Anfossi, Pasquale (EN)

Anfossi Pasquale, *5 April 1727 Taggia (near Naples), †February 1797 Rome, Italian composer. Between 1744 and 1752, he studied at the Conservatorio di S. Maria di Loreto in Naples under F. Durante (violin) and N. Piccini (composition). Initially, he concentrated on violin playing, devoting himself to composition relatively late in life. It was not until his opera L’incognita perseguitata that he achieved serious success. In the following years, he gained fame as one of Europe’s leading opera composers. In 1780, he left for Paris and then London, where he conducted at the King’s Theatre at the turn of 1783/84. In 1786, he returned to Italy and settled in Rome. In 1792, he took up the position of maestro di cappella at S. Giovanni in Laterano, devoting himself to church music.

Anfossi’s work represents the late phase of the Neapolitan school. Of particular value are his comic operas, whose original finales served as models for other composers (including Mozart). Anfossi’s operas were staged throughout Europe. Many of them were performed in Warsaw (at least ten during the reign of Stanisław August). La finta giardiniera was translated by W. Bogusławski as Ogrodniczka zmyślona (staged in Vilnius in 1787 and Warsaw in 1790), and Il geloso in cimento by L. Pierożyński as Zazdrośnik na doświadczeniu (staged in Warsaw in 1787).

Literature: R. Angermüller Die Wiener Fassung von Pasquale Anfossi “Il curioso indiscreto”, Florence 1989; H. Geyer-Kiefl Osservazioni sulla Betulia de Pasquale Anfossi, in: Mozart, Padova e la Betulia liberata, ed. P. Pinamonti, Florence 1991; A. Żórawska-Witkowska Muzyka na dworze i w teatrze Stanisława Augusta, Warsaw 1995.