Ignaz Holzbauer (1711-1783)
- Simphonie a grande orchestre 'La Tempete' (1769)
Performers: Kurpfälzische Kammerorchester; Johannes Schlaefli
Further info: Ignaz Holzbauer (1711-1783) - Missa in C
---
Austrian composer. He contributed significantly to 18th-century musical
life in Mannheim, where he was Kapellmeister at the famous electoral
court for 25 years (1753-78), and in Vienna. An autobiographical sketch,
written apparently in 1782 and first published in 1790, provides basic
information about Holzbauer’s life but few reliable dates. He was
attracted to music at an early age, but this inclination received no
support from his father, a Viennese leather merchant, who wanted him to
study law. Pursuing musical training nevertheless, he applied to the
young members of the choir at the Stephansdom for instruction in
singing, piano, violin and cello. In return, he provided them with his
new compositions. He studied Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum on his own
initiative and eventually arranged a meeting with Fux, who, after
examining a sample exercise, declared him an innate genius and
recommended a journey to Italy as a means of refining his musical
knowledge. Following a short term of employment with Count
Thurn-Valsassina of Laibach (Ljubljana), and a brief excursion to
Venice, he was appointed Kapellmeister to Count Rottal of Holešov in
Moravia. There his opera Lucio Papirio dittatore was staged in 1737;
that same year he married the singer Rosalie Andreides. According to the
autobiography, the couple left Holešov for Vienna a year later.
Subsequently, they journeyed to Italy, where they remained for three
years, travelling to Milan, Venice and other cities. In 1744 Holzbauer
collaborated with Franz Hilverding in creating ballets for a Viennese
performance of Hasse’s Ipermestra, and from 1746 to 1750 he was engaged
in Vienna to compose ballet music for the Burgtheater; in 1746 his name
was also associated with the Viennese popular theatre. In 1751 Holzbauer
succeeded Brescianello as Oberkapellmeister at Stuttgart, where he and
his wife became ensnared in court intrigue. Fortunately, following the
successful 1753 performance of his opera Il figlio delle selve at
Schwetzingen (Elector Carl Theodor’s summer residence), he was appointed
‘Kapellmeister für das Theater’ at Mannheim, where his own works
dominated the stage until 1760. Several excursions – to Rome (1756),
Turin for the performance of his Nitteti (1758), Paris (1758) and Milan
for the production of his Alessandro nell’Indie (1759) – helped to
expand his artistic horizons but failed to secure him a lasting
international reputation. Early in the next decade Holzbauer evidently
cultivated musical ties with Vienna: his name appeared in connection
with Burgtheater orchestral concerts (1761–3), and his oratorio La
Betulia liberata received several performances. In Mannheim, where he
assumed duties as director of the Hofkapelle following Carlo Grua’s
death in 1773, his activities had shifted from theatre to sacred music,
but he did not turn his back on opera permanently: his greatest success
came early in 1777 with the favourable reception of his German opera
Günther von Schwarzburg. Declining to follow the electoral court to
Munich, he remained at Mannheim, where his one-act opera La morte di
Didone was produced in 1779. Though suffering acute hearing loss and
other ailments, he managed to complete another opera, Tancredi, for the
court theatre in Munich shortly before his death.
Cap comentari:
Publica un comentari a l'entrada