italian rebels, overthrew the Neapolitan Bourbons and Paisiello received the post of director of national music in the Parthenopean Republic created by Napoleon. Six months later, when the French troops left, the Republic fell; the returning king accused Paisiello of treason for siding with the rebels and removed him from office.
In 1754-1763 he studied at the conservatory "Sant Onofrio" in Naples (among his teachers was F. Du-ran-te) . Paisiello's early comic operas appeared in the theaters of Par-ma (“Funny Vir-tu-oz-ki”, libretto by K. Gol-do-ni), Mo- de-ny (“The Wife in Pants”, based on the comedy of the same name by Y. A. Nel-li), Bo-lo-nyi (“Bol-tun”, all three 1764 ), Ve-net-tsii (“Love on ba-lu”, 1765).
From 1766 he lived in Naples, where “The Chinese Idol” (1767, the theater “Nuo-vo”) and “Don Qui-hot La” were staged. -manch" (libretto by J. Lo-ren-tsi after M. de Ser-van-te-su, 1769, "Te-at-ro dei Fio-ren-ti-ni"), "Imaginary So-krat" (1775, theater "Nuo-vo"). In the genre of opera-se-ria, he created “Dik-ta-tor Lu-tsii Pa-pi-riy” (libretto by A. Dze-no, 1767, theater “San-Car” -lo"), "Ar-ta-xerxes", "De-met-riy" (both 1771, Mo-de-na), "Alexander in India" (1773, ibid; all three on libretto by P. Me-ta-sta-zio), “An-dro-me-da” (1774, Milan), “De-mo-font” (libretto by Me-ta-sta-zio, 1775 , Ve-ne-tion).
In 1776-1784, the court kapel-meister in St. Petersburg was the third (after B. Ga-lup-pi and T. Tra-et- you) from large Italian mas-te-rov, ru-ko-vo-div-shih musical life of the Russian imperial court in the 18th century. De-by-tiro-val here opera-roy-se-ria “Nit-te-ti” (libretto by Me-ta-sta-zio, 1777). In Russia, they are called “the-at-ral-action” “Lu-tsin-da and Ar-mi-dor” (1777), opera-s ria "Achilles on Ski-ro-se" (libretto Me-ta-sta-zio, 1778), "Al-kid on ras-put-tie" (1780), opera-buff-fa "Se- Vil-skiy tsi-ryul-nik, or Vain pre-dos-to-rozh-ness" (based on the comedy by P. Beau-mar-shay, 1782, Er-mi-tazh-ny te- atr) etc.
Some of Paisiello's previously created productions were staged on the Russian stage (opera “Imaginary So -krat" entitled "Imaginary fi-lo-so-fs", which delighted Eka-te-ri-nu II; lady" to the libretto by J. A. Fe-de-ri-ko, previously used by J. B. Per-go-le-zi, 1781). His operas also appeared in out-of-town re-zi-den-tsi-yah im-perat-ri-tsy (Ka-men-ny island, Pe- ter-gof, Tsar-skoe Se-lo). The opera “The Lunar World” (libretto by K. Gol-do-ni) was performed at the opening of the Big (Ka-men-no-go) theater ra in St. Petersburg (1783).
In Moscow, the Italian troupe staged buffet operas “The Created Lover”, “Imaginary As- t-ro-lo-gi" (re-edition of "Imaginary fi-lo-so-fov") and in-ter-media "Servant-ka-gos-po-zha" (all 1782), the opera “Lu-tsin-da and Ar-mi-dor” (1784; all of them later entered the re-per-tu-ar of the Russian troupe); the opera “The Seville Ci-Rul-Nik, or the Impossible Pre-dignity” was not translated into Russian (1797) .
Paisiello also wrote in-st-ru-mental music for court festivities (24 di-ver-tis-men-ta were preserved for 2 flutes, 2 cla-net-tov, 2 val-thorn and fa-go-ta, some of them have program sub-heads - “ Dia-na”, “Half-day”, “Sunset”, “Going to bed”), keyboard plays (we know 2 concerts for cla-ve-si-na with or-ke-st-rum) and in-st-ru-men-tal-nye en-samb-li (published in Paris at the end of the 18th century), pre-na -meaningful for the Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna (future im-perat-ri-tsy), who took lessons from Paisiello. His textbook “Pra-vi-la good-ro-she-go ak-kom-pa-ne-men-ta...” (“Regole per bene ac” is dedicated to her -compagnare il partimento...", published in Italian in St. Petersburg, 1782). For use in St. Petersburg spiritual concerts, Paisiello composed the ora “Passione di Gesu Cristo” , 1783).
Upon his return to his birth, Paisiello was appointed court capel-mei-ster and com-po-zi-to-rum ne-apo-li -tan-sko-go-ro-lya. In 1799, he became the director of music in the revolutionary government of Naples, but after the restoration authorities, Bur-bo-nov, has been removed from all positions. In 1802-1803, in Pa-ri-zhe, the personal ka-pel-loy of Na-po-le-o-na Bo-na-par-ta was run. Here his opera “Pro-zer-pi-na” (to the French libretto by F. Ki-no, 1803) was staged, without, at the same time, having -pe-ha. After starring in the Ne-a-po-le opera “Pi-fa-go-re-tsy” (1808), Paisiello withdrew from creative activity.
Paisiello is the largest representative of Italian opera art of the second half of the 18th century. They created about 100 operas (se-ria and buff-fa; some su-s-st-vu-yut in different editions). Along with N. Pich-chin-ni, Paisiello was the largest master of Italian comic opera in its highest color in the second half of the 18th century. Paisiello's operas buffet with freshness and variety of me-lo-di-ki, drink-tav-shay elements -you are a non-apo-li-tan folk song, rhythmic sharpness and invention, increased role of the or-ke-st -ra. With the present com-po-zi-to-ru, the gift of well-aimed and catchy har-rak-te-ri-stick allowed him to create for-my-na- existing musical and stage images. Skillfully using contrasts, he achieved stre-mi-tel-no-sti action and bright comedy effects .
Without og-ra-ni-chi-va-yasya pure com-media te-ma-ti-koy, Paisiello turned to the same place and images ek-zo-ti-che-sko-go (“Chinese Idol”, 1766), chuv-st-vi-tel-no-pas-to-ral-no-go (“Mel-ni- chi-ha", 1789; more than once, she became a member of the Moscow Bolshoi Te-at-re) ha-rak-te-ra. In the opera “Ni-na, or Mad with Love” (libretto by J. Lorenzi, 1789; in Russia it was called “Ni-na, or From love su-ma-descended”, 1797, Great Theatre), one of the peaks of Paisiello’s creativity, he is approaching to the type of Saint-ti-mental bur-zhu-az-noy drama. Paisiello influenced V. A. Mozart and J. Rossi-ni.
