Luigi Capotorti (17 March 1767 – 17 November 1842) was an Italian composer of both sacred and secular music. He was the ''

maestro di cappella (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' of several Neapolitan churches; the composer of ten operas, five of which premiered at the

Teatro 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 ...

in Naples; and a teacher of composition and singing whose students included

Stefano Pavesi Stefano Pavesi (22 January 1779, Casaletto Vaprio – 28 July 1850) was an Italian composer. He is primarily known as a prolific opera composer; his breakthrough opera was Fingallo e Comala, and his acknowledged opera masterpiece is Ser Marcan ...

and Saverio Mercadante. Born in

Molfetta Molfetta (; Molfettese: ) is a town located in the northern side of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It has a well restored old city, and its own dialect. History The earliest local signs of permanent habitation are a ...

, he studied violin and composition at the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio in Naples and spent his entire career in that city. In his later years, Capotorti retired to

San Severo San Severo (; formerly known as Castellum Sancti Severini, then San Severino and Sansevero; locally ) is a city and comune of c. 51,919 inhabitants in the province of Foggia, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. Rising on the foot of the spur of Gargano ...

, where he died at the age of 75.

Life

Capotorti was born in the southern Italian town of

the son of Maria ''née'' Berardi and Michelangelo Capotorti. He showed an early talent as a violinist and at the age of 12 was hired by the town's cathedral to play whenever the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

was carried outside. In 1783 his father enrolled him in the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio in Naples where he studied violin under Michele Nasci and counterpoint and composition under

Giuseppe Millico Vito Giuseppe Millico, called "''Il Moscovita''" (19 January 1737 – 2 October 1802), was an Italian soprano castrato, composer, and music teacher of the 18th century who is best remembered for his performances in the operas of Christoph Wi ...

, Giacomo Insanguine, and

Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly th ...

. Shortly after leaving the conservatory, he composed his first opera, ''I sposi in rissa'', which premiered at Teatro Nuovo in 1796, followed by ''Nice'' that same year. Their success led to a commission from the

for an opera to celebrate the birthday of Queen Maria Carolina. The work, ''Enea in Cartagine'', premiered at the theatre on 13 August 1799. He went on to compose seven more operas. They all premiered in Naples, four of them at the Teatro San Carlo. His opera serias ''Ciro'' and ''Marco Curzio'' were the most distinguished of these. ''Ciro'' had a libretto based on Xenophon's ''

Anabasis Anabasis (from Greek ''ana'' = "upward", ''bainein'' = "to step or march") is an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. Anabase and Anabasis may also refer to: History * ''Anabasis Alexandri'' (''Anabasis of Alexander''), a ...

'' and was performed to mark the birthday of King Ferdinand IV in 1805. According to musicologist Maria Caraci Vela, the work had an unusual plot in which Ferdinand IV was identified with its protagonist Cyrus the Younger and music which displayed "a rich symphonic and choral texture." ''Marco Curzio'' premiered on 15 August 1813 to mark the

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, among other parts of Christendom. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively that of a ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, who had installed his brother-in-law

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

as the King of Naples in 1808. The opera introduced elements of the French operatic style including the use of massed choruses to drive the dramatic action forward. It was given a lavish production at the Teatro San Carlo with sets by Antonio Niccolini and Andrea Nozzari in the title role. Concurrent with his career as an opera composer, Capotorti served as the ''

'' of the Neapolitan churches

San Domenico Maggiore San Domenico Maggiore is a Gothic, Roman Catholic church and monastery, founded by the friars of the Dominican Order, and located in the square of the same name in the historic center of Naples. History The square is bordered by a street/alle ...

, San Vincenzo alla Sanità, and Santa Teresa degli Scalzi for which most of his

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

was composed. He also taught singing and composition. According to Francesco Florimo, amongst his pupils were the composers

and Saverio Mercadante. In an 1811 decree by Joachim Murat, Capotorti,

Giacomo Tritto Giacomo Domenico Mario Antonio Pasquale Giuseppe Tritto (2 April 1733 – 16 September 1824) was an Italian composer, known primarily for his fifty-four operas. He was born in Altamura, and studied in Naples; among his teachers were Nicola F ...

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born in T ...

and

Fedele Fenaroli Fedele Fenaroli (25 April 1730, in Lanciano – 1 January 1818, in Naples) was an Italian composer and teacher. Fenaroli entered the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, one of the Music conservatories of Naples, becoming a pupil of Francesc ...

were appointed examiners of the Reale Collegio di Musica. However, when Ferdinand IV was restored to the throne of Naples, Capotorti was unsuccessful in his petition for an appointment as a professor at the conservatory. This was despite having composed ''Inno per il faustissimo giorno onomastico di Sua Maestà Ferdinando IV'', a staged cantata to honour Ferdinand's name day. Rehearsals began in February 1816 and it was performed at the

Teatro del Fondo The Teatro del Fondo is a theatre in Naples, now known as the Teatro Mercadante. It is located on Piazza del Municipio #1, with the front facing the west side of Castel Nuovo and near the Molo (Dock) Siglio. Together with the Teatro San Carlo, it w ...

on 30 May 1816. A few days later, his petition for the professorship was rejected. The ''Inno'' was to be Capotorti's last work composed for the theatre. His final opera, ''Ernesta e Carlino'', had premiered the previous year. After 1816, Capotorti dedicated himself to teaching and to composing sacred music and romanze, many of which were set to texts by

Giuseppe Saverio Poli Giuseppe Saverio Poli (26 October 17467 April 1825) was an Italian physicist, biologist and natural historian. His collections, together with those stored in the Royal Bourbon Museum, were the foundation of the Zoological Museum of Naples. T ...

. He spent his final years in

where he was the ''maestro di cappella'' at the church of San Lorenzo delle Benedettine but returned to Molfetta from time to time to visit relatives there. He died in San Severo at the age of 75 after being taken ill during his return from the last of those visits. Capotorti had one son from his marriage to Rosa Pollari, Luigi Antonio Capotorti, who also became a musician and composer.

Later recognition

Capotorti's portrait painted by Raffaele Armenise in 1899 was one of four large

medallions Medallion or Medallions may refer to: * Medal (shortening of "medallion"), a carved or engraved circular piece of metal issued as a souvenir, award, work of art or fashion accessory * Medallion (architecture), a large round or oval ornament on a bu ...

depicting famous composers from Apulia which decorated the main auditorium of the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari. The other three composers depicted were

Giacomo Insanguine Giacomo Antonio Francesco Paolo Michele Insanguine (also called ''Giacomo Monopoli'' after his birthplace Monopoli; 22 March 1728 – 1 February 1795) was an Italian composer, organist, and music educator. He was the last director (primo maestr ...

, and Salvatore Fighera. The medallions and a large ceiling fresco, also painted by Armenise, were lost in 1991 when a fire destroyed the theatre. In May 2001, the

Conservatory of Bari The Niccolò Piccinni Conservatory ( it, Conservatorio Niccolò Piccinni) was founded by the violinist and music critic Giovanni Capaldi in 1925, with headquarters in Villa Bucciero, Bari, Italy. It was the fourteenth music school to arise in Ita ...

initiated the project "Luigi Capotorti. Un allievo pugliese di Piccinni". There was an exhibition devoted to Capotorti's life and work and a concert in Bari's Chiesa del Gesù which included the first performances in modern times of the

Sinfonia Sinfonia (; plural ''sinfonie'') is the Italian word for symphony, from the Latin ''symphonia'', in turn derived from Ancient Greek συμφωνία ''symphōnia'' (agreement or concord of sound), from the prefix σύν (together) and ϕωνή (sou ...

from Capotorti's last opera, ''Ernesta e Carlino'' and his Sinfonia in B-flat major composed in 1836 for the Feast Day of Saint Anthony. To mark the 250th anniversary of Capotorti's birth in 2017, his native city of Molfetta organized a series of events that included the first public performance of four of Capotorti's hitherto unpublished pieces of sacred music: ''Nuova Messa per Solennità Festiva'', ''Dio vi salvi'', ''Inno a San Francesco da Paola'', and ''Sestina in onore di Santa Filomena''. A CD containing the ''Nuova Messa per Solennità Festiva'' and four other vocal and instrumental works was released in 2020. The last of these was ''Innocente verginella'', composed for the Benedictine nuns in San Severo. There have been three modern

critical editions Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in ...

of Capotorti's works: *The opera ''Ernesta e Carlino'' edited by Maria Pia Panunzio and published by the Società di Storia Patria per la Puglia in 1999 *The devotional aria "Innocente verginella" edited by Annamaria Bonsante and published by Il Melograno in 2001 *The cantata ''Salve Regina'' (for soprano voice, oboes, horns, and strings) edited by Thomas J. Martino and published by Mannheim Editions in 2012

Operas and oratorios

*''I sposi in rissa'',

opera buffa ''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 ...

in 2 acts, libretto by Giuseppe Maria Diodati; premiered Naples, Teatro Nuovo, 1796 *''Nice'', opera seria in 2 acts, librettist unknown; premiered Naples, probably Teatro Nuovo, 1796 (music lost) *''Enea in Cartagine'', opera seria in 3 acts, libretto by Giuseppe Maria Orengo; premiered Naples,

, 1799 *''Gli Orazi e Curiazi'', opera seria in 3 acts, libretto by Antonio Simeone Sografi; premiered Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 1800 *''Le piaghe d'Egitto'',

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

, libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola; premiered Naples,

, 1801 *''Le nozze per impegno'', opera buffa in 2 acts, libretto by

Andrea Leone Tottola Andrea Leone Tottola (died 15 September 1831) was a prolific Italian librettist, best known for his work with Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini. It is not known when or where he was born. He became the official poet to the royal theatres ...

; premiered Naples,

Teatro dei Fiorentini 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. ...

, 1802 *''Obeide ed Atamare'', opera seria in 2 acts, libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola; premiered Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 1803 *'' Ciro'', opera seria in 3 acts, libretto by Emmanuele Imbimbo; premiered Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 1805 *''Bref il sordo'', opera buffa in 2 acts, libretto by ; premiered Naples, Teatro dei Fiorentini, 1805 *''Marco Curzio'', opera seria in 2 acts, libretto by

Giovanni Schmidt Giovanni Schmidt ( in Livorno – in Naples) was an Italian librettist. Life He moved to Naples while he was still young and stayed there for the rest of his life. Between 1800 and 1839 he wrote libretti for 45 operas, especially for the Teatro ...

; premiered Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 1813 *''Ernesta e Carlino'',

melodramma ''Melodramma'' (plural: ''melodrammi'') is a 17th-century Italian term for a text to be set as an opera, or the opera itself. In the 19th century, it was used in a much narrower sense by English writers to discuss developments in the early Italia ...

in 2 acts, libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola; premiered Naples, Teatro dei Fiorentini, 1815

Notes

References

External links