![Michele Carafa by Antoine Maurin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Michele_Carafa_by_Antoine_Maurin.jpg)
Michele Enrico Francesco Vincenzo Aloisio Paolo Carafa di Colobrano (17 November 1787 – 26 July 1872) was an 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 ...
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 ...
. He was born 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 ...
and studied in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
with
Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...
. He was Professor of counterpoint at the
Paris Conservatoire
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
from 1840 to 1858. One of his notable pupils was
Achille Peri
Achille Peri (20 December 1812 – 28 March 1880) was an Italian composer and conductor. He is best known for his operas which were strongly influenced by the music of Giuseppe Verdi.
Life and career
Born in Reggio Emilia, Peri began his musica ...
.
Life and work
Michele Enrico was born the second son of Giovanni
Carafa Carafa is a surname held by:
* Tony Carafa, Australian rules footballer
* Members of the house of Carafa
See also
*Carafa Chapel
*Caraffa (disambiguation) Caraffa may refer to:
* Caraffa del Bianco, municipality in the Province of Reggio Calabri ...
, prince of Colubrano and
duke of Alvito, and princess Teresa Lembo. He was given a solid musical education. In 1802, he composed his first opera, ''Il Fantasma'', which was staged at the theater of his father-in-law, prince of Caramanico, in 1805. He moved in 1806 to Paris, where he was taught composition by
Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...
and piano by
Friedrich Kalkbrenner
Friedrich Wilhelm Michael Kalkbrenner (2–8 November 1785 – 10 June 1849), also known as ''Frédéric Kalkbrenner'', was a pianist, composer, piano teacher and piano manufacturer. German by birth, Kalkbrenner studied at the Conservatoire de ...
.
However, pressured by his father to give up music for a military career, he became a lieutenant of the
hussar
A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...
s in
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 ...
's army. Taken prisoner in the
Battle of Campo Tenese
The Battle of Campo Tenese (9 March 1806) saw two divisions of the First French Empire, Imperial French Army of Naples led by Jean Reynier attack the left wing of the Royal Neapolitan Army under Roger de Damas. Though the defenders were protect ...
in 1806, he was freed and participated in the war against Sicily, where he became captain.
Returning to Naples in 1808, he married Antoinette d'Aubenton (or Daubenton) and studied music under
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 ...
. Again pressured by his father, he followed
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 ...
in the
Russian campaign
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...
. After the
Battle of Ostrovno
The Battle of Ostrovno (French: ''Combat d'Ostrowno'') was a military engagement that took place on 25 July 1812, between French forces under the command of King of Naples Joachim Murat and Russian forces under General Ostermann-Tolstoy and en ...
, he was personally awarded the
Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
by Napoleon himself and made a baron of the
Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy (1805–1814; it, Regno d'Italia; french: Royaume d'Italie) was a kingdom in Northern Italy (formerly the Italian Republic) in personal union with Napoleon I's French Empire. It was fully influenced by revolutionary Franc ...
.
When
the Bourbons were restored in Naples, the property of the Carafa family was confiscated and the military career of Michele Enrico was over, so he could finish his musical education. The Teatro del Fondo staged his ''Il Vascello d'occidente'' in 1814 and ''Gabriella di Vergy'', written by Andrea Leone Tottola, in 1816. The latter was as popular as ''Otello'' by
Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
, staged the same year at the same theater. In fact, Rossini asked him to compose an aria for his opera ''
Mosè in Egitto
''Mosè in Egitto'' (; "''Moses in Egypt''") is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, which was based on a 1760 play by Francesco Ringhieri, ''L'Osiride''. It premièred on 5 March 1818 at ...
'' (1818). It was the Pharaoh's aria in the first act. However, Rossini would later rewrite the aria at the request of
Ferdinand Hérold
Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold (28 January 1791 – 19 January 1833), better known as Ferdinand Hérold (), was a French composer. He was celebrated in his lifetime for his operas, of which he composed more than twenty, but he also wrote ballet mus ...
, who conducted the opera in Paris.
Carafa's music is marked by a certain lightness of melody and mediocre orchestration, in a period dominated by Rossini,
Bellini,
Auber,
Halévy, who were all his friends. Established as an opera composer, he returned to Paris in 1821, where he had success with ''Jeanne d'Arc à Orléans'' and ''Le Valet de Chambre'' in 1823.
After ''Il Parìa'' 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 ...
, he definitely moved to Paris and struggled before ''Masaniello'' (libretto by Moreau de Mommagny and
A.-M. Lafortelle) became a great success and was given 136 times at
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...
. It was the pinnacle of his career, as he could not compete with the works of Rossini and
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 obtained French citizenship in 1834 and membership in the
Académie des beaux-arts
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
in 1837, and became director of the Academy of Military Music (Gymnase de musique militaire) in 1838. From 1840 to 1858, he taught the
counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
and composition at the
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
. In his history of music,
Émile Vuillermoz Émile-Jean-Joseph Vuillermoz (23 May 1878 – 2 March 1960) was a French critic in the areas of music, film, drama and literature. He was also a composer, but abandoned this for criticism.
Early life
Émile Vuillermoz was born in Lyon in 1878. He ...
describes how he opposed the introduction of
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
, so his partisans were called the "Carafons", while the friends of
Adolphe Sax
Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (; 6 November 1814 – 4 February 1894) was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba. He played the fl ...
were called the "Saxons".
His last staged work was ''Thérèse'' (1838), when he was already a full-time professor. One of his last contributions to opera was the French adaptation of Rossini's ''
Semiramide
''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.
The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Fenice ...
'' (1861), for which Rossini released him the copyright as a sign of a long friendship. On that occasion, Carafa composed a ballet for Rossini's opera. Rossini would later dedicate one of his "old-age sins" to Carafa.
In his memoirs,
Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther'' ...
mentions that Carafa was a member of the commission that accepted him into the Conservatoire de Paris.
Carafa had no children, so he adopted his wife's nephew Michel Daubenton.
Struck by paralysis in 1867, Carafa died in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
on 26 July 1872, aged 84. He was buried together with his wife Antoinette d'Aubenton and his mother-in-law Victoire Douat at
Montmartre Cemetery
The Cemetery of Montmartre (french: link=no, Cimetière de Montmartre) is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France, that dates to the early 19th century. Officially known as the Cimetière du Nord, it is the third largest necropolis ...
.
Several of his operas were eclipsed by others dealing with the same subject matter: ''Masaniello'' by Auber's ''
La muette de Portici
''La muette de Portici'' (''The Mute Girl of Portici'', or ''The Dumb Girl of Portici''), also called ''Masaniello'' () in some versions, is an opera in five acts by Daniel Auber, with a libretto by Germain Delavigne, revised by Eugène Scribe.
...
'' (1828); ''Le Nozze di Lamermoor'' by Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lamermoor'' (1835); ''La Grande Duchesse'' by
Offenbach's ''La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein'' (1867).
Selected operas
Stanford University's list of Carafa's operas shows that he wrote 29, which were performed between 1816 and 1847.
*''Gabriella di Vergy'' (1816)
*''Berenice in Siria'' (1818)
*''Elisabetta in Derbyshire ossia Il castello di Fotheringhay'' (''Elizabeth
stin Derbyshire, or Fotheringay Castle''), (December 1818). Based on
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
's play (1802)
[Weatherson]
*''
I due Figaro'' (1820)
*''Jeanne d'Arc à Orléans'' (1821)
*''Le solitaire'' (1822)
*''Le valet de chambre'' (1823)
*''Il sonnambulo'' (1824)
*''
La belle au bois dormant
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
(
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
)'' (1825)
* ''Masaniello'' (1828)
*''Le nozze di Lammermoor'' (1829)
*''La prison d'Édimbourg'' (1833)
References
Notes
Sources
Complete list of operas by Carafaon opera.stanford.edu
*Warrack, John and Ewan West, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', OUP, 1992
*Weatherson, Alexander
Donizetti Society (London), 2001
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carafa, Michele
1787 births
1872 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century Italian male musicians
Conservatoire de Paris faculty
Italian classical composers
Italian male classical composers
Italian opera composers
Italian Romantic composers
Male opera composers
Members of the Académie des beaux-arts
Musicians from Naples