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Pasquale Anfossi

(1727 - 1797)
 

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Pasquale Anfossi Life

 

Pasquale Anfossi, compositor from Taggia (Liguria, Italy), takes place in a troubled moment in building his own space since there was Mozart with his successes and prestige he has achieved over time.

The critics has always underlined the Anfossi production, his peculiar ability in developing comical works and succeeding in combining skillfully comic and pathetic, getting to a new vision of the musical theatre that in Italy had a good success.

The importance of Anfossi is attested in the originality of the finals, following the eighteenth century taste for the double meaning and of the witticism typically Italian.

Further, the versatility of language lies on the revolution of the traditional schemes, as the "accompanied recitative" and the instrumentation highlighted by the thorough orchestration, and a deep attention for the symphonic world.

Deepening furthermore the analysis of the Anfossi's scores, we find undisputable features framing Anfossi within the music design of the XVIII century.

Indeed many innovations found later in the scores of other compositors are present in advanced in his pieces.

Between Anfossi and Mozart there has been an effective "collaboration", that led to an exact sign that has featured their works.


Mozart wrote for Anfossi four arias for the "Curioso indiscreto" and one for "Le gelosie fortunate"; without forgetting a "Contredance" (K 607) written making use of themes present in "La forza delle donne".

So it cannot be set apart the name of Anfossi when quoting the Mozart's composition and vice versa.

The Ligurian compositor achieved a good success both in Italy and abroad mainly for his peculiar taste for the melody of great Mediterranean register, sided by a perfect vision of the orchestra.

This purpose, it can be reminded the common use of the division of the first violins from violins.

The choice in renew the employ of violins was due to the taste of Galuppi memory, related to the beginnings of the Neapolitan and Venetian schools.

He lived his own music inside the orchestra giving it a certain peculiarity in composition that still nowadays it's evident at an attentive analysis.

The fact to pause upon the symphonic production is due to the organic structure that instead many compositors of his times lacked of.

On the other side the Mozartian introspections made over the Anfossi texts and in detail over the "Il curioso  indiscreto" make foretell a stylistic training that, rising from the study of the Italian taste, must later lead to the genial score of the "Nozze di Figaro".

For its ductility and the reasons above mentioned about the Anfossi stylistic revolutions, another critic, Sergio Martinotti, finds matches with other compositors that had a role of 'modernization in this sector as Paisiello.

So we can state that our compositor turned to a point reference in the eighteenth-century musical map.

In this brief analysis we cannot forget an umpteenth link with another Italian compositor of great importance: Niccolò Piccinni.

Their relationship was a happy collaboration: they wrote together the comic piece "Fiammetta generosa", staged at the de' Fiorentini theatre of Naples in 1766.

Further, in different works, there are analogies concerning the orchestral organic, or the concertatos that are dived into many parts, applying different tonalities and tempos.

Elements to quote would still be several, but the analysis would become too complex for this occasion.

We hope that with the performance of the "La maga Circe" the name of Anfossi enters the opera playbill, without having to make a picture to make him known by everybody as it happens for Salieri.

 

Pasquale Anfossi Operas


Pasquale Anfossi Operas

 

- Karadar Bertoldi Ensemble - Studio Informatico Anesin -