Matteo Salvi (24 November 1816 – 18 October 1887 ) was a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

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 ...

and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and a theatre director. Salvi was born in Botta di Sedrina (Provincia di

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. A student of

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

, he is best known for having completed the score of Donizetti’s unfinished opera '' Le duc d’Albe'' for its first public performance in 1882, some forty years after Donizetti’s death. (The libretto was translated into Italian, and the opera was performed as ''Il duca d’Alba''.) Salvi is usually credited as the composer of the tenor aria “Angelo casto e bel” in ''Il duca d’Alba'', although as he was helped in the reconstruction of Donizetti’s score by several composers, including Amilcare Ponchielli, there has been some dispute as to the degree to which he was the aria’s sole composer.Ashbrook, W., 1998 He died in

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

, Italy.

Principal compositions

*''La prima donna'' 1843—opera to a libretto by Carlo Guaita *''Lara'' 1843—opera to a libretto by Leopoldo Tarentini and dedicated to

Johann Simon Mayr Johann(es) Simon Mayr (also spelled Majer, Mayer, Maier), also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr (14 June 1763 – 2 December 1845), was a German composer. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the ...

*''I Burgravi'' 1845—opera to a libretto by Giacomo Sacchèro *''Caterina Howard'' 1847—opera to a libretto by Giorgio Giachetti *''Messa: a voci sole con accompagnamento d’organo'' *''Cantata per soli e coro con orchestra: la gloria e la musica apoteosi di Mayr''

Notes and references

*Altmann, W. and Frank, P., 1936, ''Kurzgefasstes Tonkunstler Lexikon: fur Musiker und Freunde der Musik'', Regensburg: Gustave Bosse.
Archivi Teatro Napoli
(accessed 25 April 2007) *Ashbrook, W., “Donizetti Portraits,” ''Opera Quarterly'', 1998; 14: 205-208. *Buldrini, Y., 2005, ''Dossier: Il Duca d’Alba''

(accessed 25 April 2007) *Donati-Petteni, G., 1930, ''L’arte della musica in Bergamo'', Bergamo: Instituto Italiano d’Arti Graphiche di Bergamo. *Forcella, P., 1987. ''Matteo Salvi : musicista bergamasco sul palcoscenico d’Europa'', Bergamo: Edizioni Villadiseriane.
OPAC, Provincia di Bergamo
(accessed 25 April 2007) *Stieger, F., 1977, ''Opernlexikon, Teil II: Komponisten'', Tutzing: Hans Schneider. {{DEFAULTSORT:Salvi, Matteo 1816 births 1887 deaths Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Italian composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers Musicians from the Province of Bergamo 19th-century Italian male musicians