Giuseppe Lillo (26 February 1814 - 4 February 1863) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his operas which followed in the same vein of

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

. He also produced works for solo piano, a small amount of sacred music, and some

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

. Francesco Bussi. "Lillo, Giuseppe", ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', 2001.

Life and career

Born in

Galatina Galatina (; ; ), known before the unification of Italy as San Pietro in Galatina, is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Lecce in Apulia, southern Italy. It is situated about south of the city of Lecce. Main sights *The late Romanesq ...

in the

Province of Lecce The province of Lecce (; Salentino: ) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecce. The province is called the "Heel of Italy". Located on the Salento peninsula, it is the second most-populous province in Ap ...

, Lillo was the son of conductor Giosuè Lillo. He received his earliest musical training from his father before entering 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 ...

where he studied harmony and counterpoint with

Giovanni Furno Giovanni Furno (Capua, January 1, 1748 – Naples , June 20, 1837) was an Italian composer and famous music teacher. Among his students were Vincenzo Bellini and Saverio Mercadante Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 1795 ...

, piano with Francesco Lanza, and composition with Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. His first composition, a

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

for four voices and orchestra, premiered to a warm reception in 1834. As a composer Lillo primarily composed music for the stage. His first opera, ''La moglie per 24 ore, ossia L’ammalato di buona salute'', premiered successfully at the Real Collegio di Musica during

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

of 1834. He quickly gained a great deal of popularity with the Naples public with

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 ...

s like ''Il gioiello'' (1835), ''Odda di Bernaver'' (1837), and ''Il conte di Chalais'' (1839). The pinnacle of his success came with his only opera comica, ''L’osteria di Andujar'', which premiered in Fondo on 30 September 1840. After 1840, Lillo composed several more operas up through 1853, most of which were received with poor or mediocre responses. He was never able to re-obtain the popularity that he had enjoyed earlier in his career. Around 1840 Lillo was appointed joint music director of the

Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is a historic opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and ...

with Giacomo Cordella. He also began teaching piano in the early 1840s. He joined the faculty of the

sometime around 1850, eventually being appointed professor of harmony in 1859; a position he held until his death in Naples four year later.

List of operas

*''La moglie per 24 ore, ossia L’ammalato di buona salute'', opera buffa in 2 acts, libretto by A. Passaro, Naples, Real Collegio di Musica, carnival 1834 *''Il gioiello'', opera semiseria in 2 acts, libretto by Leopoldo Tarantini, Naples, Teatro Nuovo, autumn 1835 *''Odda di Bernaver'', opera seria in 2 acts, libretto by Giovanni Emanuele Bidera, Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 28 February 1837 *''Rosmunda in Ravenna'', tragedia lirica in 2 acts, libretto by Luisa Amalia Paladini, Venice, Teatro La Fenice, 26 December 1837 *''Alisa di Rieux'', opera semiseria in 3 acts, libretto by

Gaetano Rossi Gaetano Rossi (; 18 May 1774 – 25 January 1855) was an Italian opera librettist for several of the well-known ''bel canto''-era composers including Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Saverio Mercadante in Italy and Giacomo Meyerbeer in on ...

, Rome, Teatro Argentina, spring 1838 *''La modista'', opera semiseria in 2 acts, Florence, Teatro La Pergola, 9 May 1839 *''Il conte di Chalais'', opera seria in 2 acts, libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, Naples, Teatro San Carlo, October 1839 *''Le disgrazie di un bel giovane, ossia Il zio e il nipote'', opera giocosa in 2 acts, libretto by Leopoldo Tarantini, Florence, Teatro La Pergola, spring 1840 *''Le nozze campestri'', dramma per musica in 1 atto, libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 30 May 1840 *''L’osteria di Andujar'', opera comica in 3 acts, libretto by Leopoldo Tarantini, Naples, Teatro del Fondo, 30 September 1840 *''Cristina di Svezia'', tragedia lirica in 3 acts, libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 21 January 1841 *''Lara'', tragedia lirica in 2 acts, libretto by Leopoldo Tarantini, Naples, Teatro San Carlo, carnival 1842 *''Il cavaliere di San Giorgio, ossia Il mulatto'', opera semiseria in 2 acts, libretto by Jacopo Ferretti, Turin, Teatro Carignano, autumn 1846 *'' Caterina Howard'', opera tragica in 4 acts, libretto by G. Giachetti, Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 26 September 1849 *''La Delfina'', opera semiseria in 2 acts, libretto by M. d’Arienzo, Naples, Teatro Nuovo, March 1850 *''La gioventù di

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, ossia Il sogno d’una notte estiva'', commedia lirica in 3 acts, libretto by G.S. Giannini, Naples, Teatro Nuovo, 29 December 1851 *''Ser Babbeo'', opera semiseria in 3 acts, libretto by L.E. Bardare, Naples, Teatro Nuovo, 8 May 1853 *''Il figlio della schiava'', dramma lirico in 3 acts, libretto by G.S. Giannini, Naples, Teatro del Fondo, 9 July 1853

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lillo, Giuseppe 1814 births 1863 deaths 19th-century Italian classical composers 19th-century Italian male musicians Italian male classical composers Italian opera composers Italian Romantic composers Italian male opera composers