Fortunato Chelleri (originally: Keller, also: Kelleri, Kellery, Cheler) (May or June 1690 in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

– 11 December 1757 in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2 ...

) was a Baroque

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (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 ha ...

and composer.

Biography

Chelleri's father had emigrated from Germany to Italy; his mother was from the Italian family of musicians Bazzani (or Bassani, see also Giovanni Battista Bassani). After the early death of his parents, he grew up with his uncle Francesco Maria Bazzani in

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

, who trained him as a musician. Chelleri started to compose operas for different opera companies in

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative Regions ...

in 1708. He served in noble families in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, among others, including a post as ''maestro di capella'' of

Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (11 August 1667 – 18 February 1743) was an Italian noblewoman who was the last lineal descendant of the main branch of the House of Medici. A patron of the arts, she bequeathed the Medicis' large art collection, in ...

. In 1722 Fürstbischof

Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn (1673–1724) was the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1719 to 1724. His principal claim to fame is his commissioning of the Würzburg Residence, a major work of Baroque architecture. Life Johann Philipp Franz ...

engaged him as ''Hofkapellmeister'' in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the '' Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzbur ...

, together with

Giovanni Benedetto Platti Giovanni Benedetto Platti (born possibly 9 July 1697 (according to other sources 1690, 1692, 1700) in Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, we ...

. After the death of the Fürstbischof in 1724, Chelleri was in

Hofkapellmeister of the Landgraf Karl von Hessen-Kassel. Between 1732 and 1734, he followed Karl's son and successor

Frederick of Sweden Frederick I ( sv, Fredrik I; 28 April 1676 – 5 April 1751) was prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and King of Sweden from 1720 until his death and (as ''Frederick I'') also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730. He ascended the throne f ...

to the royal court of Stockholm. He returned to Germany with the title and fund of ''Hofrat'' (Court Councillor) and directed the private orchestra of Friedrich's brother Wilhelm VIII, von Hessen-Kassel until his death.

Works

During his activity in Italy he composed mostly operas, such as ''L'Innocenza giustificata'', premiered in Venice in 1711, ''La caccia in Etolia'', premiered in

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

in 1715, on a libretto of Belisario Valeriano which was used by George Frideric Handel for ''Atalanta'', and ''Amalasunta''. During his time in Germany and Sweden Chelleri composed instrumental and church music, including oratorios in Italian. Compositions for keyboard instruments, such as six ''Sonate di galanteria'' (Kassel), and six ''Sinfonie'' for strings were published. His oratorio in two parts ''Beatæ Mariæ Virginis'' (Würzburg, 1723) was reprinted by Garri Editions, Mühlheim, in 2003.

Selected Recordings

* ''Don Quixote'' (L’attage du moulin, La Doulcinée, La galop de Rosinante, Sanco Panche, Le couche de Don Quixote), organist Kalevi Kiviniemi on the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ in 2003. * ''Six Simphonies Nouvelles'' Orchestra Atalanta Fugiens, dir. Vanni Moretto. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 2009

Literature

*Arrey von Dommer: ''Chellery, Fortunato''. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 4. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 114 (in German). *A.Della Cortenel e G.M.Gatti: ''Dizionario di musica'', ed. Paravia & C., Torino, 1956, p. 130 (in Italian)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chelleri, Fortunato 1690 births 1757 deaths German male classical composers Italian conductors (music) Italian male conductors (music) German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) Italian Baroque composers German opera composers Male opera composers 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century German composers 18th-century Italian male musicians