Francesco Bartolomeo Conti
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Francesco Bartolomeo Conti (20 January 1681 or 168219 July 1732) was an Italian composer and player of the
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
and
theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck that houses the second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box with a flat top, typically with one or three sound holes decorated with rose ...
. He also wrote the oldest mandolin
method Method (, methodos, from μετά/meta "in pursuit or quest of" + ὁδός/hodos "a method, system; a way or manner" of doing, saying, etc.), literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In re ...
book that has survived.Mandoline Orkest, ''Geschiedenis van de Mandoline'' (''History of the Mandolin'')
/ref> Little is known about the biography of Conti. He was born in
Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...
. By 1700 he was already known as a theorbist not only in his native Florence, but also in other cities such as Ferrara and Milan. The fame he enjoyed by 1701 enabled him to obtain appointment as an auxiliary theorbist at the
Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
court in Vienna with the same salary as the main theorbist, Orazio Clementi. At the 1706 carnival he made his debut as an opera composer with ''Cleotide'', and in 1713 was appointed as a court composer. In 1708, with the death of Clementi, Conti was promoted senior theorbist, a position he held until 1726. In the same year he was elected a member of the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna and in 1711 he was appointed ''vice-Kapellmeister'' (''vice-maestro di cappella'') in Vienna. In April of that year, after the death of his first wife, Theresia Kugler, Conti remarried to the prima donna
Maria Landini Maria Landini ( 1668 – 22 June 1722) was an Italian soprano who began her career as a singer at the court of Queen Christina in Rome but was primarily active at the imperial court in Vienna from 1711 until her death. She created numerous sopran ...
, at that time the highest-paid singer in Vienna. She sang the main soprano roles in Conti's operas from 1714 and 1721, but died in 1722. After her death Anna Maria Lorenzani was appointed prima donna and performed in three more of Conti's operas. She became his third wife in April 1725. On 28 August 1723, Conti, as theorbist, took part in the first performance of the festival opera ''Costanza e Fortezza'' by
Johann Joseph Fux Johann Joseph Fux (; – 13 February 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. His most enduring work is not a musical composition but his treatise on counterpoint, '' Gradus ad Parnassum'', which ha ...
. In 1726 and again during 1729 to 1732 Conti visited Italy because of health problems. He returned to Vienna in 1732, where he staged two new operas but in July of the same year he died. He was succeeded by his son Ignazio Conti (
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 ...
1699-1759). Although ''Il mio bel foco (Quella fiamma)'' has long been attributed to Venetian composer and statesman
Benedetto Marcello Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (; 31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739) was an Italian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher. Life Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of the noble Marcello family and in his composit ...
(1686-1739), some now identify Conti as the likely composer of this lovely song. Conti was also a supreme player of the mandolin, and wrote the earliest sonatas for the instrument. His works composed between 1714 and 1725 were primarily written for the carnival season or to celebrate birthdays and name days of the members of the Imperial family.
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 ...
reused some of Conti's music for Cleotide in his ''
pasticcio In music, a ''pasticcio'' or ''pastiche'' is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, ...
'' ''Ormisda'' (1730) performed at the Queen's Theatre. His music was also appreciated by
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
, and Conti's cantata ''Languet anima mea'', survives in a manuscript version from 1716 as arranged by Bach (
BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...
deest 1006). In 1739, Mattheson in his '' Der vollkommene Capellmeister'', Part I, Chapter six, Nr.48 writes about him: ''Excerpt from a Letter from Regensburg of October 19, 1730. "On September 10 in Vienna the Imperial Composilore di Musica, Francesco Conti, was expelled from St. Stephan's Cathedral by virtue of an excommunication pronounced on him by the local Consistorio. His Imperial Majesty had reduced the imposed standing from thrice to once out of innate kindness; but since then the man behaved very badly the first time, in the view of many hundreds of persons, as he did the second time on September 17 when placed before the doors of said church for an hour in a long hairy coat, called a coat of penance, between twelve guards who formed a circle around him while he held a burning black candle in his hand; the same thing is also to occur on the 24th. His food is bread and water as long as he remains under the ecclesiastical authority; after transfer to the secular he is to pay the priest who was beaten by him 1,000 guilders in compensation as well as expenses, then remain in jail for four years and subsequently be banned from Austria forever: since as he stood in front of the church doors the first time he used a very uncivil and vexatious effrontery (i.e., he used his art of gesticulation in a most wicked manner). The said court-Compositeur has been sentenced to such punishment because he laid violent hands on a priest and beat him up severely.'' ''The following epigram has been made about him:'' ''"It is not good Muse, nor Music, which you have composed Conti, for that was a heavy touch: And the bass is too heavy, and the key is not harmonious: Hence as a result you bear black marks forever."''


Works

16 operas, including: * ''Cleotide'' (1706) * '' Don Chisciotte in Sierra Morena'' (1719) * ''Teseo in Creta''. His other stage works are: ''Il trionfo dell'amicizia e dell'amore''(1711), ''Circe fatta saggia''(1713), ''Alba Cornelia''(1714), ''I Sattiri in Arcadia''(1714), ''Ciro''(1715), ''Il finto Policare''(1716), ''Sesostri,re di Egitto''(1717), ''Vespetto e Milo''(intermezzo 1717), ''Amore in Tessaglia''(1718), ''Astarto''(1718), ''Galatea venedicata''(1719 revised in 1724), ''Cloris und Thyrsis''(1719), ''Alessandro in Sidone''(1721), ''La via del saggio''(1721), ''Archelao, Re di Cappadocia''(1722), ''Pallade Triofante''(1722) ''Creso''(1723), ''Il trionfo della fama''(1723),'' Penelope''(1724) ''Meleagro''(1724), ''Griselda''(1725), ''Il contrasto della Belezza e el Tempo''(1726), ''Issicratea''(1726), ''L'ammalato immaginario''(intermezzo 1727) and ''Issipile''(1732) 9 oratorios, including: * ''Il David perseguitato da Saul'' (1723) libretto by A. di Avanzo. * ''David'' (1724) azione sacra per musica. 50 cantatas


Selected recordings

* Oratorio: ''David''. Marijana Mijanovic,
Simone Kermes Simone Kermes (born 17 May 1965, in Leipzig) is a German coloratura soprano, especially known for her virtuoso voice, suited to the opera seria genre of the Baroque and early Classical period. Career Kermes has performed at many important th ...
, Birgit Christensen,
Sonia Prina Sonia Prina (born 30 November 1975) is an Italian operatic contralto who has had an active career in concerts and operas since the mid-1990s. She is particularly known for her appearances in Baroque operas and for her performances of the Baroque c ...
, Furio Zanasi, Vito Priante, Il Complesso Barocco, dir. Alan Curtis. Virgin Classics, 2006 Review by Johann van Veen
/ref> * Cantatas: ''Sventurata Didone. Fra cetre e fra trombe.'' Overtures. Ulrike Hofbauer, Neue Hofkapelle München, dir. Hammer
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...
, 2005 * Cantatas: ''Lontananza dell'amato. Ride il prato. Con più lucidi candori. Vaghi augelletti''.
Bernarda Fink Bernarda Fink (born 29 August 1955) is an Argentine-Slovenian mezzo-soprano. Born in Buenos Aires to Slovene parents who emigrated from Yugoslavia, Fink studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. She won First Pri ...
, Ars Antiqua Austria, dir. Letzbor. Arcana. * Cantatas: ''Lontananza dell'amato. Ride il prato. Con più lucidi candori. Vaghi augelletti''. Rossana Bertini. Tactus.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Francesco Bartolomeo Italian Baroque composers Italian mandolinists 1680s births 1732 deaths Theorbists Composers from Florence Italian male classical composers 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians