This Week in Classical Music: August 17, 2020.Porpora and Salieri.Nicola Porpora, a composer famous of his time for his operas and as a music teacher (Farinelli was one, as wasHaydn) was born on this day in 1686.Here is an entry we wrote about him two years ago.Another composer mentioned in this entry isAntonio Salieri.His birthday is also this week: Salieri was born on the 18th of August 1750.We left off our story about Salieri in 1784, when he returned from Vienna after a two-year stay in Paris.Two things had changed during this time: the Emperor Joseph II became more interested in Italian opera buffa, and new competition arrived from the likes of Giovanni Paisiello and the 28-year-old Mozart. Salieri’s first Viennese opera after his return from Paris was La grotta di Trofonio (1785).Here’s the overture to it, performed by the Mannheimer Mozartorchester, Thomas Fey conducting.Next, following the new tastes, he reworked his French opera Tartare in Italian (and gave it a new title, Axur re d'Ormus). Axur became very popular and between 1788 and 1805, when Vienna was captured by Napoleon, was staged more than 100 times.In 1788 Joseph appointed Salieri the Hofkapellmeister, the highest musical position at the court.Salieri held it till 1824, the longest tenure ever.(It’s interesting that the highest position Mozart was ever to attain was Kammermusicus or Chamber Musician, lower than that of Hofkapellmeister, person in charge of music-making at the Court).Joseph II died in 1790 but Salieri continued working under the patronage of Joseph’s successor, Emperor Leopold II.Life was not quite the same for him: Leopold wasn’t as interested in music as his predecessor, Salieri couldn’t travel to Paris because of the Revolution, he stopped working with Da Ponte, the great librettist, and his genius competitor, Mozart, was dead.Still, Salieri continued to write, and one of the operas of the period, Palmira, composed in 1795, is now considered his best.And, like Porpora, Salieri taught: Beethoven and Schubert were among his students.Salieri retired in 1824 and died in Vienna a year later, on May 7th of 1825.
The great Claude Debussy was also born this week, on August 22nd of 1862. You can read our entries about him here and here.Also, one of the most interesting composers of the second half of the 20th century, Karlheinz Stockhausen was also born on August 22nd, but in 1928.
Porpora and Salieri, 2020
This Week in Classical Music: August 17, 2020. Porpora and Salieri. Nicola Porpora, a composer famous of his time for his operas and as a music teacher (Farinelli was one, as was
Haydn) was born on this day in 1686. Here is an entry we wrote about him two years ago. Another composer mentioned in this entry is Antonio Salieri. His birthday is also this week: Salieri was born on the 18th of August 1750. We left off our story about Salieri in 1784, when he returned from Vienna after a two-year stay in Paris. Two things had changed during this time: the Emperor Joseph II became more interested in Italian opera buffa, and new competition arrived from the likes of Giovanni Paisiello and the 28-year-old Mozart. Salieri’s first Viennese opera after his return from Paris was La grotta di Trofonio (1785). Here’s the overture to it, performed by the Mannheimer Mozartorchester, Thomas Fey conducting. Next, following the new tastes, he reworked his French opera Tartare in Italian (and gave it a new title, Axur re d'Ormus). Axur became very popular and between 1788 and 1805, when Vienna was captured by Napoleon, was staged more than 100 times. In 1788 Joseph appointed Salieri the Hofkapellmeister, the highest musical position at the court. Salieri held it till 1824, the longest tenure ever. 
(It’s interesting that the highest position Mozart was ever to attain was Kammermusicus or Chamber Musician, lower than that of Hofkapellmeister, person in charge of music-making at the Court). Joseph II died in 1790 but Salieri continued working under the patronage of Joseph’s successor, Emperor Leopold II. Life was not quite the same for him: Leopold wasn’t as interested in music as his predecessor, Salieri couldn’t travel to Paris because of the Revolution, he stopped working with Da Ponte, the great librettist, and his genius competitor, Mozart, was dead. Still, Salieri continued to write, and one of the operas of the period, Palmira, composed in 1795, is now considered his best. And, like Porpora, Salieri taught: Beethoven and Schubert were among his students. Salieri retired in 1824 and died in Vienna a year later, on May 7th of 1825.
The great Claude Debussy was also born this week, on August 22nd of 1862. You can read our entries about him here and here. Also, one of the most interesting composers of the second half of the 20th century, Karlheinz Stockhausen was also born on August 22nd, but in 1928.