Salvatore Viganò (March 25, 1769 – August 10, 1821), was an Italian
choreographer
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
,
dancer
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...
and
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 Glass
/ref>
Viganò 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 ...
. He studied composition with Luigi Boccherini (his uncle) and by the mid-1780s was composing original music. In 1788, he appeared as a dancer on the stage in Venice. He performed in the coronation festivities of Charles IV of Spain
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Charles III of Spain
, mother =Maria Amalia of Saxony
, birth_date =11 November 1748
, birth_place =Palace of Portici, Portici, Naples
, death_date =
, death_place = ...
in 1789. He became a pupil of the French dancer and choreographer Jean Dauberval
Jean Dauberval, a.k.a. Jean D’Auberval, (born Jean Bercher in Montpellier, 19 August 1742 – Tours, 14 February 1806), was a French dancer and ballet master. He is most noted for creating the ballet, ''La fille mal gardée'', one of the ...
. In 1791, he and his wife achieved success as a dancing team in Venice, where he choreographed his first ballet, ''Raoul de Créqui''. He was ballet master in Vienna and collaborated with Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
on the ballet '' The Creatures of Prometheus''. He returned to Italy in 1804 and became the ballet master of ''La Scala'' ballet school in Milan. He is considered the father of a new kind of performance called "" where the pantomime served the dance and the ensembles were very significant. He died in Milan.
Viganò's elder sister, Vincenza Viganò-Mombelli
Vincenza (or Vincenzina) Viganò-Mombelli (1760–1814) was an Italian ballerina and librettist. She is remembered today as the librettist of Rossini's first opera '' Demetrio e Polibio''. Her husband was the tenor Domenico Mombelli.
Life and care ...
was also a dancer and the librettist of Rossini's first opera ''Demetrio e Polibio
''Demetrio e Polibio'' (; ''Demetrius and Polybius'') is a two-act operatic ''dramma serio'' by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Vincenzina Viganò-Mombelli. The opera was orchestrated for flute, oboes, clarinets, basson, horns, trumpets, and ...
''.[Gillio, Pier Giuseppe (2011)]
"Mombelli, Domenico"
'' Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', Vol. 75. Online version retrieved 9 May 2018 .
Major works
* ''La vedova scoperta'', 1783 (opera)
* '' The Creatures of Prometheus '', 1801 (music Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
)
* ''Coriolano'', 1804 (music Joseph Weigl
Joseph Weigl (28 March 1766 – 3 February 1846) was an Austrian composer and conductor, born in Eisenstadt, Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is ...
)
* ''Gli Strelizzi'', 1809 (various artists)
* ', 1812, La Scala (music Franz Xaver Süssmayr
Franz Xaver Süssmayr (German: ''Franz Xaver Süßmayr'', or ''Suessmayr'' in English; 1766 – September 17, 1803) was an Austrian composer and conductor. Popular in his day, he is now known primarily as the composer who completed Wolfgang Amad ...
)
* ''Il Prometeo'', pantomime ballet, 1813 (music Beethoven, Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
, Haydn, Viganò)
* ''Numa Pompilio'', 1815
* ''Mirra'', 1817
*''Otello'', 1818 (various artists, among the others Gioachino 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 ...
, Paolo Brambilla and Michele Carafa)
* ''Dedalo'', 1818
*''La Vestale'', 1818 (various artists)
*''I Titani'', 1819 (music Johann Caspar Aiblinger
Johann Caspar Aiblinger (23 February 1779 – 6 May 1867) was a German composer associated with the Cecilian Movement.
Aiblinger was born in Wasserburg am Inn, Bavaria. In his eleventh year, he commenced his studies at Tegernsee Abbey, where ...
and Viganò)
*''Giovanna d'Arco'' 1821
* ''Didone'', 1821 (finished by Vigano's brother, Giulio as Salvatore died before completing it)
References
Italian choreographers
18th-century Italian ballet dancers
Ballet librettists
Italian classical composers
Italian male classical composers
Italian opera composers
Male opera composers
Musicians from Naples
1769 births
1821 deaths
19th-century Italian ballet dancers
Italian male ballet dancers
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