By Barry Lenson
Few composers have gotten such a nasty popularity as Antonio Salieri – you understand, the composer who, based on well-liked scuttlebutt, poisoned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This rumor began, or a minimum of it unfold, due to Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus and the following movie adaptation.
It was an exceptionally good play and a very good film. However right here is the reality . . .
Salieri didn’t homicide Mozart.
Whereas Salieri and Mozart have been certainly contemporaries who have been most likely in competitors for numerous commissions, the extent of their rivalry has been vastly exaggerated.
Who Was Salieri?
Antonio Salieri was a distinguished and really succesful Italian composer of the Classical period, recognized for his operas, symphonies, and chamber music. Born on August 18, 1750, in Legnago, a city within the Republic of Venice (present-day Italy), Salieri confirmed an early aptitude for music. Recognizing his expertise, his dad and mom enrolled him in music classes with native musicians.
Then on the age of 16, Salieri moved to Venice, the place he studied with the eminent Italian violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini. Throughout his time in Venice, Salieri honed his abilities as a violinist and composer, catching the eye of Vienna’s musical elite.
In 1766, Salieri traveled to Vienna, the place he continued his musical schooling underneath the tutelage of Christoph Willibald Gluck. Vienna proved to be fertile floor for Salieri’s burgeoning profession, and he shortly established himself as a distinguished determine within the metropolis’s musical scene.
Salieri’s expertise and dedication earned him the patronage of Emperor Joseph II, who appointed him court docket composer in 1788. This prestigious place supplied Salieri with the sources and assist to compose operas, together with Axur, Re d’Ormus (1788), Les Danaïdes (1784), and his personal model of Falstaff (1799), amongst others. His operas have been well-received and carried out in theaters throughout Europe, solidifying Salieri’s popularity as one of many main composers of his time.
Along with his operatic works, Salieri additionally composed a considerable variety of instrumental items, together with symphonies, concertos, and chamber music. Whilst you typically can not sense Mozart-level genius in his compositions, they’re characterised by their melodic class, harmonic richness, and masterful orchestration, reflecting the model of the Classical interval.
In his later years, Salieri continued to compose prolifically and remained an influential determine within the Viennese musical group. He mentored a brand new era of composers, together with Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, leaving an enduring legacy on the event of Classical music.
Antonio Salieri handed away on Might 7, 1825, in Vienna, abandoning a wealthy and various physique of labor that continues to be appreciated and carried out to at the present time. Regardless of later controversies surrounding his relationship with Mozart, Salieri’s contributions to the world of music endure as a testomony to his expertise and dedication.
Salieri Compositions You Can Take heed to on Classical Archives
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Operas
Armida – A wonderful full efficiency that includes Christophe Rousset and Les Talons Lyriques and soloists.
Falstaff – This efficiency is from the Salieri Chamber Orchestra and soloists performed by Tamas Pal.
La Scuola de’ Gelosi – The entire comedian opera that includes L’Arte del Mondo and soloists performed by Werner Ehrhardt.
Choral Works
The Ardour of Jesus Christ – Oratorio for refrain, orchestra, and soloists. Christoph Spering leads the Neue Orchester and soloists.
Requiem in C Minor – Lawrence Foster conducts the Gulbenkian Basis Choir and Orchestra and soloists.
Orchestral Works and Concertos
Symphony in D Main (“la Veneziana”) – Matthias Bamert conducts the London Mozart Gamers.
Piano Concerto in B-Flat Main – Antonio Sinagra conducts pianist Costantino Catena and the orchestra of the Domenico Cimarosa Conservatory.