Lotti, Antonio

Lotti Antonio, *5 January 1667 Venice, †5 January 1740 Venice, Italian composer. He was baptised in Venice on 25 January 1667; son of Mattia Lotti, a court bandmaster in Hanover and student of G. Legrenzi. In 1687–1740, he worked in the chapel of St. Mark Basilica in Venice, initially as a singer, in 1690–1717 and 1719–36 as an organist, and in 1736–40 – maestro di cappella. In 1693–1717, Lotti composed approximately 20 stage works (intended mainly for Venetian theatres), which brought him fame as an outstanding opera composer. Therefore, in the autumn of 1717, he became bandmaster of the Italian ensemble at the court of the Polish king and Elector of Saxony, Augustus II (the vocal cast of the ensemble was also composed of the composer’s wife, Santa Stella Lotti, and the famous Senesino). Lotti returned to Venice in the fall of 1719 and, from then on, created exclusively sacred music, chamber vocal and instrumental works. His students included: D. Alberti, G. Bassani, B. Galuppi, M. Gasparini, B. Marcello, G. Pescetti and J.D. Zelenka.

Lotti was one of the most representative Italian composers of his era. His operas are a type of Venetian solo opera and consist of several da capo arias separated by secco recitatives, final choruses and very rare ensembles. Only in the works written for Dresden, there are certain influences of the French style visible, such as the characteristic rhythmic formulas in the overture to Ascanio, or the introduction of a double orchestra in the magnificent march from Theophane, an opera written to splendour the wedding celebrations of Frederick Augustus, the future king of Poland, Augustus III (carosello Li quattro elementi was created on the same occasion). Many of Lotti’s cantatas are modelled on the Neapolitan style. However, the greatest mastery stands out for Lotti’s sacred works, in which he combines the knowledge and scholarship of the old school of composition from the end of the 17^th century with the grace and pathos of his contemporary early classical music, achieving a depth of expression rarely seen in Italian religious music.

Literature: M. Fürstenau Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am Hofe zu Dresden, Dresden 1862, reprint 1971; C. Spitz Die Opern „Ottone” von G.F. Händel (London 1722) und „Teofane” von A. Lotti (Dresden 1719). Ein Stilvergleich, A. Sandberger’s memorial book, Munich 1918; I. Becker-Glauch Die Bedeutung der Musik für die Dresdener Hoffeste bis in die Zeit Augusts des Starken, Kassel-Basel 1951; R. Hoppe Antonio Lotti als Kirchenkomponist, in: Musica sacra 1958; B. Becherini Uno sguardo alla produzione vocale da camera di Antonio Lotti, in: Musiche italiane rare e vive da Giovanni Gabrieli a Giuseppe Verdi, “Chigiana” XIX, 1962; R. Le Conte Holden Six Extant Operas of Antonio Lotti (1667–1740), dissertation University of Connecticut, 1967; K.J. O’Donnell The Secular Solo Cantatas of Antonio Lotti, dissertation State University of Iowa, 1975; A. Żórawska-Witkowska Das Ensemble der italienischen Oper von Antonio Lotti am Hof des Königs von Polen und Kurfürsten von Sachsen August II. des Starken (1717–1720), Musica Antiqua Europae Orientalis. Acta Scientifica IX, Bydgoszcz 1991; N. Dubowy Bemerkungen zur Kirchenmusik von Antonio Lotti, “Händel-Jahrbuch” 46 (2000); E. Selfridge-Field A New Chronology of Venetian Opera and Related Genres, 1660–1760, Stanford 2007; B. Byram-Wigfield Antonio Lotti: Born in Venice to a Family in Hanover?, “Early Music” 45 (2017) No. 4.