Angelo Maria Amorevoli (16 September 1716 – 15 November 1798) was a leading
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
in
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
.
Biography
Angelo Amorevoli began singing in
opera seria
''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...
when he was just thirteen: in 1729 he sang in revivals of the musical dramas, ''Amore e gratitudine'', probably by
Flavio Carlo Lanciani
''Flavio, re de' Longobardi'' ("Flavio, King of the Lombards", HWV 16) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Matteo Noris's ''Flavio Cuniberto''. It was Hand ...
, and ''
Ottone in villa
''Ottone in villa'' (''Otho at his villa'', RV 729) is an opera in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi to an Italian libretto by Domenico Lalli (the pseudonym of Sebastiano Biancardi). It was Vivaldi's first opera and premiered on 17 May 1713 at the ...
'' by
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...
. The following year he was on the stage in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
for
Porpora
Nicola (or Niccolò) Antonio Porpora (17 August 16863 March 1768) was an Italian composer and teacher of singing of the Baroque era, whose most famous singing students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. Other students included compose ...
’s operas ''Mitridate'' and ''Siface'', and in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
for
Hasse’s ''Dalisa''. From 1731 to 1735 he took part in major operatic productions in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
,
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, and other towns of northern Italy. From 1736 to 1740 he moved to
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, where he took part in eleven premières, one of which was
Sarro’s ''Achille in Sciro'', the drama that inaugurated the
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent t ...
on 4 November 1737.
In 1739 he traveled to
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, where he attracted a lot of attention, primarily with his interpretation of Vivaldi's ''Feraspe''. On 26 December 1740 he took part in the inauguration of the new
Teatro Regio in Turin, performing the part of ''Mitrane'' in
Francesco Feo
Francesco Feo (1691 – 28 January 1761) was an Italian composer, known chiefly for his operas. He was born and died in Naples, where most of his operas were premièred.
Life
Feo studied music at the '' Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà' ...
's ''Arsace''. In 1741 he made his debut both in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, and in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where he sang several productions at
the King's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...
from October 1741 to May 1743. He returned to Italy from 1744 to 1745 where he was on the stage in Milan. He resolved to move to
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
in order to be given the chance of singing in
Hasse's operas. There, the Hamburg composer would give him the satisfaction of performing the title role in his opera ''Solimano'' which was premièred in 1753.
In 1748 Amorevoli visited Vienna again, and there he met the celebrated librettist and great poet
Pietro Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of '' opera seria'' libretti.
Early life
Me ...
, who highly commended his singing ability, and took part in a third theatre inauguration, at the
Burgtheater
The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...
, singing in
Gluck
Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the ...
's ''La Semiramide Riconosciuta'' (''Ircano''). He then lived in Milan again from 1748 to 1749 and from 1759 to 1764, the year he decided to retire from the stage. Returned definitively to Dresden, he was engaged by the Saxon Court, but only as a chamber and Church singer, which posts he held until about 1771. He died in Dresden in 1798.
Artistic features
Angelo Amorevoli is considered one of the greatest tenors in the first half of the 18th century's European operatic scene and the leader, together with
Annibale Pio Fabri
Annibale Pio Fabri (Bologna, 1697 – 12 August 1760, Lisbon), also known as ''Balino'', from ''Annibalino'', diminutive of his first name, was an Italian singer and composer of the 18th century. One of the leading tenors of his age in a time dom ...
(and
Francesco Borosini
Francesco Borosini (1695 – after 1747) was an Italian opera singer. Although usually described as a tenor, he had an extraordinarily wide vocal range spanning bass to tenor. He was known not only for the quality of his singing but for his ski ...
), of tenor revenge in the world of Baroque music drama. Before them, the tenor, which used to show marked
baritonal characteristics, was employed in third leading parts, in
buffo
''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...
roles, often interpreting ''
en travesti
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'' figures of old women. With the coming of the new tenor class led by Amorevoli, things changed: the vocal range and
tessitura
In music, tessitura (, pl. ''tessiture'', "texture"; ) is the most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer or less frequently, musical instrument, the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding (or character ...
employed remained substantially baritonal, reaching the summit of B4 flat. The main change, however, was the unheard-of coloratura virtuosity the new tenor class proved themselves equal to, which enabled the tenors to achieve a real breakthrough, finally conquering leading roles in Baroque operas. These included great roles of fathers, commanders, antagonists villains (the same kind of roles that would later become peculiar to the modern
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
). In this new field, Amorevoli took the lead wherever in Europe he sang, and with the greatest musicians of his era, including Vivaldi and Hasse. Amorevoli worked with Hasse in Dresden for many years. Their collaboration culminated with ''Segestes allegro, ''Solcar pensa un mar sicuro'', from the version of ''
Arminio'' produced in that town in 1745, which was the most acrobatic coloratura aria of tempest that had ever, up to that time, been granted to a male voice.
Roles created
The following list is not complete.
[For a wider list, cf. Angelo Amorevoli/Ruoli Creati in the Italian Wikipedia, or Angelo Amorevoli/Repertoire in the German Wikipedia.]
*
Sources
* G. Zechmeister: ''Die Wiener Theater nächst der Burg und nächst dem Kärntnertor von 1747 bis 1776'' (
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, 1971)
* R. Celletti: ''Storia del belcanto'', Discanto Edizioni,
Fiesole
Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times.
Sin ...
, 1983, ''passim''
* E. Selfridge-Field: ''Pallade veneta: Writings on Music in Venetian Society 1650–1750'', p. 310 (
Venezia
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...
, 1985)
* W.C. Holmes: ''Opera Observed: Views of a Florentine Impresario in the Early Eighteenth Century'' (
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, 1993)
* S. Mamy: ''Les grands castrats napolitains à Venise au XVIIIe siècle'', pp. 41, 120 (
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
, 1994)
* S. Caruselli (a cura di), ''Grande enciclopedia della musica lirica'', Longanesi &C. Periodici S.p.A.,
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, Vol. 4, p. 1196/1197
* S. Hansell, K. Lipton: ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ''ad nomen''
* This article contains substantial material translated from
Angelo Amorevoli
Angelo Maria Amorevoli (16 September 1716 – 15 November 1798) was a leading Italian tenor in Baroque opera.
Biography
Angelo Amorevoli began singing in opera seria when he was just thirteen: in 1729 he sang in revivals of the musical drama ...
in the Italian Wikipedia.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amorevoli, Angelo Maria
1716 births
1798 deaths
Italian operatic tenors
Musicians from Venice