Giovanni Battista Ferrandini (c. 1710 – 25 October 1791), an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 ...

of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and Classical eras, was born 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 ...

, Italy and died in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, at the age of about 81. He was a child prodigy and entered the service of Duke

Ferdinand Maria Innocenz of Bavaria Ferdinand Maria Innocenz Michael Joseph of Bavaria (5 August 1699 in Brussels – 9 December 1738 in Munich) was a Bavarian prince and an Imperial Field marshal. Life Ferdinand Maria Innocent was a son of Elector Maximilian II Emanuel of Ba ...

at the age of 12 as an

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

. The newly constructed Bavarian Court Theatre (the Old Residenztheater, now known as the

Cuvilliés Theatre The Cuvilliés Theatre (german: link=no, Cuvilliés-Theater) or Old Residence Theatre (''Altes Residenztheater'') is the former court theatre of the Residenz in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. History Elector of Bavaria Maximilian III Joseph (reg. ...

after the architect) in Munich opened on 12 October 1753 with Ferrandini's opera ''Catone in Utica.'' A recording of the opera made 250 years later in the same theatre is available (Oehms Classics OC 901).Darwin Floyd Scott ''For the love of music: festschrift in honor of Theodore Front'' 2002 Page 52 "... Giovanni Battista Ferrandini (ca. 1710-1791) was active in Munich, where his opera seria Catone in Utica opened the new Cuvillies Theater at the Residenz in 1753. In 1755, Ferrandini retired to

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, where in 1771,

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 ...

and his father

Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a German composer, violinist and theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook ''Versuch einer gründlichen ...

visited him in retirement.

Works, editions and recordings

;Operas * ''Giordo'', 1727 * ''Il Sacrifico Invalido'', 1729 * ''

Adriano in Siria ''Adriano in Siria'' (''Hadrian in Syria'') is a libretto by Italian poet Metastasio first performed, with music by Antonio Caldara, in Vienna in 1732, and turned into an opera by at least 60 other composers during the next century. Metastasio ...

'', 1737 * ''

Catone in Utica ''Catone in Utica'' (; ) is an opera libretto by Metastasio, that was originally written for Leonardo Vinci's 1727 opera. Following Vinci's success, Metastasio's text was used by numerous composers of the baroque and classical eras for their ...

'', 1753 * Music for the coronation of

Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII (6 August 1697 – 20 January 1745) was the prince-elector of Bavaria from 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 to his death. He was a member of the House of Wittelsbach, and his reign as Holy Roman Emperor thus marked the ...

in Frankfurt 1742 ;Cantatas * Cantata ''Il pianto di Maria'', 1739 (long misattributed to

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

as HWV 234: '' Il pianto di Maria or Giunta l'ora fatal'')
Full recording
) * Cantatas for Holy Week: ''O spettacolo pur troppo funesto. Ecco quel tronco'' (recordings: Elisabeth Scholl, Echo du Danube on

Accent Records {{Short description, Belgian record label Accent Records is a Belgian record label started in 1978 by Adelheid and Andreas Glatt, releasing classical music from between 1500 AD and the 20th century, but primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries. ...

, 2005)

References

External links

* 1710 births 1791 deaths Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers Italian Classical-period composers Italian musicians Child classical musicians 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians {{Italy-composer-stub