August 15, 2016. Nicola Porpora. Nicola Porpora, a prolific opera composer, was born in Naples on August 17th of 1686. He was 10 when he enrolled in the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo. In 1708 he received his first opera commission and wrote L’Agrippina but had to wait several years to get another one. That was probably because Alessandro Scarlatti so thoroughly dominated the Neapolitan opera scene: 1708 was the year the much more famous Scarlatti returned to Naples after six years in Florence and Rome. Porpora was 13 and still at the Conservatory when he started teaching and it’s his teaching talents that he would become famous for, at least as much as for his operas. As there were few opera commissions, he earned money working at the Conservatorio di S Onofrio and giving private lessons. In 1719 Scarlatti returned to Rome and that opened the stage for Porpora. One of the operas composed during that period was Angelica, on the libretto by the young Pietro Metastasio. The role of Orlando was sung by Porpora’s star pupil, the 15-year old castrato Farinelli, who would become one of the most celebrated singers in the history of opera. Among Porpora’s pupils was also Gaetano Majorano, known as Caffarelli, also a castrato, second only to Farinelli; he became one of Handel’s favorite singers. Here’s an aria from Angelica called Ombre amene. The countertenor is Robert Expert; the orchestra of Real Compañia Ópera De Cámara is conducted by Juan Bautista Otero.
In 1723-24 Porpora traveled to Vienna and Munich but received no appointments. He returned to Italy and settled in Venice. An intense rivalry developed between him and Leonardo Vinci, who was Porpora’s classmate in Naples. In 1730 Porpora and Vinci produced operas which ran simultaneously in two leading Roman opera houses, one in Teatro della Dame, another – in Teatro Capranica (Teatro della Dame was the largest in Rome when built in 1718, it burned down in 1863; Teatro Capranica, the second oldest public opera house in Rome after the Teatro delle Quattro Fontane, still exists but is mostly used for various public events). In 1730 Vinci died, age 40, and for a while Poprora’s competitive impulse focused on another successful opera composer, Johann Adolph Hasse.
In 1733 Porpora received an invitation from a group of Londoners who were setting up an opera house to rival Handel’s. Porpora traveled to London and stayed there for almost three years. During that time he composed five operas, which were staged at the new opera, called Opera of the Nobility. The first, Arianna in Naxo, turned out to be the most successful one, even though Farinelli made his London debut in the subsequent Polifemo. Porpora left London in 1736, and less than a year later both the Opera of the Nobility and Handel’s opera collapsed. Here’s the wonderful French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky singing the area Alto Giove, from Polifemo. Porpora returned to Italy, splitting his time between Venice and Naples. The opera commissions were drying up, and Porpora traveled to Dresden, where he received an appointment as Kapellmeister at the court of Saxony. That lasted for five years; in 1752 he was sent into retirement and moved to Vienna. There he renewed his friendship with Metastasio; and it was probably Metastasio who introduced the 20-year old Joseph Haydn to Porpora. Haydn, who was trying to make a living as a freelancing pianist and composer, became Porpora’s valet, keyboard accompanist, and student. It seems Porpora treated Haydn pretty roughly, but Haydn later claimed that he learned "the true fundamentals of composition from the celebrated Herr Porpora.” Porpora was living mostly on a pension from Dresden, and when that ended in 1759, he moved back to Naples. He was made maestro di cappella in the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto. His final opera was a failure, he had to resign from the conservatory and spent the last years of his life in poverty. Porpora died in Naples on March 3rd of 1768. Here’s the aria Tu che d'ardir' m'accendi from his opera Siface. Again, we’ll hear Philippe Jaroussky, this time with Le Concert d'Astree under the direction of Emmanuelle Haim.
Nicola Porpora, 2016
August 15, 2016. Nicola Porpora. Nicola Porpora, a prolific opera composer, was born in Naples on August 17th of 1686. He was 10 when he enrolled in the Conservatorio dei Poveri di
Gesù Cristo. In 1708 he received his first opera commission and wrote L’Agrippina but had to wait several years to get another one. That was probably because Alessandro Scarlatti so thoroughly dominated the Neapolitan opera scene: 1708 was the year the much more famous Scarlatti returned to Naples after six years in Florence and Rome. Porpora was 13 and still at the Conservatory when he started teaching and it’s his teaching talents that he would become famous for, at least as much as for his operas. As there were few opera commissions, he earned money working at the Conservatorio di S Onofrio and giving private lessons. In 1719 Scarlatti returned to Rome and that opened the stage for Porpora. One of the operas composed during that period was Angelica, on the libretto by the young Pietro Metastasio. The role of Orlando was sung by Porpora’s star pupil, the 15-year old castrato Farinelli, who would become one of the most celebrated singers in the history of opera. Among Porpora’s pupils was also Gaetano Majorano, known as Caffarelli, also a castrato, second only to Farinelli; he became one of Handel’s favorite singers. Here’s an aria from Angelica called Ombre amene. The countertenor is Robert Expert; the orchestra of Real Compañia Ópera De Cámara is conducted by Juan Bautista Otero.
In 1723-24 Porpora traveled to Vienna and Munich but received no appointments. He returned to Italy and settled in Venice. An intense rivalry developed between him and Leonardo Vinci, who was Porpora’s classmate in Naples. In 1730 Porpora and Vinci produced operas which ran simultaneously in two leading Roman opera houses, one in Teatro della Dame, another – in Teatro Capranica (Teatro della Dame was the largest in Rome when built in 1718, it burned down in 1863; Teatro Capranica, the second oldest public opera house in Rome after the Teatro delle Quattro Fontane, still exists but is mostly used for various public events). In 1730 Vinci died, age 40, and for a while Poprora’s competitive impulse focused on another successful opera composer, Johann Adolph Hasse.
In 1733 Porpora received an invitation from a group of Londoners who were setting up an opera house to rival Handel’s. Porpora traveled to London and stayed there for almost three years. During that time he composed five operas, which were staged at the new opera, called Opera of the Nobility. The first, Arianna in Naxo, turned out to be the most successful one, even though Farinelli made his London debut in the subsequent Polifemo. Porpora left London in 1736, and less than a year later both the Opera of the Nobility and Handel’s opera collapsed. Here’s the wonderful French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky singing the area Alto Giove, from Polifemo. Porpora returned to Italy, splitting his time between Venice and Naples. The opera commissions were drying up, and Porpora traveled to Dresden, where he received an appointment as Kapellmeister at the court of Saxony. That lasted for five years; in 1752 he was sent into retirement and moved to Vienna. There he renewed his friendship with Metastasio; and it was probably Metastasio who introduced the 20-year old Joseph Haydn to Porpora. Haydn, who was trying to make a living as a freelancing pianist and composer, became Porpora’s valet, keyboard accompanist, and student. It seems Porpora treated Haydn pretty roughly, but Haydn later claimed that he learned "the true fundamentals of composition from the celebrated Herr Porpora.” Porpora was living mostly on a pension from Dresden, and when that ended in 1759, he moved back to Naples. He was made maestro di cappella in the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto. His final opera was a failure, he had to resign from the conservatory and spent the last years of his life in poverty. Porpora died in Naples on March 3rd of 1768. Here’s the aria Tu che d'ardir' m'accendi from his opera Siface. Again, we’ll hear Philippe Jaroussky, this time with Le Concert d'Astree under the direction of Emmanuelle Haim.