Antonio Alessandro Boncompagno Stradella (

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, 3 July 1643 –

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, 25 February 1682) was an Italian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of the middle

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

period. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

composer, writing on commission, and collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres.

Life

Stradella was born in

on 3 July 1643 to the aristocrats Marc'Antonio Stradella (1579-1649) from Nepi (in the province of Viterbo), and his second wife, Vittoria Bartoli from

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

, and baptised Antonio Alessandro Boncompagno Stradella on 1 August 1643 in Bologna. His godfather in proxy was , who had appointed his father vice-marquis of

Vignola Vignola (; Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese: ; Bolognese dialect, Bolognese: ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Modena (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. Its economy is based on agriculture, especially fruit farming, but there are also mecha ...

on 7 June 1642. Although the family resided in Nepi, they were temporarily in Bologna, taking refuge from papal troops attacking Vignola.Garavaglia 2019. He was educated at

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and was already making a name for himself as a composer at the age of 24. In 1667 he composed a Latin oratorio (lost) for the Confraternity of Crocifisso di San Marcello and in the following year the serenata ''La Circe'' for the Princess of Rossano Olimpia Aldobrandini Pamphilj. In 1671–72 he collaborated in staging some operas, two by

Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverdi as the dominant and leading op ...

and two by Antonio Cesti, at the Tordinona Theater, composing prologues, intermedios and new arias. In the early 1670s, he also composed some operas performed in private theatres of aristocratic families. Stradella began to live a dissolute life. With Carlo Ambrogio Lonati he attempted to embezzle money from the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, but was found out: he fled the city, only returning much later when he thought it was safe. His numerous incautious affairs with women began to make him enemies among the powerful men of the city, and he had to leave Rome for good. In 1677 he went to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, where he was hired by a powerful nobleman, Alvise Contarini, as the music tutor to his mistress, Agnese Van Uffele. She and Stradella began an affair and fled Venice together for

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, where they were protected by Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours, the regent of Savoy. Contarini followed and instructed the Archbishop that Uffele and Stradella must marry or that Uffele must take the veil. She did the latter, and then the two married in October; however, as Stradella left the convent after signing the contract, he was attacked from behind on 10 October by two would-be-hired assassins, who believed him dead when they left him in the street. He survived and the two assassins took asylum with the French ambassador. That Contarini had hired the attackers became known, leading to complaints from the regent of Savoy to

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

; the matter became a topic of negotiation between the courts. In 1678 Stradella fled to

, where he met again with Lonati. He was paid to compose operas performed at Falcone Theatre and music for the local nobility.

Murder

In 1682 he was stabbed to death at the Piazza Banchi. A nobleman of the Lomellini family hired the killer which put an end to Stradella's life, although the identity of the killer was never discovered. Another report of his murderers states: "Stradella was murdered at Genoa by three brothers of the name of Lomellini, whose sister he had seduced". Stradella was buried in the Santa Maria delle Vigne.

Work

Stradella was an extremely influential composer at the time, though his fame was eclipsed in the next century by Corelli,

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

and others. Some of his music was exploited by

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

, for example in '' Israel in Egypt.'' Probably his greatest significance is in originating the ''

concerto grosso The concerto grosso (; Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the '' concertino'') and full orchestra (the '' ripieno'', '' ...

'': while Corelli in his Op. 6 was the first to publish works under this title, Stradella clearly uses the format earlier in one of his ''Sonate di viole''. Since the two knew each other, a direct influence is likely. Stradella wrote at least six

baroque opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s ''Le gare dell'amor eroico ossia l'Oratio'' Opera in three acts. Genova, Teatro Falcone 1679; revived Genova 2006. including a full-length comic opera '' Il Trespolo tutore''. He also wrote more than 170

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

s, at least one of which was based on a poem by Sebastiano Baldini, and six oratorios. Stradella composed 27 separate instrumental pieces, most for strings and basso continuo, and typically in the ''

sonata da chiesa ''Sonata da chiesa'' ( Italian: "church sonata") is a 17th-century genre of musical composition for one or more melody instruments and is regarded an antecedent of later forms of 18th century instrumental music. It generally comprises four movemen ...

'' format. He wrote two cantatas for the regent of Savoy, ''Se del pianeta ardente'' and ''Sciogliete i dolci nodi''.

Operas

* '' La Doriclea'' (1672) * ''Amare e Fingere'' (1676) * ''La forza dell'amor paterno'' (1678) * '' Il Trespolo tutore'' (1679) * ''Le gare dell'amor eroico'' (1679) * '' Moro per amore'' (1681) * ''La Rosaura'' (premiered 1688) * '' Il Corispero''

Oratorios

* ''Santa Editta, vergine e monaca, regina d'Inghilterra'' (Rome ''c''. 1672–73) * ''Ester liberatrice del popolo ebreo'' (Rome c 1673) * ''San Giovanni Battista'' (Rome, 1675) * ''Susanna'' (Modena, 1681) * ''San Giovanni Chrisostomo'' * ''Santa Pelagia''

Serenatas

* ''La Circe'' (1668) * ''La Circe'' (second version) * ''Il Duello'' ("Vola, vola, in alti petti") (1674) * ''Lo schiavo liberato'' (1674) * ''La forza delle stelle'' or ''Il Damone'' ("Or che il mondo ristaura") (1677) * ''Il Barcheggio'' (1681)

Legacy

His colourful life and his bloody death ordered by the powerful Lomellini family provided the basis for biographical operas such as ''Il cantore di Venezia'' by Virginio Marchi (1835), '' Stradella'' by Louis Niedermeyer (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 1837), '' Stradella'' by

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

(1841, unfinished), '' Alessandro Stradella'' by Friedrich von Flotow (

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, 1844), ''Alessandro Stradella'' by Adolf Schimon (1846), ''Stradella il trovatore'' by Vincenzo Moscuzza (1850), ''Alessandro Stradella'' by Giuseppe Sinico (1864) and ''Ti vedo, ti sento, mi perdo'' by Salvatore Sciarrino (

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was a church). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's ''Europa r ...

, 2017). American novelist F. Marion Crawford also produced a highly romanticized novel of Stradella's affair and flight from Venice, titled ''Stradella'' ( Macmillan 1909).

Recordings

*Stradella: ''Il barcheggio'' – Valentina Valente; Marco Lazzara; Giovanni Dagnino; Alessandro Stradella Consort; Estevan Velardi (conductor) Label: Bongiovanni GB 2102 *Stradella: ''Moro per amore'' – Marco Beasley; Marco Lazzara; Roberta Invernizzi; Riccardo Ristori; Silvia Piccollo; Alessandro Stradella Consort; Estevan Velardi (conductor). Label: Bongiovanni GB 2153 *Stradella: ''Esule dalle sfere'' – Roberta Invernizzi; Marco Lazzara; Riccardo Ristori; Mario Nuvoli; Alessandro Stradella Consort; Estevan Velardi (conductor). Label: Bongiovanni GB 2165 *Cantatas Amanti, olà, olà!; Chi resiste al Dio bendato Estevan Velardi, Alessandro Stradella Consort *Stradella: Motets

Sandrine Piau Sandrine Piau (born 5 June 1965) is a French soprano. She is particularly renowned in Baroque music although also excels in Romantic and modernist art songs. She has the versatility to perform works from Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart to Schumann, Deb ...

, Gérard Lesne, Il Seminario musicale *Cantatas: Brandes,

Paul O'Dette Paul Raymond O'Dette (born February 2, 1954) is an American lutenist, conductor, and musicologist specializing in early music. Biography O'Dette, who was born in Pittsburgh, began playing the electric guitar in a rock band in Columbus, Ohio, ...

, Springfels, Weiss. Harmonia Mundi *Cantata per il Santissimo Natale (Christmas Eve Cantata): ''Si apra al riso'' La Magnifica Comunità. Enrico Casazza. Brilliant *San Giovanni Battista (1) Erato, (2) Academia Montis Regalis, Alessandro de Marchi. Hyperion 2008 *Stradella: ''La Susanna'' (oratorio) - Martin Oro, Gemma Bertagnolli, Sergio Foresti, Mirko Guadagnini & Isabel Alvarez. Harmonices Mundi, Claudio Astronio. Brilliant 2011 *Stradella: ''Duets'' - Susanne Rydén, Emma Kirkby, Sergio Foresti, Christine Marsoner & Alessio Tosi. Harmonices Mundi, Claudio Astronio. Brilliant 2013 *Stradella: ''La forza delle stelle'' (serenata) - Nora Tabbush, Claudia Di Carlo, Raffele Pé, Maurizio Dalena & Mauro Borgioni, Ensemble Mare Nostrum, Andrea De Carlo. Arcana 2013 *Stradella: ''San Giovanni Crisostomo'' (oratorio) - Arianna Vendittelli, Matteo Bellotto, Filippo Mineccia, Luca Cervoni & Nora Tabbush Ensemble Mare Nostrum, Andrea De Carlo. Arcana 2014 *Stradella: ''Santa Editta'' (oratorio) - Veronica Cangemi, Francesca Aspromonte, Claudia Di Carlo, Gabriella Martellacci, Fernando Guimarães & Sergio Foresti. Ensemble Mare Nostrum, Andrea De Carlo. Arcana 2015 *Stradella: ''Santa Pelagia'' (oratorio) - Roberta Mameli, Raffaele Pe, Luca Cervoni & Sergio Foresti. Ensemble Mare Nostrum, Andrea De Carlo. Arcana 2016 *Stradella: ''La Doriclea'' (opera) - Emőke Baráth, Giuseppina Bridelli, Xavier Sabata, Luca Cervoni, Gabriella Martellacci & Riccardo Novaro. Il Pomo d'Oro, Andrea De Carlo. Arcana 2017 *Stradella: ''Il Trespolo Tutore'' (opera) - Roberta Mameli, Riccardo Novaro, Silvia Frigato, Rafał Tomkiewicz, Luca Cervoni & Paola Valentina Molinari. Ensemble Mare Nostrum, Andrea De Carlo. Arcana 2019

References

Sources

* Garavaglia, Andrea (2019)
"Stradella, Alessandro
''

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' () is a biographical dictionary published in 100 volumes by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1960 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biographies of distinguished Italia ...

'', vol. 94 (2019). * Gianturco, Carolyn (1994). ''Alessandro Stradella 1639–1682: His Life and Music''. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Copy
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. * Mingozzi, Davide (2018). "Alessandro Stradella 'Bononiensis Dominus'", ''Il Saggiatore musicale'', vol 25, no. 2 (2018), pp. 299–308. . * Vitali, Carlo (2018)
"Stradella, bolognese per caso. Nuovi documenti biografici scoperti"
Le Salon musicale website. Retrieved 10 September 2018.

External links

Free PDFs of Stradella works in Biblioteca Estense
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stradella, Alessandro 1643 births 1682 deaths 17th-century Italian composers Italian classical composers of church music Italian Baroque composers Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers Composers from Rome Italian murder victims Unsolved murders in Italy 17th-century Italian male musicians