Baldassare Galuppi

Baldassare Galuppi was an Italian composer and performer from the 1700s. He was the most popular and successful opera composer during his lifetime, and he played a major role in the evolution of the art form. Galuppi was born in 1706 in Burano, Italy, and his father was a barber who also worked as a violinist in small theater orchestras. Galuppi's first musical instruction likely came from his father, and around the age of 15 he composed his first opera, Gli amici ricali. The premiere performance was such a failure that the production staff closed the curtains to prevent the audience from rioting. To get a better understanding of what went wrong with his new opera, he sought the advice of composer Benedetto Marcello. First, Marcello informed Galuppi that he had composed too complex of a piece before he was ready to do so, and Marcello made the teenager promise not to compose any more operas until he finished his studies with his organ and counterpoint teacher, Antonio Lotti. Two years later, Galuppi began supporting himself by working as a harpsichordist at local opera theaters. By 1726, he was a well-known performer in Florence and Venice, and he began an appointment as the harpsichordist at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence. For the next few years, he collaborated with Giovanni Battista Pescetti on the operas Gl'odi delusi del sangue and Donrinda. Both works were well-received and led to additional commissions and increasing fame. By the late 1730s, Galuppi's operas were receiving performances outside of Venice. He began an appointment in 1740 at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti, where he taught, conducted, and composed sacred music. The following year, he accepted an invitation to travel to London to direct the King's Theatre for 18 months. During his time in London, he oversaw 11 opera productions, which included at least three of his own works. After he returned to Venice in 1743, he resumed his work at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti, and he began composing comic operas, which were popular at the time. In 1748, he became the vice maestro at St. Mark's cathedral, and he continued composing operas and an increasing number of sacred works. Over the next ten years, Galuppi collaborated with librettist Carlo Goldoni on several operas that were extremely successful. He also gained considerable respect at St. Mark's and was promoted to the position of maestro in 1762, which was the top musical post in Venice at the time. In 1764, Catherine the Great decided that she wanted to hire Galuppi as her court composer and conductor. Russian and Venetian authorities negotiated and agreed to send him to the Empress' court in St. Petersburg, where he was responsible for composing operas and sacred works, performing recitals, and conducting choral and orchestral concerts. After his three years in Russia, he returned to Venice and resumed his position at St. Mark's in 1768. Both his secular and sacred works from this time were very popular, and in 1771 Charles Burney wrote that Galuppi's later works contained more "spirit, taste, and fancy" than anything he had composed previously. He continued to compose until just a few months before his death in 1785.
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