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Francesco Cavalli

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Francesco Cavalli, born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni in 1602 in Crema, was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque. In 1616 he became a choirboy at San Marco in Venice, where Claudio Monteverdi became his teacher. He became second organist in 1639, first organist in 1665 and maestro di cappella in 1668. He took the name Cavalli from his patron, the nobleman Federico Cavalli. He wrote a great deal of church music, but is remembered mainly for his operas. His first opera, Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo, dates from 1639, shortly after the first public opera house in Venice, the Teatro San Cassiano, had opened. From 1660 to 1662 he worked in Paris, where he revived Xerse and premiered Ercole amante.

Music and breakthrough

Cavalli succeeded Monteverdi as the most important opera composer of the mid-seventeenth century. He wrote more than thirty operas, almost all premiered in Venice. His best-known are Ormindo from 1644, Giasone from 1649 and La Calisto from 1651. Instead of the large court orchestra of Monteverdi's Mantua, he used a small orchestra of strings and basso continuo, suited to the public opera houses.

Influence

He brought melodic arias and folk-like figures into his librettos, with a strong sense of dramatic effect and a grotesque kind of humour. His operas show how, in half a century, opera grew from a new art form into a popular public spectacle. He died in Venice in 1676.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to an aria from La Calisto and notice how the singing voice stays close to spoken language, accompanied by a small ensemble of strings and continuo.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists