Thomas Pinto (1728–1783) was a British violinist, who led notable London orchestras of the day.

Life

Pinto's father, Guglielmo Pinto, left a high-ranking position 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 ...

for political reasons, and settled in England; he married, and he and his wife Mary had three sons, of whom Thomas was baptised in London on 2 February 1728. As a child Thomas Pinto played the violin well, and aged 11 he could play the concertos of

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , , ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence of th ...

; he was leading important concerts before he was twenty. He was able to play music at sight so well that he neglected practicing. He became more ambitious when impressed by the success of Felice Giardini, an Italian violinist who came to England in 1750 and led the orchestra of Italian opera in London. Pinto became leader when Giardini was unavailable. He was for a period leader of the orchestra of the

Drury Lane theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

and at

Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, being ...

.Pinto (Thomas)
''A Dictionary of Musicians'' (1825).Pinto, Thomas
''An Encyclopedia of the Violin'' by Alberto Bachmann, Courier Corporation 2013 (first published 1925). In 1769 he became joint owner, with a Mr Troughton, of

Marylebone Gardens Marylebone Gardens or Marybone Gardens was a London pleasure garden sited in the grounds of the old manor house of Marylebone and frequented from the mid-17th century, when Marylebone was a village separated from London by fields and market ga ...

, and he led the orchestra there. Because of a wet summer, the business venture failed, and Pinto moved to Scotland; in 1773 he moved to Dublin where he led the orchestra of the

Smock Alley Theatre Since the 17th century, there have been numerous theatres in Dublin with the name Smock Alley. The current Smock Alley Theatre () is a 21st-century theatre in Dublin, converted from a 19th-century church building, incorporating structural mat ...

. He died in Edinburgh in 1783.

Family

In 1745 he married Sybilla Gronemann, a German singer; they had several children including Julia, the mother of the composer and pianist George Pinto. After his first wife's death Pinto married in 1766 the singer Charlotte Brent, and they had seven children. She had been a pupil and mistress of the composer

Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song " Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of '' The Beggar's Opera'', wh ...

, and was a performer at Vauxhall Gardens.Solo singers who performed at Vauxhall Gardens 1745-1859
Vauxhall Gardens 1661-1859, accessed 19 March 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinto, Thomas 1728 births 1783 deaths British classical violinists 18th-century violinists British male violinists British people of Italian descent English people of Italian descent English Roman Catholics Male classical violinists