Vincenzo Righini by Friedrich Wilhelm Bollinger

Vincenzo Maria Righini (22 January 1756 – 19 August 1812) was an Italian composer, singer and

kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

Life and career

Righini was born 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 ...

and studied singing and composition with Padre Martini in his home town. Initially he performed as a singer in

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 ...

(1769) and

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, ...

(1770), however, according to Fétis he made his debut as a

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in 1775. His

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 ...

''La vedova scaltra'', considered his first contribution to musical theatre, was performed in 1774 at the

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

theatre ''"V kotcích"''. From 1774 to 1777 Righini worked in Prague, as a member of the theatre ensemble of Giuseppe Bustelli. He composed and staged operas to the

libretti A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

of N. Porta. At the end of 1777 he moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he was engaged as a music teacher and composer. His comic operas were often performed in the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

.Jakubcová (2007), p. 494 In 1787 he replaced

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period (music), classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subje ...

as the court kapellmeister for a brief period, Salieri stayed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

during that time.Jakubcová (2007), p. 494 In 1787 Righini also moved to

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, where he became a court kapellmeister of the Electoral orchestra for the elector

Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal Friedrich Karl Joseph Reichsfreiherr von Erthal (3 January 1719 – 25 July 1802) was prince-elector and Archbishopric of Mainz, archbishop of Mainz from 18 July 1774 to 4 July 1802, shortly before the end of the archbishopric in the ''Reichsdepu ...

. In March, 1793, he was appointed the ''Royal Prussian court kapellmeister'' and he led the operation of theatres in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

.Lorraine Byrne Bodley ''Goethe and Zelter: musical dialogues'' 2009 Page 158 "Vincenzo Righini was court Kapellmeister in Berlin from 1793 and Director of Italian Opera until 1806; he was active as a Kapellmeister and composer until his death." He also composed grand operas for local theatres, often to the libretti of Antonio De' Filistri. He died in Bologna. Beethoven wrote Vierundzwanzig Variationen über die Ariette „Venni Amore“ von Vincenzo Righini in D-Dur WoO 65.

Works

Righini is the creator of the second opera on the theme of

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

, composed for the Prague stage.Jakubcová (2007), p. 494 He is considered a skillful, but not very original composer, who often took advantage of the innovations of other composers.Jakubcová (2007), p. 494 His ''Don Giovanni'' was performed in 1997 at the ''Dejvické divadlo'' in Prague, and in 2003 at the ''Městské divadlo'' in Brno. Selected operas *''La vedova scaltra'' (1774) *''La bottegha del caffe osia Il maldicènte'' (1776) *''Il convitato di pietra osia Il dissoluto'' (1777) *''La merope'' *''Armida'' (1782) *''L'incontro inaspettato'' (1785) *''Il Demogorgone ovvero Il filosofo confuso'' (1786) *''Enea del Lazio'' (1793) *''Il trionfo d'Arianna'' (1793) *''Tigrane'' (1795) *''La selva incantata'' (1803)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Righini, Vincenzo 1756 births 1812 deaths 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male opera singers 19th-century Italian male opera singers Italian opera composers Italian operatic tenors Italian male opera composers Singers from Bologna Musicians from the Papal States