Stefano Pavesi (22 January 1779,

Casaletto Vaprio Casaletto Vaprio ( Cremasco: ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about east of Milan and about northwest of Cremona. Notable natives include the composer Stefano Pavesi Stefan ...

– 28 July 1850) was an Italian

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 Def ...

. He is primarily known as a prolific

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

composer; his breakthrough opera was Fingallo e Comala, and his acknowledged opera masterpiece is Ser Marcantonio. He also served as the '' maestro di cappella'' of

Crema Cathedral Crema Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Crema, ''Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Crema, northern Italy. Dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, it is the seat of the Bishop of Crema. History The first cathed ...

from 1814 to 1818 (shared with Giuseppe Gazzaniga), and alone from 1818 (upon Gazzaniga's death) until his death at the age of 71. His first music studies were in Crema (neighboring his birthplace), followed by studies in Naples. While in Naples, Pavesi actively joined the

Parthenopean Republic The Parthenopean Republic ( it, Repubblica Partenopea, french: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (''Repubblica Napoletana'') was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the ...

. After its suppression, Pavesi was denounced, imprisoned, and deported to France (allegedly Cimarosa intervened to prevent his execution). In France he played the serpent in Napoleon's army band and remained in Italy after the

Battle of Marengo The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame General Mich ...

. He returned to Crema in 1814 after the Austrian occupation of northern Italy after the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...

. He suffered a stroke in 1831 after the failure of his opera ''Fenella''.

Operas

Among his 66 operas are: *''La pace'' (Livorno, Teatro degli Avvalorati 1801) *''L'avvertimento ai gelosi'' (La scuola dei gelosi) (Venezia, Teatro San Benedetto 1803) *''L'amante anonimo'' (Venezia, Teatro San Moisè 1803) *''I castelli in aria'' (Verona, Teatro Filarmonico 1803) *''La forza dei simpatici'' (Verona, Teatro Filarmonico 1803) *''Andromaca'' (Genova, Teatro Sant'Agostino 1804) *''La fiera di Brindisi'' (Firenze, Teatro della Pergola 1804) *''Fingallo e Comala'' (Venezia, Teatro La Fenice 1805) *''Il trionfo di Emilia'' (Milano, Teatro alla Scala 1805) *''Amare, e non voler essere amante ossia L'abitore del bosco'' (Venezia, Teatro La Fenice 1805) *''L'incognito ossia L'abitatore del bosco'' (rev. di ''Amare, e non voler essere amante'') (1805) *''I cherusci'' (I riti cherusci; Dattalo e Amanzia) (Venezia, teatro La Fenice 1807) *''Gli antichi Cherusci'' (rev. of ''I cherusci'') (1818) *''Sapersi scegliere un degno sposo ossia Amor vero, e amor interessato'' (L'amor vero) (Venezia, Teatro La Fenice 1807) *''Il maldicente ossia La bottega del caffè'' (Firenze, Teatro degli Infuocati 1807) *''Il servo padrone ossia L'amor perfetto'' (Bologna, Teatro Marsigli-Rossi 1808) *''La festa della rosa'' (Venezia, Teatro La Fenice 1808) *''Il trionfo delle belle'' (Corradino; Corradino cuori di ferro; Il trionfo del bel sesso; Elena e Corrado; L'odio delle donne) (Venezia, Teatro San Moisè 1809) *''Odoardo e Cristina'' (Napoli, Teatro San Carlo 1810) *'' Ser Marcantonio'' Milano, Teatro alla Scala, 1810 *''Il trionfo dell'amore ossia Irene e Filandro'' (Napoli, Teatro Nuovo 1811) *''Nitteti'' (Torino, Teatro Regio 1811) *''Agatina o La virtù premiata'' (Milan, Teatro alla Sala 1814) *''La gioventù di Giulio Cesare'', libretto by

Felice Romani Giuseppe Felice Romani (31 January 178828 January 1865) was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist betw ...

(Milan, Teatro alla Scala 1817) *''Arminio ossia L'eroe germano'' (Arminio, ossia L'eroe cherusco) (Venezia, Teatro La Fenice 1821) *''Antigona e Lauso'' (Milano, Teatro alla Scala 1822) *''I cavalieri del Nodo'' (Napoli, Teatro San Carlo 1823) *''Il solitario ed Elodia'' (Napoli, Teatro San Carlo 1826) *''La donna bianca d'Avenello'' (Milano, Teatro della Canobbiana 1830) *''Fenella ossia La muta di Portici'' (Libretto di Gaetano Rossi, Venezia, Teatro La Fenice 1831) *''Ardano e Artula''

Non-Operatic Works

* ''Dies Irae Concertato'' (1818): After becoming '' maestro di cappella'' of the

upon Giuseppe Gazzaniga's death in 1818, his main creative outlet was church music. His ''Dies Irae Concertato'' dates from 1818, and may have been written for Gazzaniga's funeral.

References

Bibliography

* Sanseverino, Fausto. ''Notizie Intorno la Vita e le Opere del Maestro di Musica Stefano Pavesi''. Printed by Giovanni Ricordi, Milan 185

To date the only biography of Pavesi, written a year after his death. * Pavesi, Stefano. ''Dies Irae Concertato''. Rey M. Longyear, editor. A-R Editions, Inc. Madison, Wisconsin, 1998. The first printed edition of the score, prepared by Longyear from the autograph full score and manuscript parts at the Biblioteca Comunale in Crema, Italy. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavesi, Stefano 1779 births 1850 deaths Musicians from the Province of Cremona Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Italian composers 19th-century Italian male musicians