{"id":663,"date":"2007-12-20T02:31:53","date_gmt":"2007-12-20T07:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=663"},"modified":"2018-08-15T18:31:32","modified_gmt":"2018-08-15T22:31:32","slug":"rinaldo-di-capua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=663","title":{"rendered":"Rinaldo di Capua"},"content":{"rendered":"

We don\u2019t know much about the life of the Neapoli\u00adtan com\u00adposer Rinal\u00addo di Capua, who was born some\u00adwhere around 1710 and died, in pover\u00adty and obscu\u00adrity, in 1780. But, briefly, he achieved some fame as a com\u00adposer of opera, and made one of the key inno\u00adva\u00adtions in the trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion of the sym\u00adphony from a mere suite of vignettes, which could be shuf\u00adfled or sub\u00adsti\u00adtuted like a deck of cards, to its lat\u00ader form as a coher\u00adent whole, the \u201csym\u00adpho\u00adny-sonata\u201d form that makes, say, a Beethoven sym\u00adphony appear as nar\u00adra\u00adtive as a play, and saw it\u2019s ulti\u00admate degree of log\u00adi\u00adcal devel\u00adop\u00adment in Sibelius\u2019 Sev\u00adenth. Accord\u00ading to the diary of Charles Bur\u00adney, a musi\u00adcian trav\u00adel\u00ading in Italy in 1770, di Capua had the same ten\u00addency to solid\u00adify the opera buf\u00adfa<\/em> into some\u00adthing more resem\u00adbling our idea of a dra\u00admatic opera. Bur\u00adney relates that, after a peri\u00adod of celebri\u00adty for many operas (all but one of which are lost), he found him \u201cliv\u00ading, or rather starv\u00ading in 1770 at Rome, the chief scene of his for\u00admer glo\u00adry! This com\u00adposer, whose pro\u00adduc\u00adtions were, dur\u00ading many years, the delight of all Europe, was reduced at Rome to the utmost indi\u00adgence. Dio\u00adgenes the Cyn\u00adic was nev\u00ader more mean\u00adly clad through choice, than Rinal\u00addo through neces\u00adsity: a patched coat, and stock\u00adings that want\u00aded to be patched or darned.\u201d Bur\u00adney reports that the old man was par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlarly bit\u00adter because he had hoped to pro\u00advide for his old age by pub\u00adlish\u00ading his col\u00adlected works, only to dis\u00adcover that his son had burned all his man\u00adu\u00ads\u00adcipts! Hence, we know lit\u00adtle about a fair\u00adly impor\u00adtant com\u00adposer of the Roco\u00adco peri\u00adod. Toron\u00adto Pub\u00adlic Library\u2019s huge col\u00adlec\u00adtion con\u00adtains noth\u00ading by him, though the Uni\u00adver\u00adsity of Toronto\u2019s Thomas Fish\u00ader Rare Book Library [one of the lit\u00adtle-known trea\u00adsures of the city, by the way], has a libret\u00adto of one of his operas, and else\u00adwhere the Uni\u00adver\u00adsity has some scraps of sheet music. But one, ran\u00addom exam\u00adple of his operas sur\u00advives, appar\u00adently a minor ear\u00adly work. It is La Zin\u00adgara, an Inter\u00admezo in Two Parts<\/em>. This was lat\u00ader reworked into some\u00adthing more uni\u00adfied opera, but what sur\u00advives is in the orig\u00adi\u00adnal opera buf\u00adfa<\/em> form. It was per\u00adformed by the Mainz Cham\u00adber Orches\u00adtra, with Annelies Moke\u00adwitz (sopra\u00adno), Rodol\u00adfo Malacarne (tenor) and Laerte Malaguti (bass). The per\u00adfor\u00admance exists on a Turn\u00adabout record\u00ading which I obtained in a yard sale in my neigh\u00adbor\u00adhood, where yard sales can turn up any\u00adthing. If this one, minor work is any hint, di Capua was a tal\u00adented man. The melodies are fine, the ritor\u00adnel\u00adlos are dra\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcally effec\u00adtive. I don\u2019t urge any\u00adone to run out and lis\u00adten, because their chances of find\u00ading the piece are remote.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We don\u2019t know much about the life of the Neapoli\u00adtan com\u00adposer Rinal\u00addo di Capua, who was born some\u00adwhere around 1710 and died, in pover\u00adty and obscu\u00adrity, in 1780. But, briefly, he achieved some fame as a com\u00adposer of opera, and \u2026<\/p>\n

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