Matteo Salvi (24 November 1816 – 18 October 1887 ) was a composer of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

and classical music and a theatre director. Salvi was born in Botta di Sedrina (Provincia di

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes C ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. A student of

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera style dur ...

, he is best known for having completed the score of Donizetti’s unfinished opera '' Le duc d’Albe'' for its first public performance in 1882, some forty years after Donizetti’s death. (The libretto was translated into Italian, and the opera was performed as ''Il duca d’Alba''.) Salvi is usually credited as the composer of the tenor aria “Angelo casto e bel” in ''Il duca d’Alba'', although as he was helped in the reconstruction of Donizetti’s score by several composers, including

Amilcare Ponchielli Amilcare Ponchielli (, ; 31 August 1834 – 16 January 1886) was an Italian opera composer, best known for his opera ''La Gioconda''. He was married to the soprano Teresina Brambilla. Life and work Born in Paderno Fasolaro (now Paderno Ponchie ...

, there has been some dispute as to the degree to which he was the aria’s sole composer.Ashbrook, W., 1998 He died in

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabin ...

, Italy.

Principal compositions

*''La prima donna'' 1843—opera to a libretto by Carlo Guaita *''Lara'' 1843—opera to a libretto by Leopoldo Tarentini and dedicated to Johann Simon Mayr *''I Burgravi'' 1845—opera to a libretto by Giacomo Sacchèro *''Caterina Howard'' 1847—opera to a libretto by Giorgio Giachetti *''Messa: a voci sole con accompagnamento d’organo'' *''Cantata per soli e coro con orchestra: la gloria e la musica apoteosi di Mayr''

Notes and references

*Altmann, W. and Frank, P., 1936, ''Kurzgefasstes Tonkunstler Lexikon: fur Musiker und Freunde der Musik'', Regensburg: Gustave Bosse.
Archivi Teatro Napoli
(accessed 25 April 2007) *Ashbrook, W., “Donizetti Portraits,” ''Opera Quarterly'', 1998; 14: 205-208. *Buldrini, Y., 2005, ''Dossier: Il Duca d’Alba''

(accessed 25 April 2007) *Donati-Petteni, G., 1930, ''L’arte della musica in Bergamo'', Bergamo: Instituto Italiano d’Arti Graphiche di Bergamo. *Forcella, P., 1987. ''Matteo Salvi : musicista bergamasco sul palcoscenico d’Europa'', Bergamo: Edizioni Villadiseriane.
OPAC, Provincia di Bergamo
(accessed 25 April 2007) *Stieger, F., 1977, ''Opernlexikon, Teil II: Komponisten'', Tutzing: Hans Schneider. {{DEFAULTSORT:Salvi, Matteo 1816 births 1887 deaths Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Italian composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers Musicians from the Province of Bergamo 19th-century Italian male musicians