Caterina Galli
Encyclopedia
Caterina Galli was an Italian opera
tic mezzo-soprano
. She first rose to fame in England in the 1740s and early 1750s where she was particularly admired for her performances in the works of George Frideric Handel
. She then enjoyed success in her native country in the 1750s and 1760s, before returning to England where she remained active as a performer up through 1797.
. She made her first appearance on the London stage on 12 December 1742 as Artaserse in the world premiere of Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio's Mandane. Music historian Charles Burney
wrote that, "Galli, after transplantation from Italy, took root in this country, and remained here in great public favor for many years." Her operatic repertoire consisted mainly of breeches role
s. In 1753 she sang the role of the Spirit in the premiere of the final revision of Thomas Arne's Alfred.
Galli's lasting legacy was her work as an oratorio
singer. A pupil of George Frideric Handel
, she notably sang in the world premieres of Judas Maccabaeus (1747, Israelite man), Joshua
(1747, Othniel), Alexander Balus
(1748, title role), Solomon
(1749, title role), Susanna
(1749, Joachim), Theodora
(1749, Irene), and Jephtha (1752, Storgé). She also appeared at the King's Theatre
in the premieres of two of Handel's pastiche
s, Rossane o Alessandro nell'Indie (1743) and Lucio Vero (1747), and performed in revivals of several of his other oratorios and operas.
s in Genoa, Naples, and Venice. On 10 July 1758 she created the role of Valentiniano III in the world premiere of Gaetano Latilla
's Ezio
at the Teatro di San Carlo
. She performed in several other premieres at that house, including the roles of Medarse in Pasquale Errichelli
's Siroe
on 26 December 1759; Teagene in Johann Adolph Hasse
's Achille in Sciro on 4 November 1759; and Arpalice in Niccolò Piccinni
's Ciro riconosciuto. At the Teatro San Benedetto
in Venice she portrayed the role of Giulia Mammea in the world premiere of Antonio Sacchini
's Alessandro Severo in 1762. In the summer of 1766 she created the title role in the premiere of Josef Mysliveček
's Semiramide
at the Teatro di Cittadella in Bergamo.
at the Haymarket Theatre
in 1773. That same year she sang the role of Aniceto in Antonio Sacchini
's Lucio Vero to great success at the King's Theatre opposite soprano Cecilia Davies
. She was mainly active at the King's Theatre for the remainder of her career, performing both serious and comic roles. In 1777 she announced her retirement and gave a farewell concert in London on 30 May of that year.
Galli was a close friend of fellow singer Martha Ray
who was the longtime mistress of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
. She notably was with Ray the night that Ray was murdered by James Hackman
following a performance of Thomas Arne's and Isaac Bickerstaffe
's comic opera Love in a Village
at Covent Garden on 4 July 1779. Galli came out of retirement in her 60s when she began to experience financial difficulties. She appeared as an oratorio singer and in operas at Covent Garden as late as 1797 when she was 70 years old. These later performances, however, were not as well received as those during her earlier career. She lived in London until her death in 1804.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
. She first rose to fame in England in the 1740s and early 1750s where she was particularly admired for her performances in the works of George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
. She then enjoyed success in her native country in the 1750s and 1760s, before returning to England where she remained active as a performer up through 1797.
Early life and career
Nothing is known of Galli's early training and career other than it took place in her native country. The first definitive account of the singer was in 1742 when she arrived in London with fellow opera singer Giulia FrasiGiulia Frasi
Giulia Frasi was an Italian operatic soprano who was primarily active in the city of London. A student of educator and historian Charles Burney, Burney described her sound as "a sweet and clear voice, and a smooth and chaste style of singing, which, though cold and unimpassioned, pleased natural...
. She made her first appearance on the London stage on 12 December 1742 as Artaserse in the world premiere of Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio's Mandane. Music historian Charles Burney
Charles Burney
Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...
wrote that, "Galli, after transplantation from Italy, took root in this country, and remained here in great public favor for many years." Her operatic repertoire consisted mainly of breeches role
Breeches role
A breeches role is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing .In opera it also refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer...
s. In 1753 she sang the role of the Spirit in the premiere of the final revision of Thomas Arne's Alfred.
Galli's lasting legacy was her work as an oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
singer. A pupil of George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
, she notably sang in the world premieres of Judas Maccabaeus (1747, Israelite man), Joshua
Joshua (Handel)
Joshua is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. It was composed in a month, between 19 July 1747 and 19 August 1747 and is Handel's fourth oratorio based on a libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio premiered on the 9th March, 1748 at the Covent Garden Theatre, London...
(1747, Othniel), Alexander Balus
Alexander Balus
Alexander Balus is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. The libretto is by Thomas Morell after the biblical book of 1 Maccabees...
(1748, title role), Solomon
Solomon (Handel)
Solomon, HWV 67, is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. Its libretto is based on the biblical stories of wise king Solomon and is attributed to Newburgh Hamilton...
(1749, title role), Susanna
Susanna (Handel)
Susanna is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. The libretto, questionably attributed to Newburgh Hamilton, is based on the apocryphal 'history of Susanna'...
(1749, Joachim), Theodora
Theodora (Handel)
Theodora is an oratorio in three acts by George Frideric Handel, set to an English libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio concerns the Christian martyr Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover, Didymus....
(1749, Irene), and Jephtha (1752, Storgé). She also appeared at the King's Theatre
King's Theatre
King's Theatre may refer to:* Her Majesty's Theatre, London* King's Theatre, Edinburgh* King's Theatre, Glasgow* King's Theatre Pantomime, Glasgow* Kings Theatre, Southsea* King's Theatre a thoroughbred racehorse....
in the premieres of two of Handel's pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
s, Rossane o Alessandro nell'Indie (1743) and Lucio Vero (1747), and performed in revivals of several of his other oratorios and operas.
Return to Italy
In 1754 Galli returned to Italy where she spent more than the next 10 years performing in major opera houseOpera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
s in Genoa, Naples, and Venice. On 10 July 1758 she created the role of Valentiniano III in the world premiere of Gaetano Latilla
Gaetano Latilla
Gaetano Latilla was an Italian opera composer, the most important of the period immediately preceding Niccolò Piccinni .Latilla was born in Bari, and studied at the Loreto Conservatory in Naples...
's Ezio
Ezio (Latilla)
Ezio is an opera eroica or "heroic" opera in 3 Acts by Gaetano Latilla. The opera uses an Italian language libretto by Pietro Metastasio. Metastasio's libretto was partly inspired by Jean Racine's play Britannicus and had earlier been set to music by George Frideric Handel in 1732...
at the Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
. She performed in several other premieres at that house, including the roles of Medarse in Pasquale Errichelli
Pasquale Errichelli
Pasquale Errichelli was an Italian composer and organist based in the city of Naples. Trained at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini, his compositional output consists of 7 operas, 2 cantatas, 1 symphony, 3 sonatas, several concert arias, and the oratorio Gerosolina protetta...
's Siroe
Siroe (Errichelli)
Siroe is a dramma per musica or opera seria in 3 Acts by composer Pasquale Errichelli. The opera uses an Italian language libretto by Pietro Metastasio. The opera premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples on 26 December 1758. Vincenzo Re designed the sets for the premiere production.-Roles:...
on 26 December 1759; Teagene in Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music...
's Achille in Sciro on 4 November 1759; and Arpalice in Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure, even to music lovers today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day...
's Ciro riconosciuto. At the Teatro San Benedetto
Teatro San Benedetto
The Teatro San Benedetto was a theatre in Venice, particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It saw the premieres of over 140 operas, including Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, and was the theatre of choice for the presentation of opera seria until...
in Venice she portrayed the role of Giulia Mammea in the world premiere of Antonio Sacchini
Antonio Sacchini
Antonio Maria Gasparo Sacchini was an Italian opera composer.Sacchini was born in Florence, but was raised in Naples, where he received his musical education at the San Onofrio conservatory. He wrote his first operas in Naples, thereafter moving to Venice, then London and eventually Paris, where...
's Alessandro Severo in 1762. In the summer of 1766 she created the title role in the premiere of Josef Mysliveček
Josef Myslivecek
Josef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...
's Semiramide
Semiramide (Mysliveček)
Semiramide is an 18th-century Italian opera in 3 acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček. It was composed to a libretto by the Italian poet Metastasio that was first set to music in 1729. For a performance in the 1760s, it would only be expected that a libretto by Metastasio would be...
at the Teatro di Cittadella in Bergamo.
Later life and career in England
After 1770, Galli was once again committed to the London stage. She had a particular triumph as the contralto soloist in Handel's MessiahMessiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
in 1773. That same year she sang the role of Aniceto in Antonio Sacchini
Antonio Sacchini
Antonio Maria Gasparo Sacchini was an Italian opera composer.Sacchini was born in Florence, but was raised in Naples, where he received his musical education at the San Onofrio conservatory. He wrote his first operas in Naples, thereafter moving to Venice, then London and eventually Paris, where...
's Lucio Vero to great success at the King's Theatre opposite soprano Cecilia Davies
Cecilia Davies
Cecilia Davies was an English classical soprano who had an active international career in concerts and operas during the second half of the 18th century. In Italy she was dubbed with the name "l'Inglesina". She was the sister of Marianne Davies who was the first professional glass harmonica musician...
. She was mainly active at the King's Theatre for the remainder of her career, performing both serious and comic roles. In 1777 she announced her retirement and gave a farewell concert in London on 30 May of that year.
Galli was a close friend of fellow singer Martha Ray
Martha Ray
Martha Ray was a British singer of the Georgian era. Her father was a corsetmaker and her mother was a servant in a noble household. Good-looking, intelligent, and a talented singer, she came to the attention of many of her father's patrons. She is best known for her affair with John Montagu, 4th...
who was the longtime mistress of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather, Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich, as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten...
. She notably was with Ray the night that Ray was murdered by James Hackman
James Hackman
James Hackman , briefly Rector of Wiveton in Norfolk, was the murderer who killed Martha Ray, singer and mistress of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.-Early life:...
following a performance of Thomas Arne's and Isaac Bickerstaffe
Isaac Bickerstaffe
Isaac Bickerstaffe or Bickerstaff was an Irish playwright and Librettist.-Early life:Isaac John Bickerstaff was born in Dublin, on 26 September 1733, where his father John Bickerstaff held a government position overseeing the construction and management of sports fields including bowls and tennis...
's comic opera Love in a Village
Love in a Village
Love in a Village is a ballad opera in three acts that was composed and arranged by Thomas Arne. A pastiche, the work contains 42 musical numbers of which only five were newly composed works by Arne. The other music is made up of 13 pieces borrowed from Arne's earlier stage works, a new overture...
at Covent Garden on 4 July 1779. Galli came out of retirement in her 60s when she began to experience financial difficulties. She appeared as an oratorio singer and in operas at Covent Garden as late as 1797 when she was 70 years old. These later performances, however, were not as well received as those during her earlier career. She lived in London until her death in 1804.