Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) 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 ...

of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan

opera buffa Opera buffa (, "comic opera"; : ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesc ...

—of the Classical period.

Life

Piccinni was born in

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, in the

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

region. From the age of fourteen, he was educated at the Conservatory of San Onofrio by Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante,. thanks to the intervention of the Bishop of Bari (his father, although himself a musician, was opposed to his son following the same career). Piccinni's first opera, ''Le donne dispettose'', was produced in 1755 with the patronage of Prince Vintimille. In 1760 he composed, at Rome, the ''chef d'œuvre'' of his early life, '' La Cecchina, ossia la buona Figliuola'', an ''opera buffa'' with a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 th ...

by Carlo Goldoni, which "enjoyed a two-year run in Rome and was played in all the important European capitals. It can probably be called the most popular opera buffa of the 18th century... ven more than.. Pergolesi's '' La serva padrona''... nd.. The first of the new era, culminating in the masterworks of Mozart." ''La buona figliuola'' represents a special moment in the history of eighteenth-century music in which comedy began to take on a new dramatic force. It is the moment at which the self-consciously sentimental theatrical project of Carlo Goldoni (the opera's librettist) is married with the developing musical language of

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

. This can especially be seen in the sensitive writing of Cecchina's act 2 aria "Una povera ragazza". The opera was such a success that fashions of dress, shops, and houses were all named after ''La Cecchina''. It also set off a debate about the merits of the new sentimental style, especially in England, where conservative reactionaries were wary of the supposed feminizing influence of modern Italian music. Antonio Baretti commented in 1768 that individuals “of weight and consideration” should not be blamed for condemning “those puny gentlemen” who, as enthusiasts of Italian opera, were able to “feel its minuet niceties, and to be of course in rapture with the languishing Cecchina’s of Piccini .” This modern music, Baretti decried, “far from having any power of increasing courage or any manly virtues, has on the contrary a tendency towards effeminacy and cowardliness.” Six years after this, Piccinni was invited by Queen

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

to Paris. He became the first Italian after Jean-Baptiste Lully to write operas for the Academie royale de musique (the Paris Opera). He collaborated with the poet and dramatist Marmontel on several projects designed to advance the cause of the operatic reform. Marmontel's first librettos took as their foundation texts Philippe Quinault had written for Lully, ''

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

'' 1778, and '' Atys'', 1779. Subsequent works, starting with '' Didon'', used original texts. All his later works were successful, but the directors of the Grand Opera conceived the idea of deliberately opposing him to Gluck by persuading the two composers to treat the same subject – ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' – simultaneously. The Parisian public was divided into two rival parties, which, under the names of Gluckists and Piccinnists, carried on an unworthy and disgraceful war. Gluck's masterly '' Iphigénie en Tauride'' was first produced on 18 May 1779. Piccinni's ''Iphigénie'' followed on 23 January 1781. The antagonism of the rival parties continued, even after Gluck left Paris in 1780; and an attempt was afterwards made to inaugurate a new rivalry with Sacchini. Piccinni remained popular, and on the death of Gluck, in 1787, proposed that a public monument be erected to his memory – a suggestion which the Gluckists refused to support. In 1784 Piccinni became professor at the Royal School of Music, one of the institutions from which the Conservatoire was formed in 1794. On the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, Piccinni returned to Naples, where he was at first well received by King Ferdinand IV; but the marriage of his daughter Claire to a French democrat named Pierre Prades-Prestreau brought him disgrace – he was accused of being a revolutionary and placed under house arrest for four years. For the next nine years he maintained a precarious existence in Venice, Naples and Rome; but he returned in 1798 to Paris, where the public received him with enthusiasm, but he made no money. He died in Passy, near Paris. During his life, he worked with the greatest librettists of his age, including Metastasio. After his death a memorial tablet was set up in the house in which he was born at Bari. He had married in 1756 his pupil Vincenza Sibilla, a singer, whom he never allowed to appear on the stage after their marriage. A grandson, Louis Alexandre Piccinni, became a successful repetiteur and composer in Paris.

Works

The most complete list of his works was given in the '' Rivista Musicale Italiana'', VIII. 75.

Operas

Piccinni produced over a hundred operas, but although his later work shows the influence of the French and German stage, he belongs to the conventional Italian school of the 18th century.

Non-operatic works

Piccinni also wrote a number of sacred works, for voices with various accompanying forces, and also two symphonies (in D major and in G major) and a flute concerto.

Notes

External links

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Istituto Internazionale per lo studio del '700 musicale napoletano
''www.domenicoscarlatti.it'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Piccinni, Niccolo 1728 births 1800 deaths 18th-century Italian male musicians Italian Classical-period composers Neapolitan school composers 18th-century Italian composers Italian opera composers Italian musicians Italian male opera composers Musicians from Bari