Felice Alessandri (24 November 1747 – 15 August 1798) was an Italian keyboardist and composer who was internationally active; working in Berlin, London, Paris, Saint Petersburg, and Turin.Pratt, Waldo Selden. ''The History of Music''. New York: G. Schirmer, 1907. 359. He is best known for his stage works, and he produced a total of 32

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 between 1764 and 1794. His other compositions include 6

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, 6

trio sonata The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. It originated in the early 17th century and was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era. Basic structure T ...

s for 2 violins with

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

, a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, and an

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

Life and career

Born in Rome, Alessandri was trained at the

Naples Conservatory This is a list of music conservatories in Naples, Italy. Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella The Naples Conservatory of Music is a music school located in Naples, Italy. It is situated in the complex of San Pietro a Majella. It was originally ...

. After completing his studies he became

maestro di cappella ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

at the

Turin Cathedral Turin Cathedral or Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (, ) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in 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 ...

. He then moved to Paris, where he lived for 4 years. After a brief return to Italy, he came to London in 1768 where he was active as a concert pianist and two of his comic operas were staged: ''La moglie fedele'' and ''Re alla caccia''. He then spent time in various cities in Italy and in Saint Petersburg. He came to Berlin in 1789 where he served as choirmaster of the Berlin Hofoper from 1790 to 1792. Two of his operas were premiered in Berlin: ''Il ritorno di Ulysse a Penelope'' (1790) and ''Dario'' (1791). In 1792 his comic opera ''L'Ouverture du grand opera italien a Nankin'' was mounted in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. Not much is known about his activities over the next six years. He died in 1798 in

Casalino Casalino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southwest of Novara. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,469 and an area of .All demogr ...

at the age of 50.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alessandri, Felice 1747 births 1798 deaths Musicians from the Papal States Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers Italian Classical-period composers Composers from Rome 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians