![SpyridonXyndas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/SpyridonXyndas.jpg)
Spyridon Xyndas or Spiridione Xinda ( el, Σπυρίδων Ξύνδας; June 8, 1812 – November 25, 1896)
was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
composer and guitarist, whose last name has also been transliterated as "Xinta", "Xinda", "Xindas" and "Xyntas".
Biography
Xyndas was born in
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
in 1812. In 1823, he was a student of
Nikolaos Mantzaros
Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros (, ; , 26 October 1795 – 12 April 1872) was a Greek- Italian composer born in Corfu, major representative and founder of the so-called Ionian School of music (Επτανησιακή Σχολή).
Biography
Man ...
in music theory. After the completion of his studies in Corfu, he continued them in Naples and Milan. In 1840, he and Antonios Liveralis (Antonio Liberali, one more student of Mantzaros) were the only professional musicians to participate in the founding of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu, an institute in which Xyndas was to teach for several years.
In the 1840s, Xyndas began to compose concert arias and songs in demotic Greek, a contribution that eventually resulted to the creation of the opera called ''O ypopsifios'' (The Parliamentary Candidate) in 1867. This was the first full-scale opera based on a
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
in Greek and the only one of Xyndas' operas that exists today. The libretto was written by Ioannis Rinopulos (with contributions by
Nikolaos Makris
Nikolaos Makris ( el, Νικόλαος Μακρής, 1829–1911) was a Hellenic Army General and politician.
Nikolaos Makris was born in Missolonghi in 1829. He was the son of Dimitrios Makris, a military leader during the Greek War of Indepe ...
and Xyndas himself) and it was performed at the
Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù
Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù, Italian for The Noble Theatre of Saint James of Corfu, or simply Teatro di San Giacomo, was a theatre in Corfu, Greece which became the centre of Greek opera between 1733 and 1893.Kardamis, KostasBirth of Gr ...
. Its seemingly comic plot is a severe criticism regarding the living conditions of the Ionian Islands' rural society, against the morality of the indigenous politicians, both during the period under British occupation (1815–1864) and after it.
Xyndas also composed other operatic works, the most notable of which was ''Anna Winter'' (based on Dumas' ''The Three Musketeers''), which is the earliest use of a Dumas work in the modern Greek theatre.
The 1888, the success of his 'Candidate'
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, which became the occasion for the creation of the
First melodramatic troupe composed of Greeks,
led Xyndas and his family to the capital of Greece, where he died in 1896.
[San Simera](_blank)
Biography of Spyridon Xyndas (in Greek) Quote in translation: "His most famous opera is the "Parliamentary Candidate" which premiered in 1867 at the San Giacomo theatre of Corfu"
Google translation of Sansimera
/ref> It is believed that many of his works were destroyed during the 1943 Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
bombing of the Municipal Theatre of Corfu
The Municipal Theatre of Corfu ( el, Δημοτικό Θέατρο Κέρκυρας) was the main theatre and opera house in Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, ...
.
Operas
*''Anna Winter ο I tre Moschettieri ''(1855)
*''Il Conte Giuliano'' (1857)
*''Ο υποψήφιος βουλευτής'' (''O ypopsifios vouleftis'') he parliamentary candidate(1867)
*''Ο νεόγαμπρος'' (O neogambros) ("''The newlywed''") (1877)
*''I due pretendenti'' (1878)
*''Galatea'' (1895; incomplete)
See also
* Ionian School
*Pavlos Carrer
Pavlos Carrer (also Paolo Carrer; el, Παύλος Καρρέρ; 12 May 1829 – 7 June 1896) was a Greek composer, one of the leaders of the Ionian art music school and the first to create national operas and national songs on Greek plots, Gr ...
References
External links
Klassika.info page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xyndas, Spyridon
1812 births
1896 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century Greek musicians
19th-century guitarists
19th-century male musicians
Greek classical composers
Greek classical guitarists
Greek opera composers
Ionian School (music)
Male classical composers
Male guitarists
Male opera composers
Musicians from Corfu
Romantic composers