May 11, 2015.Monteverdi.The great Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi was born this week, on May 15th of 1567.And so were three French composers, Jules Massenet, Gabriel Fauré and Erik Satie: Massenet on May 12th of 1842, Fauré on the same day three years later in 1845 and Satie on May 17th, 1866.We wrote about Massenet and Fauré last year, and the wonderfully whimsical Satie will have to wait for another occasion, as this entry will go to the “father of the Italian opera.”
The art of Monteverdi spans two epochs, from the late Renaissance and the early years of the Baroque.He was born in Cremona; a child prodigy, he published his first composition, a collection of sacred songs, at the age of 15.He studied music with the maestro di capella of the Cremona Cathedral.Around 1590 he found a position of the viola player at the court of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua.Mantua was a very important center of arts and music: practically all the major composers of the previous 100 years had spent at least some time at the court of the Gonzagas.When Monteverdi joined the court orchestra, it was being directed by Giaches de Wert, a famous composer about whom we wrote just three weeks ago.Even though Monteverdi started low in the ranks, his talent was soon noticed, so when the Duke went to fight the Turks, Monteverdi became part of the retinue.In 1600, he again accompanied Duke Vincenzo, this time on a trip to Florence to celebrate the wedding of Maria de’ Medici, a daughter of the Grand Duke of Florence and Henri IV of France.It was during these festivities that he heard Jacopo Peri’s opera Euridice, one of the very first operas ever written.One year later Monteverdi was appointed Duke Vincenzo’s maestro della musica.By then he had written and published a large number of madrigals, and was well known even outside of Italy.Monteverdi started working on his operas around 1607.L'Orfeo, ordered by the Duke as music for the Carnival, was written and first performed, according to different sources, either in 1607 or 1608; Arianna followed in 1609.L’Orfeo is being performed to this day, while just one aria, Lamento d’Arianna, survived from the other one.Duke Vincenzo died in 1612 and was succeeded, for a short time, by his son Francesco.Running out of money (Vincenzo was profligate), Francesco reduced the size of the court, firing Monteverdi in the process.Monteverdi returned to Cremona.With the death of one Giulio Cesare Martinengo, the position of maestro di cappella at the San Marco opened up in Venice.Monteverdi auditioned and was appointed maestro in August of 1613.He lived in Venice for the rest of his life, becoming a priest in 1632.He continued to compose into his old age, writing a large number of madrigals, which were published in different “books.”In 1639 he wrote a very successful opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland) and, in 1642, another masterpiece, L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea).Monteverdi died a year later, in 1643 at the age of 76.
Here are two episodes from L’Orfeo: first, Rosa del ciel, (Orfeo and Euridice nuptial ceremony) from Act I, with Montserrat Figueras and Furio Zanasi, with Jordi Savall directing Le Concert des Nations; then, ariaTu se' morta from Act II.Georg Nigl is Orfeo.And here’s from the 2010 production of L'incoronazione di Poppea, with the wonderful Danielle de Niese as Poppea and Philippe Jaroussky as Nerone.William Christie conducts Les Arts Florissants.
Monteverd 2015
May 11, 2015. Monteverdi. The great Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi was born this week, on May 15th of 1567. And so were three French composers, Jules Massenet, Gabriel Fauré and Erik Satie: Massenet on May 12th of 1842, Fauré on the same day three years later in 1845 and Satie on May 17th, 1866. We wrote about Massenet and Fauré last year, and the wonderfully whimsical Satie will have to wait for another occasion, as this entry will go to the “father of the Italian opera.”
Here are two episodes from L’Orfeo: first, Rosa del ciel, (Orfeo and Euridice nuptial ceremony) from Act I, with Montserrat Figueras and Furio Zanasi, with Jordi Savall directing Le Concert des Nations; then, aria Tu se' morta from Act II. Georg Nigl is Orfeo. And here’s from the 2010 production of L'incoronazione di Poppea, with the wonderful Danielle de Niese as Poppea and Philippe Jaroussky as Nerone. William Christie conducts Les Arts Florissants.