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10/09/2010
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| COMPOSER |
| Saverio Mercadante |
Born in 1795, Mercadante studied in Naples, attracting the attention of Rossini. His first opera, L’apoteosi d’Ercole, was well received in 1819 at the Teatro San Carlo. Others quickly followed. His first notable hit was Elisa e Claudio (1821) in Milan, the success of which took him to Vienna where he failed to make his musical mark. He found renewed success in Venice with Caritea, regina di Spagna (1826). There then followed a period during which Mercadante worked in Madrid, Lisbon and Cadiz, producing a number of operas, before returning to Italy in 1831. Four years later he was invited to Paris by Rossini to write an opera for the Theatre Italien. He responded with I briganti (1836). The opera flopped but Mercadante benefited from contact with the French capital’s thriving musical scene, whose social interaction is reflected in his Les Soirees Italiennes (available on Opera Rara ORR206).
Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots encouraged him in his next and most famous work, Il giuramento, a triumph in Milan in 1837 and the first of a clutch of works that ensured continued public esteem. Further successes followed. Becoming director of the Naples Conservatory in 1840 - a post for which Donizetti had at first been considered - he continued to compose busily, moving from romantic to neo-classical subjects. Later operas include 1846’s Orazi e Curiazi (available on Opera Rara ORC12), based on Corneille’s play Les Horaces.
Having begun in the heyday of Rossini, Mercadante’s career extended well into the middle of Verdi’s. In fact, he was slightly embittered at being eclipsed by Verdi, on whom his music had some influence. He died in 1870, having put his name to close on sixty operas. |
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| | Related Titles |
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Recent releases - Emma d’Antiochia
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Mercadante’s Virginia
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Anthologies - A Hundred Years of Italian Opera 1810-1820
An awesome recording in every respect - JOHN FREEMAN, Opera News
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Anthologies - A Hundred Years of Italian Opera 1820-1830
A privileged glimpse into a forgotten world - JOHN FREEMAN, Opera News
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Collections - The Cruel Madness of Love
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Villains by Necessity
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Collections - The Opera Rara Collection - Volume 1
A feast and a temptation to the ears - DAVID JOHNSON, Fanfare
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Il Salotto - Il Salotto - Volume 1 - Les Soirees Italiennes
Such a pleasurable experience that lovers of rarities should seek it out - ALAN BLYTHE, Opera Magazine
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Collections - The Opera Rara Collection - Volume 2
A feast and a temptation to the ears - DAVID JOHNSON, Fanfare
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Mercadante - Zaira
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING INCLUDES COMPLETE LIBRETTO. Majella Cullagh flaunting a to-die-for top register, provides accomplished and expressive singing throughout the title role - GEORGE HALL, BBC Mus
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Paventa Insano Pacini and Mercadante - Arias and Ensembles
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Maria Stuarda regina di Scozia
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IL SALOTTO: La Serenata (Volume 11)
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