Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801)
- Symphonie concertante (en Sol majeur) pour Deux Flutes (1793)
Performers: Robert Dohn (1936-2015, flute); Helmut Steinkraus (flute);
Württembergisches Kammerorchester; Jörg Faerber (1929-2022, conductor)
Further info: Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) - Magnificat
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Italian composer. Born into poverty, his family sent him to Naples to be
educated. There his musical talent was recognized by a priest, Padre
Polcano, who arranged for him to attend the Conservatorio di Santa Maria
de Loreto, where his teachers included Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio
Sacchini. In 1772 he had his first success at the Teatro Fiorentini with
a pair of operas, Le stravaganze de conte and Le magie de Merlina e
Zoroastro. Thereafter, he became one of the most popular and successful
composers of opera buffa, working in virtually all of the major cities
in Italy, beginning with Rome. In 1779 he was appointed as organist at
the Cappella Reale in Naples. His fame grew internationally, so that in
1788 Russian empress Catherine II called him to St. Petersburg to write
opera for the court. In 1792, however, economic circumstances forced her
to reduce her theatre personnel, and Cimarosa left to accept an
invitation of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II to write for Vienna.
Traveling to the Imperial capital, he sojourned in Warsaw, where he
composed three operas, before continuing on to Vienna, where his opera
Il matrimonio segreto was a stunning success. Upon his return to Naples,
he joined with the opposition to the French occupation, eventually in
1799 being imprisoned and condemned to death. The sentence was commuted
to banishment, and an intended return to St. Petersburg was thwarted by
his death in Venice on his journey. It was suspected that he had been
poisoned by rivals, but an inquest revealed no hint of foul play.
Cimarosa was once of the most prolific composers of the Classical period
in terms of opera buffa. He wrote almost 100 operas (mostly buffa but
also including the late intermezzo), six oratorios, 17 Masses, 16
miscellaneous sacred works, 10 solo motets, two Requiems, 10 secular
cantatas, eight duets, seven patriotic hymns, 88 keyboard sonatas, six
string quartets, two symphonies, two concertos (one for harpsichord, one
for two flutes), two sextets (including one with lyra organizzata), and
several partimenti. His style is fluid and facile, with a special focus
on lyricism. Cimarosa solidified the potpourri opera buffa overture as a
sequence of non-sequitur material in a single movement. He was a
central figure in opera of the late 18th century.
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