Cimarosa, Domenico (EN)

Cimarosa /tʃimaˈrɔːza]/, Cimmarosa, Domenico, *17 December 1749 Aversa (near Naples), †1 January 1801 Venice, Italian composer. He began by studying music at the Scuola dei Padri Conventuali in Naples with Padre Polcano. In 1761–1762 he went to the Conservatorio di S. Maria di Loreto in Naples, where his teachers were G. Manno, P. Gallo, A. Sacchini, F. Fenaroli, and probably N. Piccini. Cimarosa received an extensive musical education, studying composition, organ, harpsichord, violin and singing. His first stage work was opera buffa Le stravaganze del conte (1772), composition of which made him known and highly regarded. Until 1780, he resided successively in Rome and Naples, where he wrote a total of 15 operas for the theatres of both of these cities. In October 1787, on his way to Saint Petersburg, Cimarosa and his wife visited Warsaw, where he sang at the royal court and for Michał Poniatowski, Prince Primate of Poland. Stanisław August bestowed valuable gifts on both spouses. From 1787–1791, Cimarosa served as maestro di cappella and composer at the court of Catherine II. He wrote there two operas seria Cleopatra and La vergine del sole, two cantatas, Requiem and a number of vocal and instrumental pieces. On his way back from Saint Petersburg (September 1791), Cimarosa visited Warsaw again. In 1791, he accepted the Emperor’s invitation from Leopold II to come to Vienna and became court Kapellmeister after the resignation of A. Salieri. In Vienna 1792 he composed his best-known opera, Il matrimonio segreto. In 1793 he went to Naples, where he was appointed teacher and court Kapellmeister. He was imprisoned for his involvement in the Neapolitan Revolution in 1799 and was forced to leave the city. He passed away in Venice during his return journey to Saint Petersburg.

Cimarosa, one of the leading representatives of opera buffa, was gifted with an extraordinary talent for comedy. Il matrimonio segreto, L’impresario in angustie and Le astuzie femminili have been preserved to this day and are still performed on many stages. Cimarosa quickly gained fame, surpassing Paisiello, who was considered the leading Italian opera composer at the time. Some of operas by Cimarosa were staged at the National Theatre in Warsaw while was still alive. During his time, oratorios, cantatas, masses, and other works by Cimarosa were also quite popular. However, the composer truly showcased his creative talent in the opera buffa, which, in fact, constituted the majority of his compositions. Cimarosa’s music, simple and natural, had many admirers. It was highly valued by Goethe, Stendhal, and Mozart, who for the Viennese performance of Cimarosa’s opera I due baroni di Rocca Azzurra (1789) wrote the aria Alma grande (KV 578); Cimarosa’s melodic inventiveness was particularly admired. The deepening of dramatic expression was achieved by the composer through accurate characterization of individuals and situations, often using elaborate and spectacular instrumentation, as well as thematic integration within the operas, for instance, the thematic link between one of the arias and the introduction in Il marito disperato. Opera seria, conventional and in many features similar to opera buffa, but not equal to them, although some of them, such as Gli Orazi e i Curiazi, were liked especially in France. The harpsichord sonatas by Cimarosa are typical for the transition from Baroque to Classical period of music, since, with their one-movement form, they resemble the sonatas by D. Scarlatti; and at the same time, they show a combination of elements of sonata da chiesa and suite.

Literature: A. Tari Domenico Cimarosa, Naples 1875; Aversa a Domenico Cimarosa nel primo centenario della sua morte, collective work, Naples 1901; P. Cambiasi Notizie sulla vita e sulle opere di Domenico Cimarosa, Milan 1901; Centenarium Domenico Cimarosa, collective work, Vienna 1901; F. Polidoro La vita e le opere di Domenico Cimarosa, Naples 1902; R. Vitale Domenico Cimarosa, Aversa 1929; G. Biamonti Cimarosa, Rome 1930; A. Della Corte Domenico Cimarosa, Urbino 1937; M. Tibaldi-Chiesa Cimarosa e il suo tempo, Milan1939 (contains a list of Cimarosa’s compositions); C. Engel A Note on Domenico Cimatrosa’s „Il matrimonio segreto”, „The Musical Quarterly” XXXIII, 1947; L. Chailly „Il matrimonio segreto”, Milan 1949; Per il bicentenario della nascita di Domenico Cimarosa, collective work, Aversa 1949; F. Schlitzer Goethe e Cimarosa, Siena 1950; U. Prota-Giurleo Nuovi contributi alla biografia di Cimarosa, „La Scala” 1956 No. 77; L. Ronga Classicità di Cimarosa, published in: Arte e gusto nella musica, Milan 1956; R.W. Lowe L’admiration de Stendhal pour Cimarosa, «Les études classiques» XXXII, 1964; G. Barblan Un Cimador che divenne Cimarosa, „Quadrivium” XIV, 1973; F. Lippmann Haydns „La fedeltà premiata” und Cimarosas „L’infedeltà fedele”, «Haydn-Studien» V, 1982; F. Lippmann Über Cimarosas Opere Serie, „Analecta Musicologica” XI, 1982; G. Lazarevich Mozart’s Insertion Aria „Alma grande e nobil core” K 578. Criticism of Cimarosa or a Compliment to the Composer, Mozart-Jb 1991; R. Iovino Cimarosa Domenico. Operista napoletano, Milan 1992; W. Seidel Streit und Versöhnung. Zu Cimarosas Oper „Il matrimonio segreto” und ihrer Vorlage, Hildesheim 1993; F. Riva La „Vergine del sole” di F. Moretti e Domenico Cimarosa, published in: Gli affetti convenienti all’idee. Studi sulla musica vocale italiana, edited by M. Caraci Vela et al., Naples 1993; A. Żórawska-Witkowska Muzyka na dworze i w teatrze Stanisława Augusta, Warsaw 1995.