Davide Perez

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Davide Perez. Copper engraving by J. Vitalba after a drawing by Francesco Bartolozzi, 1774–1780?

Davide Perez (1711 – 30 October 1778) was an Italian opera composer born in Naples of Italian parents, and later resident court composer at Lisbon from 1752.

Metastasio at Lisbon with huge success in 1753, 1754, and 1755.[2] Following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, Perez turned from opera mostly to church music.[3]

Early years

Perez was born in Naples, the son of Giovanni Perez and Rosalina Serrari, both Neapolitans.[4] At the age of 11 he became a student at the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto in Naples, where he remained until 1733, studying counterpoint with Francesco Mancini, singing and keyboard playing with Giovanni Veneziano, and violin with Francesco Barbella.

On completion of his studies, Perez immediately entered the service of the Sicilian Prince d’Aragona, Naselli. From 1734 date his first known pieces, the Latin cantatas Ilium Palladio astu Subducto Expugnatum and Palladium performed in Palermo's Collegio della Società di Gesù, for the laurelling festivities. In the following years, he was active both in Palermo and Naples, as his patron became Chamberlain of the newly crowned king, Carlo I. His first opera, La nemica amante, was composed for the king's birthday on 4 November 1735 and presented in the gardens of the Neapolitan royal palace and later in the Teatro S Bartolomeo. In the libretto's dedication the impresario of the theatre, Angelo Carasale, referred to Perez and Pergolesi as 'dei buoni virtuosi di questa città'. Unlike Pergolesi's opera, which was then considered a failure, Perez's was a great success, and his early career granted him, in 1738, an appointment as vicemaestro di cappella at Palermo's Cappella Palatina, the Church of St. Peter in the royal palace, to become maestro the next year upon the death of its former titular, Pietro Puzzuolo.

Maturity

In the early 1740s Perez firmly established himself as a mature master. The opera he composed for the Roman Teatro d’Alibert, in the Carnival of 1740, was not presented due to the sudden death of Pope Clement XII, but on Perez's return to Naples he staged an opera buffa, I travestimenti amorosi and a serenata L’amor pittore for the court, and an opera seria, Il Siroe, for the Teatro San Carlo. Caffarelli and Manzuoli sang in the later.

Opera was not an easy enterprise in Palermo and, until 1745, most of Perez's compositions as chapel master there were cantatas or serenatas and church music - including in 1742 a setting of

Cardinal Passionei
granted Jommelli the appointment, even though Perez was the musicians' favourite (Girolamo Chiti, the chapel master of another Papal chapel, St. John in Lateran, commented that Perez 'composes, sings and plays as an angel' and 'is very much superior to Jommelli in groundwork, singing and playing. He is, however, an imaginary hypochondriac').

Career in Portugal

In 1752 King

contos de réis
), coupled with the excellent musical and theatrical resources of the Portuguese court, undoubtedly influenced his decision to remain in Lisbon. The ambition of the recently crowned Portuguese king was to depart from his father's musical policy, almost uniquely concerned with church music, and to give Italian opera a central position in the court. Sumptuous scenic treatment was the rule, and Perez's operas were mounted by such famous designers as Berardi, Dorneau, Bouteux and Galli-Bibiena. Equally important were the great singers who appeared at the Portuguese court, including Raaf, Elisi, Manzuoli, Gizziello and Caffarelli.

The

Order of Christ
; when he died in Lisbon, she ordered an elaborate funeral at the Crown's expense.

Operas

Perez composed more than 44 dramatic works between 1735 and 1777, 22 operas between 1744 and 1755, the period when he almost exclusively concentrated on the genre. Excerpts from Arminio, La Didone abbandonata, Ezio, Farnace, Solimano and Vologeso were published in London by John Walsh, and at least 24 exist in manuscript.

In the opere serie written before 1752 Perez was often bound by the forms of

Metastasian opera. Il Siroe, Andromaca and Alessandro nell’Indie (1744 version) are prime examples: 20 or more full da capo arias (more than half accompanied by strings alone) are consistently used, with between one and four accompanied recitatives, usually a single duet, a perfunctory three-movement sinfonia and a simple choral finale for the principals. The arias are usually written in the Baroque concerto idiom, with extravagant word painting in the orchestra and extensive vocal bravura passages. Adhering to Metastasio's prescription of character definition as the sum of a pattern of dramatic reversals, each aria usually depicts a single affect, with few exceptions: Artaserse and Alessandro each contain a scene complex of related arias and accompanied recitatives.[5]

With Demofoonte in 1752, as Perez began his lengthy residence in Lisbon, the monumental idiom declined and a sentimental style gained increasing prominence, with a resultant clarity of texture, greater symmetry of phrase, frequent rhythmic motives and emphasis on the pathetic. Formal modifications include the frequent absence of ritornellos, truncated da capo arias, between five and nine accompanied recitatives and several small ensembles. Perez's operas of the 1750s frequently display an orchestral mastery superior to that of the contemporary Italian opera school, incorporating features that during the 1740s he could only use in his church music. The strings are in three to five parts, the wind are often used for solo passages, and there is less doubling of the vocal parts and an increase in concertante passages. Among the better examples of this later manner are Olimpiade, Demofoonte, Ipermestra and Alessandro nell’Indie (1755 version).

Demetrio (1766 version) represents a transitional aesthetic, in which Perez combined a modified Baroque dramaturgy with a more up-to-date musical style: he eliminated 14 Metastasio aria texts, used eight accompanied recitatives and two duets for moments of personal reflection, and gave the da capo aria more musical and dramatic coherence.

Gluck
’.

Operas list

  • La nemica amante (librettist unknown), dramma per musica (4 Nov. 1735, Naples, Palazzo reale)
  • I travestimenti amorosi (Antonio Palomba), commedia per musica (10 July 1740, Naples, Palazzo reale)
  • Siroe (Pietro Metastasio) (4 Nov. 1740 Naples, Teatro S. Carlo)
  • Demetrio (Pietro Metastasio), (13 June 1741, Palermo, Teatro S. Cecilia)
  • Alessandro nell'Indie (Pietro Metastasio), (Carnaval 1744, Génova, Teatro Falcone)
  • Merope (Apostolo Zeno) (1744 Gènova, Teatro Falcone)
  • Leucippo (Giovanni Claudio Pasquini), favola pastorale (1744, Palermo, Teatro S. Cecilia)
  • L'errore amoroso (Antonio Palomba), comedia per musica (Carnaval 1745, Palermo, Teatro S. Lucia)
  • L'amor fra congionti, commedia (Carnaval 1746, Palermo, Teatro S. Lucia)
  • Artaserse (Pietro Metastasio) (Autumn 1747, Florence, Teatro della Pergola)
  • Semiramide riconosciuta' (Pietro Metastasio) (3 Feb. 1749, Roma, Teatro Alberto)
  • Teatro San Carlo
    )
  • Andromeda (1750, Vienna, Hoftheater)
  • Vologeso (Apostolo Zeno) (1750, Vienna, Hoftheater)
  • Ezio (Pietro Metastasio) (26 Dec. 1750, Milan, Teatro regio ducale)
  • Il Farnace (Apostolo Zeno, revised Antonio Maria Lucchini?) (Carnaval 1751 Turin, Teatro real)
  • La Didone abbandonata (Pietro Metastasio) (1751, Genova)
  • La Zenobia (Pietro Metastasio) (Autumn 1751, Milan, Teatro regio ducal)
  • Il
    Demofoonte
     (Pietro Metastasio) (Autumn 1752 Lisboa, Teatro di Corte)
  • L'
    Olimpiade
     (Pietro Metastasio) (Spring 1753, Lisboa, Teatro di Corte)
  • L'eroe cinese (Pietro Metastasio) (6 June 1753, Lisboa, Teatro di Corte)
  • Adriano in Siria (Pietro Metastasio) (Carnaval 1754, Lisboa, Salvaterra)
  • L'Ipermestra (Pietro Metastasio) (31 Mar. 1754, Lisboa, Teatro Real Corte)
  • Il re pastore (Pietro Metastasio) (Spring 1756, Cremona)
  • Solimano
     (Textdichter unbekannt), 3 acts (31 Mar. 1758, Lisbon, Teatro de la Ajuda)
  • King's Theatre
    )
  • Creusa in Delfo (Gaetano Martinelli), dramma per musica 2 acts (Carnaval, 1774 Lisbon, Salvaterra)
  • Attributed Astarto (1743 Palermo); Medea (1744, Palermo); L'isola incantata (1746 Palermo)

Church music

The two long periods of employment Perez had during his life gave him enormous opportunities to write for the church, and religious music represents the largest and most elaborate part of his output. In his earliest career he is reported by Florimo to have 'enriched with his compositions' Palermo's Cappella Palatina, but there are many pieces written for Naples as well. In Lisbon, the deep religiosity of his pupil, the Royal Princess Maria and his own, combined with the directions taken by the musical policy of the court, had himself concentrating in church music for the royal chapels for the last 23 years of his life. His first mass is dated February 1736, and most of his early works have very ample and careful use of orchestral and choral resources. For example, the mass dated 24 February 1740 is scored for two choirs (the final 'cum Sancto Spiritu' is a ten voice fugue), full strings divided, in some sections, in two orchestras, woodwinds (no clarinets), horns and trumpets in pairs. It displays a highly detailed orchestral writing: muted strings, seconda corda instructed in passages for the violins, plenty of orchestral crescendos and diminuendos, solo parts for the woodwinds and for the viola. In this period, Perez treated solo voices in a manner similar to operatic arias, most fugues or fugato sections have very symmetrical entries of themes, and the pieces in the so-called stile antico are conservative in harmony and notation.

Unlike the operas, there is no definite date when it is possible to see a change in the style of Perez's late church music. However, the production in his later years at Lisbon is quite distinct from his earliest. The orchestral writing continued to be as detailed as before, but instruments like recorders and lutes are no longer to be found. There is less use of separated sections for solo voices. Most pieces are now concertate, that is, with one or more soloists emerging from the choir for short passages, thus creating numerous distinct vocal textures. A striking difference is the

polyphonic and chordal writing; the harmony is constantly elaborate; chromaticism
is freely used. It is however a style that strongly favours variety over coherence, as there is not regular thematic recurrence throughout the pieces.

Eighteenth century critics often ranked Perez with Hasse and Jommelli.

Roman Catholic
rituals in the eighteenth century.

List of church music

Discography

  • Mattutino de' morti by Davide Perez, Ghislieri Choir & Consort, Giulio Prandi, Invernizzi, Vitale, (Sony International - Deutsche Harmonia Mundi) 2014.

References

  1. ^ A short history of opera: Volume 1 Donald Jay Grout - 1947: "Davide Perez (1711-1778) was born at Naples of Spanish parents. After a career at Naples, ..."; Dissertation abstracts: The humanities and social sciences University Microfilms - 1967 The Operas of David Perez (Order No. 67-11039) Paul Joseph Jackson, PhD Stanford University, 1967: "In his own lifetime, David Perez (1711-1778) was consistently named with the greatest masters of eighteenth century opera seria."
  2. ^ Anuário: Volumes 2-4 Tulane University. Inter-American Institute for Musical Research, JSTOR (Organization) - 1966: "Davide Perez (1711-1778), resident court composer at Lisbon since 1752, had composed the music for the three Metastasio operas premiered at Lisbon with huge success in 1753, 1754, and 1755 – Didone abbandonata, Artaserse, ..."
  3. ^ The Church Music of Davide Perez and Niccolò Jommelli - Page 66 Mauricio Dottori: "In the wake of the 1755 earthquake, Perez assumed a less public rôle than he had before, his life becoming more discreet "
  4. ^ The surname Perez, of Spanish origin, is even today fairly common in the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
  5. ISSN 1522-7464
    .

Recently a whole issue of the beautiful Sicilian journal of musical cultures, Avidi Lumi, was dedicated to Davide Perez. Published by the Teatro Massimo of Palermo, it has the following articles, and their English translations, together with the first recording of his music, the oratory Il martirio di San Bartolomeo:

  • Roberto Pagano, "David Perez nel contesto musicale palermitano di metà Settecento", pp. 7–15.
  • Manuel Carlos de Brito, "Aspetti del periodo portoghese di David Perez", pp. 16–23.
  • Miguel Ángel Marín, "La fortuna di Perez in Spagna: la circulazione delle arie", pp. 24–33.
  • Anna Tedesco, "David Perez maestro di cappella a Palermo", pp. 34–45.
  • Dinko Fabris, "La diffusione di Perez attraverso l'editoria musicale", pp. 46–51.
  • Maurício Dottori, "La musica sacra di David Perez: produzione e questioni stilistiche", pp. 68–75.
  • Nicolò Maccavino, "Il martirio di San Bartolomeo, oratorio 'sagro' a quattro voci del Sig.r David Perez: Roma 1749", pp. 76–85.
  • Rui Vieira Nery, "David Perez in Portogallo. Testimonianze di viaggiatori stranieri", pp. 86–102.

External links

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