Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816) - Te Deum pour le couronnement de l'Empereur Napoléon (1804)
Performers: Solistes, choeur et Orchestre de la Capella de
Saint-Petersbourg; Vladislav Tchernouchenko (direction)
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Italian composer. He was one of the most successful and influential
opera composers of the late 18th century. Paisiello received his
education first at the Jesuit school in Taranto and then, between 1754
and 1763, at the Conservatorio di S Onofrio, Naples. At about the time
he left the S Onofrio he attracted the attention of a young nobleman,
Giuseppe Carafa, who appointed him musical director of the small opera
company he was then forming. It was due to Carafa that Paisiello
acquired his first commissions to write works for the Teatro
Marsigli-Rosi, Bologna, in 1764. The second of these, 'I francesi
brillanti', failed at its first performance but was more successful when
it was transferred to Modena two weeks later. This led to a commission
from Modena for some new music for an opera originally by Guglielmi, 'La
donna di tutti i caratteri'. Paisiello’s revision, 'Madama l’umorista',
contained much new music; its success led in turn to requests for new
operas for other north Italian theatres. Paisiello regarded himself as
Neapolitan, and preferred living and working in Naples to anywhere else.
In 1766 he returned to Naples; as a freelance composer his chief
activity was setting comic operas for the Nuovo and Fiorentini theatres,
where his chief rival was Piccinni. But he was also happy to accept
commissions for heroic operas for the S Carlo. The three operas staged
at the S Carlo between June 1767 and May 1768 appear to indicate that
the court, and in particular the King of Naples, Ferdinando IV, approved
of his music. However, the royal approval seems to have been withdrawn,
possibly because of Paisiello’s unusual behaviour over his marriage to a
widow, Cecilia Pallini. In the summer of 1768 he signed a contract to
marry her but then tried to withdraw from it, using various excuses.
Pallini successfully appealed, and Paisiello was confined in prison
until the marriage was solemnized on 15 September. He received no
further recognition from the court until 1774, when his short 'Il
divertimento de’ numi' was performed at the royal palace, and no further
commission came from the S Carlo until mid-1776.
In 1776 his international reputation led Catherine II of Russia to offer
him a contract to come to St. Petersburg, where he remained until 1784.
Here he wrote his most famous work, 'Il barbiere di Siviglia'. His
constant jealousy of colleagues and his feeling of being restricted in
his own work led him to return to Naples to accept a position at the
court of Ferdinand IV; on his way he had another success in Vienna with
'Il re Teodoro'. After 1787 he also began receiving numerous commissions
for sacred music. In 1797 he was asked by Napoleon to come to Paris as
maître de chapelle, but despite the emperor’s patronage he had little
success apart from some reorganization of the court musical
establishment. His 1803 opera 'Proserpine' -the only one in French and
written according to the reforms of Christoph Willibald von Gluck- was a
failure, and he returned to Naples. With the Bourbon restoration in
1815 his own position was compromised, and the death of his wife
undermined his health. Paisiello’s career was long and illustrious, for
he was one of the most important composers along with Giuseppe Sarti and
Domenico Cimarosa of opera buffa during the last half of the 18th
century. His work was known for its pithy tunes and colorful
orchestration, attributes that also spill over into his sacred music. He
had a knack for creating popular pieces that flowed well dramatically
and were imitated by numerous other composers of the period. His works
include 94 operas; 20 secular cantatas or notturnos; 28 Masses; 68 other
hymns, canticles, Psalms, and such; five motets; three oratorios; five
Passions; three sacred cantatas; 16 wind divertimentos; 12 piano
quartets; 13 symphonies; eight keyboard concertos; a violin sonata; and
numerous miscellaneous keyboard and small ensemble works.
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