Francesco Bianchi (musician)
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe Francesco Bianchi (1752 – 27 November 1810) was an Italian
opera
composer
. Born at Cremona
, Lombardy
, he studied with Pasquale Cafaro
and Niccolò Jommelli
, and worked mainly in London
, Paris
and in all the major Italian operatic scenes, Venice
, Naples
, Rome
, Milan
, Turin
, Florence
.
He wrote at least 78 operas of all genres, mainly in the field of the Italian opera
, but in the French opera
too. These included the drammi per musica
(opera seria
) Castore e Polluce
(Florence 1779), Arbace
and Zemira
(both Naples, 1781), Alonso e Cora
(Venice
, 1786), Calto
and La morte di Cesare
(both Venice, 1788), and Seleuco, re di Siria
(Venice, 1791), and the opera giocosa La villanella rapita
(Süttör
, 1784).
Bianchi committed suicide in Hammersmith
, London, in 1810, probably out of family troubles.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
opera
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...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. Born at Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
, Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, he studied with Pasquale Cafaro
Pasquale Cafaro
Pasquale Cafaro was an Italian composer who was particularly known for his operas and the significant amount of sacred music he produced, including oratorios, motets, and masses....
and Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli was an Italian composer. He was born in Aversa and died in Naples. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he made important changes to opera and reduced the importance of star singers.-Early life:Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and...
, and worked mainly in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and in all the major Italian operatic scenes, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
.
He wrote at least 78 operas of all genres, mainly in the field of the Italian opera
Italian opera
Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous operas in Italian were written by foreign composers,...
, but in the French opera
French Opera
French opera is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen...
too. These included the drammi per musica
Dramma per musica
Dramma per musica is a term which was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the late-17th and mid-19th centuries...
(opera seria
Opera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
) Castore e Polluce
Castore e Polluce
Castore e Polluce is an opera seria by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was one translated by Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, from Pierre-Joseph-Justin Bernard's French text for Rameau's Castor et Pollux....
(Florence 1779), Arbace
Arbace
Arbace is an opera seria in three acts by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was by Gaetano Sertor.The opera was forward looking in its structure, with tension gradually mounting, via an exciting prison scene to a considerable climax. Marita P...
and Zemira
Zemira
Zemira is an opera seria in three acts by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was by Gaetano Sertor.Zemira like other works by Bianchi, was innovative. As Marita P. McClymonds explains, "Unusual components in this work are the opening trio with storm music, the short duet for two men, the programmatic...
(both Naples, 1781), Alonso e Cora
Alonso e Cora
Alonso e Cora is an opera seria in three acts by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was by Giuseppe Foppa, after Ferdinando Moretti's Idalide, o sia La vergine del sole, as used by Giuseppe Sarti in Milan in 1783...
(Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, 1786), Calto
Calto (opera)
Calto is an opera seria in 3 acts by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was by Giuseppe Maria Foppa, after the 'celtic' poetry of Ossian. The opera was first performed at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice on 23 January 1788....
and La morte di Cesare
La morte di Cesare
La morte di Cesare is an opera seria in three acts by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was by Gaetano Sertor, after Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar....
(both Venice, 1788), and Seleuco, re di Siria
Seleuco, re di Siria
Seleuco, re di Siria is an opera seria in three acts by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was by Mattia Botturini, after Antioco by Apostolo Zeno and Pietro Pariati, a libretto first set by Francesco Gasparini in 1705....
(Venice, 1791), and the opera giocosa La villanella rapita
La villanella rapita
La villanella rapita is an opera giocosa in two acts by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was by Giovanni Bertati.-Performance history:...
(Süttör
Fertod
Fertőd is a town located in the Győr-Moson-Sopron county of Hungary, not far from Austria. Fertőd was formed when the towns of Eszterháza and Süttör were unified, in 1950....
, 1784).
Bianchi committed suicide in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London, in 1810, probably out of family troubles.
Religious compositions
- Domine ad adiuvandum, 2 August 1773, Cremona
- Converte Domine, 10 May 1979, Milan, Metropolitan Cathedral
- Exalta Domine, 10 May 1979, Milan, Metropolitan Cathedral
- Deus noster refugium con Gloria patri, 10 May 1979, Milan, Metropolitan Cathedral
Further reading
Caruselli, Salvatore (ed.), Grande enciclopedia della musica lirica, Longanesi &C. Periodici S.p.A., Roma, vol. 4- Highfill, Jr., Philip H., Burnim, Kalman A., and Langhans, Edward A., A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800: v. 2, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 1973, ISBN 0-8093-0518-6
- Sadie, StanleyStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
(ed), New Grove Dictionary of OperaNew Grove Dictionary of OperaThe New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
, Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 1992, vol. 4