Count Giacomo Durazzo (27 April 1717 – 15 October 1794) was an Italian

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and man of theatre.

Biography

He was born into the House of Durazzo, one of the most important aristocratic families in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. His older brother was the

doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...

Marcello Durazzo Marcello is a common masculine Italian given name. It is a variant of Marcellus. The Spanish and Portuguese version of the name is Marcelo, differing in having only one "l", while the Greek form is Markellos. Etymology The name originally means ...

. In 1749, he became ambassador to the court in

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 was appointed director of the imperial theatres in the city in 1754. He is most famous for working with the composer

Christoph Willibald 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. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

on reforming Italian

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 ...

. In 1750, he married the eighteen-year-old Countess Ernestine Aloisia Ungnad von Weissenwolff (1732–1794). He died 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 ...

References

*A. Valenti Durazzo, "I Durazzo da schiavi a dogi della Repubblica di Genova", www.storiadurazzo.com, Chra Principauté de Monaco, 2004. *E. Podestà ''Giacomo Durazzo da genovese a cittadino d'Europa,'' Accademia Urbense Ovada, 1992. *M.L. Sebastiani e F. Porticelli, ''Torino musicale "scrinium" di

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 ...

,'' Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino, Torino 2006. *L.Leoncini (a cura di) "Giacomo Durazzo. Teatro musicale e collezionismo tra Genova, Parigi e Venezia", Grafiche G7 Sas, Savignone (Ge) per Sagep editori, Genova, Giugno 2012. *A.Valenti Durazzo "Il Fratello del Doge. Giacomo Durazzo un illuminista alla Corte degli Asburgo tra Mozart, casanova e Gluck", La Compagnia della Stampa, Maggio 2012. *G.Assereto "Durazzo Giacomo Pier Francesco, in "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, 42 (1993) pp.150-153. *A.Lanzola "Melodramma e spettacolo a Vienna: vita e carriera teatrale di Giacomo Durazzo (1717-1794)", tesi di dottorato in lettarature e culture moderne, Università degli Studi di Genova, 2010 1717 births 1794 deaths 18th-century Genoese people 18th-century diplomats 18th-century Italian nobility Italian diplomats Italian opera librettists {{Italy-noble-stub