Giuseppe Belli, also Giovanni Belli, also known as 'Il Cortoncino' (born 1732 in

Cortona Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. Toponymy Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan 𐌂𐌖𐌓� ...

; died 19 January 1760) was an

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 ...

castrato A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

singer at the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

court.

Life

In 1752 Belli replaced the castrato Giovanni Bindi who had died in 1750 as ''secundo uomo'' in

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 ...

. That was the beginning of his career. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

he returned to Italy, and died 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 ...

at the beginning of 1760, when he was fatally stabbed one day before the premiere of

Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

's new opera. During his time in Dresden, he performed at the following operas by Hasse: *''

Arminio ''Arminio'' ( HWV 36) is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel. The libretto is based on a libretto of the same name by Antonio Salvi, which had been set to music by Alessandro Scarlatti. It is a fictionalisation of events surrounding the G ...

'' ( January 1753 in Dresden) - as Segimiro (his first role in Saxony) *''

Solimano ''Solimano'' is an opera in three acts composed by Johann Adolph Hasse to an Italian-language libretto by Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca. Loosely based on an episode in the life of Suleiman the Magnificent, the opera premiered on 5 February 1753 ...

'' ( February 1753 in Dresden) - as Acomate *'' L'eroe cinese'' (7 October 1753 in

Hubertusburg Hubertusburg is a Rococo palace in Saxony, Germany. It was built from 1721 onwards at the behest of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and after his death served as a residence of his son Augustus III. The 'Saxon Versailles ...

) - as Minteo *''

Artemisia Artemisia may refer to: People * Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece * Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...

'' (6 February 1754 in Dresden) - as Idaspe *'' Ezio'' (20 January 1755 in Dresden) - as Varo *''

Il re pastore ' (''The Shepherd King'') is an opera, K. 208, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Metastasio, edited by Giambattista Varesco. It is an opera seria. The opera was first performed on 23 April 1775 in Salzburg in the Ritte ...

'' ( 7 October 1755 in Hubertusburg, second time on 7 October 1762 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

) - as Agenore *''

L'olimpiade ''L'Olimpiade'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Metastasio originally written for an operatic setting by Antonio Caldara of 1733. Metastasio’s plot vaguely draws upon the narrative of "The Trial of the Suitors" provided from Book 6 of '' ...

'' (16 February 1756 in Dresden and 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 ...

) - as Licida

Ernst Ludwig Gerber Ernst Ludwig Gerber (29 September 1746 in Sondershausen, Germany – 30 June 1819 in Sondershausen) was a German composer, organist, cellist, and author of a famous dictionary of musicians. His father, Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber (1702–1775), a ...

relates

Moritz Fürstenau Moritz Ludwig Carl Ignaz Franz August Fürstenau (born 26 July 1824 and died on 27 March 1889, also in Dresden) was a German flautist and music historian. He left only a few works that gained little significance, but was extremely helpful as a thea ...

: ''Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am Hofe zu Dresden. Zweiter Theil''. Dresden: Rudolf Kuntze, 1862., p. 273 that he "moved everyone to tears" with Licida's aria ''Consola il genitore''. This aria was especially written for him by Hasse.

Gottlieb Wilhelm Rabener Gottlieb Wilhelm Rabener (17 September 1714 – 22 March 1771), was a German writer of prose satires and publicist of the Enlightenment. He was born at Wachau near Leipzig, and he died at Dresden. In 1741 he made his debut as satirist in S ...

called him in a letter to his friend "the divine" Belli. Belli was also loved for his incredible beauty (by German men and women equally). He was tall (as all castrati were), lean, with pale complexion, face like an angel and big eyes. As

Johann Joachim Winckelmann Johann Joachim Winckelmann (; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and founding he ...

reports in a letter to his friend on 30 September 1758: "In the evening I am going to the opera ...I am in Dresden, for the Pilaja is singing, and Lenzi and his wife are dancing. The beautiful, indeed the most beautiful, Belli is going to sing today" But when the Seven Years' War started, he, Hasse and many other singers went to Italy. Belli remained in contact with Hasse and continued to sing for him. But one day before the premiere of Hasse's new opera (or rather, newly-rewritten opera) ''

Artaserse ' is the name of a number of Italian operas, all based on a text by Metastasio. ' is the Italian form of the name of the king Artaxerxes I of Persia. There are over 90 known settings of Metastasio's text. The libretto was originally written for, ...

'', Belli died, stabbed by a jealous Venetian, as Winckelmann notes in a letter. On 28 January 1760, the funeral service took place in the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Naples, where numerous "Signori Virtuosi di Musica Napoletani" participated. The musical direction of the funeral service lay in the hands of the Court Kapellmeister

Giuseppe de Majo Giuseppe de Majo (di Maio; 5 December 169718 November 1771) was an Italian composer and organist. He was the father of the composer Gian Francesco de Majo. His compositional output consists of 10 operas, an oratorio, a concerto for 2 violins, and ...

.Hans-Bertold Dietz: ''The Dresden-Naples Connection 1737-1763: Charles of Bourbon, Maria Amalia of Saxony, and Johann Adolf Hasse''. In: ''International journal of musicology'' vol. 5, 1997, ISSN 0941-9535, pp. 95-144, here p. 124
Google Books: online version (restricted preview)
/ref> Winckelmann, who was in Italy at the time, was truly saddened by the death of Belli. In his letter, he again refers to the particular beauty of Belli: one might think that he shared a predilection for the singer, as might be suggested by Rabener. In a letter to Baron von Stosch he wrote about Belli's death: "The beautiful, indeed the most beautiful, Belli has died, as you will know ... I mourn as much about him as she does." According to FürstenauMoritz Fürstenau: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am sächsischen Hofe während der Regierung August’s III. 1733–1763''. Leipziger Zeitung – Wissenschaftliche Beilagen 1856, pp. 483–484
Googl;e Books: online version
Belli was also the "favourite of the ladies in Dresden" (especially for his fine voice and beautiful face).

References

Sources

*Moritz Fürstenau: ''Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am Hofe der Kurfürsten von Sachsen und Könige von Polen: Friedrich August I. (August II.) u. Friedrich August II. (August III.)''. Dresden 1862: Kuntze

*

Karl-Josef Kutsch Karl-Josef Kutsch, also known as K. J. Kutsch, (born 11 May 1924) is a German physician and co-author with Leo Riemens of the ''Großes Sängerlexikon'', the standard reference for opera singers. Life and work Born in Gangelt, Kutsch studied me ...

Leo Riemens Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch musicologist and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about Maria Callas, and together with Karl-Josef Kutsch began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which ...

: ''

Großes Sängerlexikon ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The first ...

''. Volume 1: Aarden-Castles. 4th, extended and updated edition. Saur, Munich 2003, ,
online via De Gruyter online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belli, Giuseppe Castrati 1732 births 1760 deaths Musicians from Florence