Venanzio Rauzzini (19 December 1746 – 8 April 1810) was an Italian

castrato A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to ...

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 ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, singing teacher and concert impresario. He is said to have first studied singing under a member of the

Sistine Chapel Choir The Sistine Chapel Choir, as it is generally called in English, or officially the Coro della Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina in Italian, is the Pope's personal choir. It performs at papal functions in the Sistine Chapel and in any other churc ...

. He was a cantante soprano at the Socio Accademico of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He studied with Giuseppe Santarelli in Rome.Rauzzini Biography of Venanzio Rauzzini at operissimo.com (in German)
/ref> Though unlikely, it has been suggested that Rauzzini may not in fact have been a castrato, but rather had an endocrine condition that prevented his voice from breaking, hence his many affairs as he was thought to be "safe". That said, scholars such as Paul Rice and Brianna Robertson-Kirkland refute this idea.

Life

William Herschel Museum - portrait of Vananzio Rauzzini

Rauzzini was born in

Camerino Camerino is a town in the province of Macerata, Marche, central-eastern Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about from Ancona. Camerino is home to the University of Cam ...

. He made his opera debut in 1765 at the

Teatro Valle Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band members ...

in Rome portraying one of the female characters in

Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the ...

's opera '' Il finto astrologo''. He sang at the

Teatro San Samuele Teatro San Samuele was an opera house and theatre located at the Rio del Duca, between Campo San Samuele and Campo Santo Stefano, in Venice. One of several important theatres built in that city by the Grimani family, the theatre opened in 1656 and ...

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 ...

in 1766, after which he performed at the Munich Hofoper in 1766–1767. Michael Kelly claimed that Rauzzini had to leave the Munich court because of his many affairs with married women. He next sang at the court at Vienna in 1767 where

Wolfgang Amadeus 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. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

"reacted with delight when he heard Rauzzini singing and offered him the role of ''primo uomo'' in his ''

Lucio Silla ''Lucio Silla'' (), K. 135, is an Italian opera seria in three acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 16. The libretto was written by Giovanni de Gamerra, revised by Pietro Metastasio. It was first performed on 26 December 1772 a ...

'' (1772), in Milan, before composing the motet '' Exsultate Jubilate'' (1773) especially for him." Rauzzini returned for performances in Venice and Munich during the early 1770s and also had a very successful run in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from 1774 until his retirement from the stage in 1778. After his opera career ended he worked as a singing and piano teacher and also composed a number of operas. After living in London for some years he settled in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in 1780 and became Director of the New Assembly Room Concerts in 1781. He also became a famous singing master, teaching many of the most famous British opera singers of the day.

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

stayed with him in 1794 and composed the canon "Turk was a Faithful Dog" as a gift for his host, taking the words from the garden memorial to Rauzzini's favourite dog. Some of Rauzzini's pupils included

Stephen Storace Stephen John Seymour Storace (4 April 1762 – 19 March 1796) was an English composer of the Classical era, known primarily for his operas. His sister was the famous opera singer Nancy Storace. He was born in London in the Parish of St Marylebo ...

Nancy Storace Anna (or Ann) Selina Storace (; 27 October 176524 August 1817), known professionally as Nancy Storace, was an English operatic soprano. The role of Susanna in Mozart's ''Le nozze di Figaro'' was written for and first performed by her. Born in ...

, Michael Kelly,

John Braham John Braham may refer to: * John Braham (MP) (1417), MP for Suffolk *John Braham (tenor) John Braham ( – 17 February 1856) was an English tenor opera singer born in London. His long career led him to become one of Europe's leading opera stars. ...

Rosemond Mountain, and Maria Dickons. Rauzzini directed and financed concert life in Bath from c. 1781 until his death in 1810; many of his pupils appeared in the subscription concerts that he organised each year. Before dying he published vocal exercises and a treatise on singing. Rauzzini was buried in

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, it was reorganised in the 10th ...

where there is a memorial erected to him by his pupils Nancy Storace and John Braham. His brother, Matteo (1754-1791), was also a composer and a teacher of singing.Baldwin and Wilson.

Opera compositions

*''Piramo e Tisbe'', libretto by

Ranieri de' Calzabigi Ranieri de' Calzabigi (; 23 December 1714 – July 1795) was an Italian poet and librettist, most famous for his collaboration with the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck on his "reform" operas. Born in Livorno, Calzabigi spent the 1750s in Paris ...

, (London, His Majesty's Theatre, 16 marzo 1775) *''L'ali d'amore'', libretto by Carlo Francesco Badini (1776) *''L'eroe cinese'', libretto by

Pietro Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of '' opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...

(1782) *''Creusa in Delfo'', libretto by Gaspare Martinelli (1783) *''Alina ossia La regina di Golconda'', libretto by Antonio Andrei (1784) *''La vestale'', libretto by Badini (1787)

Notes

References

*Baldwin, Olive and Wilson, Thelma: "Rauzzini, Venanzio (1746-1810)," ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' Oxford University Press, 2004 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23167 (site accessible via subscription), (accessed 17 July 2013). *P. Barbier (1989). ''The World of the Castrati: The History of an Extraordinary Operatic Phenomenon'' transl. M. Crosland, Souvenir Press *Emerson, Isabelle Putnam (2005) ''Five Centuries of Women Singers''. Greenwood Publishing Group. *Rice, Paul F. (2015) ''Venanzio Rauzzini in Britain: Castrato, Composer and Cultural Leader.'' Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. *Robertson-Kirkland, Brianna E. (2022) ''Venanzio Rauzzini and the Birth of a New Style in English Singing Scandalous Lessons.'' NY: Routledge. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rauzzini, Venanzio Italian opera singers Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers Castrati 1746 births 1810 deaths People from the Province of Macerata