Francesco Domenico Araja (or Araia, Russian: Арайя) (June 25, 1709 in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

– between 1762 and 1770 in

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 ...

, States of the Church) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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 ...

who spent 25 years in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and wrote at least 14 operas for the Russian Imperial

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

including '' Tsefal i Prokris'', the first

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 ...

in Russian.

Biography

He was born and received his musical education in Naples and began to compose operas at the age of 20. His early operas were produced in the theatres of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

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, ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, and

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 ...

. In 1735 he was invited to St. Petersburg together with a big Italian opera troupe, and became the ''maestro di cappella'' (''Kapellmeister'') to Empress Anne Ioanovna and later Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. In the winter operas were usually given in a wing of the Zimniy Dvorets (the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

), and in the summer time in the Theatre of Letniy Sad in the Summer Garden. His ''La forza dell'amore e dell'odio'' was the first Italian opera performed in Russia. It was staged in 1736 as ''Сила любви и ненависти'' (Sila lyubvi i nenavisti - The Power of Love and Hatred) with a supplement to the Russian translation by

Vasily Trediakovsky Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky (; – ) was a Russian poet, essayist and playwright who helped lay the foundations of classical Russian literature. Biography The son of a poor priest, Trediakovsky became the first Russian commoner to rec ...

printed as a booklet. This was the first opera libretto printed in Russian. This was followed by ''Semiramide'' (''Il finto Nino, overo La Semiramide riconosciuta'') in 1737, ''Artaserse'' in 1738, ''Seleuco'' with Russian translation by Sumarokov, premiered in Moscow 1744, ''Scipione'' with Russian translation by Adam Olsufiev, in St. Petersburg 1745, ''Mitridate'' in 1747, and others. The majority of the operas he wrote in Russia were to Italian libretti. However, in 1755 Araja composed ''Цефал и Прокрис'' ('' Tsefal i Prokris'' – ''

Cephalus Cephalus or Kephalos (; ) is the son of Hermes, husband of Eos and a hero-figure in Greek mythology. Cephalus carried as a theophoric name by historical persons. The root of this name is , meaning "head". Mythological * Cephalus, son of Hermes ...

and Prokris''), an opera in three acts to the Russian libretto by Alexander Sumarokov after the ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

'' by

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

. It was staged at St. Petersburg on March 7, OS February 27, 1755 with effective sets by Giuseppe Valeriani. This was the first opera with Russian singers. This opera was a great success, and Araja received 100 half-imperialsHalf-imperial was a coin equal to 5 rubles in gold. and a luxurious sable coat valued at 500 rubles as a gift from Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. The opera was re-staged at the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

in St. Petersburg on June 14, 2001. His next two operas were premiered in different Russian towns: ''Amor prigioniero'' in Oranienbaum in 1755, and ''Iphigenia in Tauride'' in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1758. In 1759 Araia returned to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, but was recalled for the coronation of

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Peter III in 1762. He left soon after in the wake of Peter's overthrow by

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

. His last compositions were the oratorio ''La Nativita di Gesu'' and the opera ''La Cimotea''. He died in

sometime between 1762 and 1770.

Works

Operas

*''Lo matremmonejo pe' mennetta'',

opera buffa Opera buffa (, "comic opera"; : ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesc ...

, text by Tommaso Mariani (Autumn 1729, Teatro de' Fiorentini,

) *''Berenice'',

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abou ...

, text by Antonio Salvi (1730, Teatro Pratolino,

) *''Ciro riconosciuto'', opera seria, text by Antonio Salvi (Carnival 1731, Teatro Dame,

) *''Il Cleomene'', opera seria, text by Vicenzo Cassani (Spring 1731, Teatro Dame,

) *''L'amor regnante'', text by Pietro Metastasio (1731,

) *''Semiramide riconosciuta'', opera seria, text by Pietro Metastasio (1731,

) *''La forza dell'amore e dell'odio'', opera seria, text by Francesco Prata (January 1734, Teatro Ducale,

; 1736, as ''Сила любви и ненависти'' (Sila lyubvi i nenavisti - The Power of Love and Hatred) St. Petersburg) *''Lucio Vero'', opera seria, text by

Apostolo Zeno Apostolo Zeno (11 December 1668 – 11 November 1750) was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Early life Apostolo Zeno was born in Venice to a Kingdom of Candia#Establishment_of_Venetian_rule, colonial branch of the ...

, (Carnival 1735, Teatro San Angelo,

) *''Il finto Nino, overo La Semiramide riconosciuta'', opera seria, text by Francesco Silvani (February 9, 1737 S January 28 St. Petersburg) *''Artaserse'', opera seria, (February 9, 1738 S January 28 St. Petersburg) *''Seleuco'', opera seria, text by Giuseppe Bonecchi (May 7, 1744 S April 26

) *''Scipione'', opera seria, text by Giuseppe Bonecchi (September 4 or 5, 1745 S August 23 or 24 St. Petersburg) *''Mitridate'', opera seria, text by Giuseppe Bonecchi (May 7, 1747 S April 26 St. Petersburg) *''L'asilo della pace'', opera seria, text by Giuseppe Bonecchi (May 7, 1748 S April 26 St. Petersburg) *''Bellerofonte'', opera seria, text by Giuseppe Bonecchi (December 9, 1750 S November 28 St. Petersburg) *''Eudossa incoronata, o sia Teodosio II'', text by Giuseppe Bonecchi (May 9, 1751 S April 28 St. Petersburg) *'' Tsefal i Prokris'', opera seria, text by Alexander Sumarokov (March 10, 1755 S February 27 St. Petersburg) *''Amor prigioniero'', dialogo per musica, text by Pietro Metastasio (June 27, 1755 S June 16 Oranienbaum) *'' Alessandro nell'Indie'', text by Pietro Metastasio (December 29, 1755 S December 18 St. Petersburg; 1759, Oranienbaum) *''Iphigenia in Tauride'' opera seria, (1758,

) *''La Cimotea''

Oratorios

*''S. Andrea Corsini'', 1731,

*''La Nativita di Gesu''

Cantatas

*''La gara, dell'amore e dello zelo'', St. Petersburg, 1736 *''L’asilo della pace'' (Libretto Giuseppe Bonecchi), St. Petersburg, 1748 *''La corona d'Allesandro Magno'' ( Giuseppe Bonecchi), St. Petersburg, 1750 *''Amor prigionero'' ( Pietro Metastasio), Oranienbaum, 1755 (see also in the list of the operas) *''Junon secourable lucine'' ( Antonio Denzi), St. Petersburg, 1757 *''Urania vaticitante'' ( Antonio Denzi), St. Petersburg, 1757 Also: ''Sinfonia'' in D Major for strings, Sonatas, etc.

Notes

Bibliography

*''Цефал и Прокрис''. СПб., – Tsefal i Pokris, St. Petersburg, 1755 *''Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона'' - Brokgaus & Efron: ''Encyclopaedic Dictionary'', (1890—1907) *Штелин Я. ''Музыка и балет в России XVIII века'' in the collection Музыкальное наследство. Вып. 1. М., 1935 *Старикова Л. М. ''Новые документы о деятельности итальянской труппы в России в 30-е годы XVIII века <...>'' // ПКНО. 1988. М., 1989 *Сумароков А.П. ''Избранные произведения''. Л., 1957 *Сумароков А. П. ''Полное собрание сочинений'' <...>.Ч. IX. СПб., 1787 * Ritzarev, Marina (2006), ''Eighteenth-Century Russian Music'' (Ashgate)

External links

*
in Russianin Russian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Araja, Francesco 1709 births 18th-century deaths Italian Baroque composers Italian opera composers Italian male opera composers Composers from Naples 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians Italian expatriates in the Russian Empire