Francesco Manelli (Mannelli) ( 1595 – 1667) was a Roman

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 ...

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 ...

, particularly of

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 ...

, and a

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 ...

player. He is most well known for his collaboration with fellow Roman composer

Benedetto Ferrari Benedetto Ferrari ( – 22 October 1681) was an Italian composer, particularly of opera, librettist, and theorbo player. Biography Benedetto Ferrari was born in Reggio Emilia, Reggio nell'Emilia. He worked in Rome (1617–1618), Parma (1619–1 ...

in bringing commercial opera 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 ...

. The first two works, in 1637 and 1638, to be put on commercially in the

Teatro San Cassiano The Teatro San Cassiano (or Teatro di San Cassiano and other variants) was the world's first public opera house, inaugurated as such in 1637 in Venice. The first mention of its construction dates back to 1581. The name with which it is best known co ...

were both by Manelli – his ''L'Andromeda'' and ''La Maga Fulminata''. Francesco Manelli was for many years confused with the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friar Giovanni Battista Fasolo, because of the resemblances between Manelli's cantata ''Luciata'' (published in ''Musiche varie,'' op. 4 Venice, 1636), and Fasolo's dialogue ''Il carro di Madama Lucia'' (Rome, 1628), and the shared text of the first piece in both collections. In a comparison of the two cantatas Fasolo's version is "languid and melancholy", while Manelli's version is "spirited and biting". A mid-14th-century Florentine scholar of the same name, also called ''dei Pontigiano'', was a close friend of

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so ...

.Dizionario biografico universale
Volume 3, by Felice Scifoni, David Passigli, publisher, Florence (1844); page 890.

Works

Operas, music for all of which is lost. *''L'Andromeda'' (libretto:

) (1637) *''La maga fulminata'' (Ferrari) (1638) *''Delia ossia La sera sposa del sole'' (

Giulio Strozzi Giulio Strozzi (1583 - 31 March 1652) was a Venetian poet and libretto writer. His libretti were put to music by composers like Claudio Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli, Francesco Manelli, and Francesco Sacrati. He sometimes used the pseudonym Luig ...

) (1639) *''Il pastor regio'' (Ferrari) 1640 *''L'Adone'' ( Paolo Vendramin) (1640) *''L'Alcate'' ( Marc' Antonio Tirabosco) (1642) *''Ercole nell'Erimanto'' (

Bernardo Morando Bernardo Morando (also known as Bernardino or Morandi; 1540 - 1600) was an Italian architect from the Republic of Venice. He is notable as the designer of the ''new town'' of Zamość, modelled on Renaissance theories of the 'ideal city'. Born ...

) (1651) *''Le vicende del tempo'' (Morando) (1652) *''Il ratto d'Europa'' (

Paolo Emilio Fantuzzi Paolo is a masculine given name, the Italian form of the name Paul. It may refer to: People Art * Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American sculptor * Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter * Paolo Antonio Barbieri (1603–1649), Ital ...

/ Elvezio Sandri) (1653) *''La Filo, overo Giunone repacificata con Ercole'' (

Francesco Berni Francesco Berni Francesco Berni (1497/98 – 26 May 1535) was an Italian poet. He is credited for beginning what is now known as " Bernesque poetry", a serio-comedic type of poetry with elements of satire. Biography Life Berni was born 1497 o ...

) (1660) *''La Licasta'' (Ferrari) (1664) Cantatas *''Musiche varie'' Op. 4 (1636)

Recordings

*Duet - ''Ti lascio empia, inconstante''. ''Musiche varie,'' Op. 4,

Suzie LeBlanc Suzie LeBlanc (born 27 October 1961) is a Canadian soprano and early music specialist. She taught at McGill University from 2016 to 2020 and became the Artistic and Executive Director of Early Music Vancouver in 2021. She was named a member of t ...

(Soprano),

Derek Lee Ragin Derek Lee Ragin (born June 17, 1958) is an American countertenor. Derek Lee Ragin > Biographyallmusic Early life Derek Ragin was born in West Point, New York and grew up in Newark, New Jersey. He began his formal voice training with the Newar ...

(Countertenor), Love and Death in Venice, Teatro Lirico, dir.

Stephen Stubbs Stephen Stubbs (born 1951) is a lutenist and music director and has been a leading figure in the American early music scene for nearly thirty years. Born in Seattle, he studied harpsichord and composition at the University of Washington where, at ...

, Virgin Classics, 1996

References

1590s births 1667 deaths People from Tivoli, Lazio Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers 17th-century Italian composers 17th-century Italian male musicians Musicians from the Papal States {{Italy-composer-stub

Works

Recordings

See also

References