Domenico Natale Sarro, also Sarri (24 December 1679 – 25 January 1744) was an Italian composer.
Born in
Trani
Trani () is a seaport of Apulia, in southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, by railway west-northwest of Bari. It is one of the capital cities of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani.
History
Overview
The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the fir ...
,
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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, he studied at the Neapolitan conservatory of
S. Onofrio
Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo is a titular church in Trastevere, Rome. It is the official church of the papal order of knighthood Order of the Holy Sepulchre. A side chapel is dedicated to the Order and a former grand master, Nicola Canali is entombed ...
. He composed extensively in the early 18th century. His opera ''
Didone abbandonata
''Didone abbandonata'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Pietro Metastasio. It was his first original work and was set to music by Domenico Sarro in 1724. The opera was accompanied by the intermezzo '' L'impresario delle Isole Canarie'', also ...
'', premiered on 1 February 1724 at the
Teatro San Bartolomeo Theatres for diverse musical and dramatic presentations began to open in Naples, Italy, in the mid-16th century as part of the general Spanish cultural and political expansion into the kingdom of Naples, which had just become a vicerealm of Spain. ...
in
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 ...
, was the first setting of a major libretto by
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 ...
. He is best remembered today as the composer of ''
Achille in Sciro'', the opera that was chosen to open the new
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 ...
in 1737.
Of his many intermezzi, 'Dorina e Nibbio' or
L'impresario delle Isole Canarie
' (The impresario from the Canary Islands), also known as ''L'impresario delle Canarie'' or ''Dorina e Nibbio'', is a satirical opera intermezzo libretto attributed to Metastasio (Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi), written in 1724 to be performe ...
(1724) has had an extensive performance history. With a libretto by
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 ...
(his only comic libretto), it was performed often and imitated internationally (with versions by Albinoni, Gasparini,
Leo, Martini and others). In recent years it was performed in the State Theatre of Stuttgart, the Bochum Symphony as well as the
Semperoper
The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...
Dresden.
In addition to his Operas and other large scale works, Sarro has written a considerable number of vocal cantatas which show great charm and inventiveness. 'Coronatemi il crin' for Alto, two violins and continuo, is perhaps his most well known cantata.
The only known depiction of Domenico Sarro is Nicolò Maria Rossi's painting of the Viceroy at the festa of the Quattro Altari in the Harrach collection, Sarro is one of the many composers depicted as part of the Neapolitan Court (La festa dei Quattro Altari, 1745)
Operas
References
*Grove Music On-line
*Robinson, Michael F. (1972) ''Naples and Neapolitan Opera''. Clarendon Press, Oxford. .
*''Fingere Per Godere: Comedia Per Music'' (1736) by Tomaso Mariani and Domenico Sarro
1679 births
1744 deaths
Italian opera composers
Male opera composers
Italian male classical composers
Italian Baroque composers
18th-century Italian composers
18th-century Italian male musicians
{{Italy-composer-stub