Giovanni Battista Maccioni ( floruit 1651 – 1674) was an Italian composer, librettist, and musician. His L'arpa festante (The Festive Harp), first performed in 1653, inaugurated what was to become the Bavarian State Opera and is often described as the first opera to be wholly written and produced in Germany. [1]
Nothing is known about Maccioni's early life nor the date and place of his birth. [2] The first record of him was in 1651 when he was hired as the court chaplain, poet and musician to Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria. When Ferdinand married Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy in 1652, Maccioni, who was considered an outstanding harpist, became her harp teacher. [3] It was she who encouraged him to write and compose a work to celebrate the visit of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor to Munich in August 1653. The result was L'arpa festante, often referred to as the first opera to be wholly written and produced in Germany, although it was closer in its form and length to a dramatic cantata. [4] [5] Nevertheless, it differed from previous court entertainments which had been plays with musical interludes. L'arpa festante was an integrated musical drama with recitatives, solo arias, duets and a final chorus. [6] The score is held in the Austrian National Library.
Princess Henriette Adelaide herself portrayed the role of Feminine Beauty in the prologue of L'arpa festante and is said to have collaborated with Maccioni on several of his other libretti. His libretto for the opera L'Ardelia, performed in 1660 (probably to music by Francesco Cavalli) is dedicated to her. [1] [3] Maccioni remained in Munich until 1662, writing libretti for various court celebrations and ballets by other composers. He then left for Rome, where for the next 12 years he continued to serve Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide as their agent, engaging Italian musicians for the court theatre in Munich. There are no further records of him after 1674. The date and place of his death are unknown. [1]
Maccioni's music for L'arpa festante was performed by the Neue Hofkapelle München orchestra conducted by Christopher Hammer in October 2003 to mark the 350th anniversary of opera in Germany. The modern day Baroque music ensemble, L'arpa festante, takes its name from the work. [7] [8]
Maximilian I, occasionally called "the Great", a member of the House of Wittelsbach, ruled as Duke of Bavaria from 1597. His reign was marked by the Thirty Years' War during which he obtained the title of a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire at the 1623 Diet of Regensburg.
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Antonio Sartorio was an Italian composer active mainly in Venice, Italy, and in Hanover, Germany. He was a leading composer of operas in his native Venice in the 1660s and 1670s and was also known for composing in other genres of vocal music. Between 1665 and 1675 he spent most of his time in Hanover, where he held the post of Kapellmeister to Duke Johann Friedrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg – returning frequently to Venice to compose operas for the Carnival. In 1676 he became vice maestro di capella at San Marco in Venice.
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Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, was Electress of Bavaria by marriage to Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria. She had much political influence in her adopted country and with her husband did much to improve the welfare of the Electorate of Bavaria.
The year 1653 in music involved some significant events.
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A court chapel is a chapel (building) and/or a chapel as a musical ensemble associated with a royal or noble court. Most of these are royal (court) chapels, but when the ruler of the court is not a king, the more generic "court chapel" is used, for instance for an imperial court.
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