Composers

Giovanni Paisiello

Voice
Orchestra
Mixed chorus
Harpsichord
Soprano
Piano
Violin
Bass
String ensemble
Tenor
Operas
Comic opera
Opera buffa
Opera seria
Cantatas
Secular cantatas
Capriccio
Religious music
Concerto
Intermedes
by popularity

#

12 Capriccios and Rondos6 Flute Quartets, Op.23

A

Achille in Sciro, R.1.56Alcide al bivio, R.1.62Amor vendicato, R.2.7Andromaca, R.1.90Andromeda, R.1.40Annibale in Torino, R.1.26Antigono, R.1.67Artaserse, R.1.30Ave maris stella

C

Cantata fatta in occasione della transalazione del sangue di S. Gennaro, R.3.6Capriccio in D major, R.8.14/30Capriccio 'Les adieux' in D minor, R.8.14/36Catone in Utica, R.1.77Christus factus est with Miserere in A minor, R.6.29

D

Dal finto il vero, R.1.52Demetrio, R.1.25Demetrio, R.1.59Demofoonte, R.1.45Didone abbandonata, R.1.88Don Chisciotte della Mancia, R.1.21

F

Fedra, R.1.75Fille a Tirsi, R.2.16

G

Giunone Lucina, R.1.73Gli amanti comici, R.1.34Gli astrologi immaginari, R.1.58

I

I scherzi di amore e di fortuna, R.1.28I zingari in fiera, R.1.79Il credulo deluso, R.1.42Il divertimento de' numi, R.1.44Il duello, R.1.41Il furbo malaccorto, R.1.13Il gran Cid, R.1.49Il matrimonio inaspettato, R.1.60Il re Teodoro in Venezia, R.1.66Il ritorno di Perseo, R.2.6Il tamburo, R.1.37Inno del Re di Napoli

K

Keyboard Concerto in C major, R.8.10Keyboard Concerto in C major, R.8.20Keyboard Concerto in F major, R.8.11

L

L’arabo cortese, R.1.22La Dardané, R.1.33La disfatta di Dario, R.1.51La finta amante, R.1.61La finta maga per vendetta, R.1.18La frascatana, R.1.43La grotta di Trofonio, R.1.69La Libertà e la Palinodia, R.2.05La locanda, R.1.83La luna abitata, R.1.17La modista raggiratrice, R.1.74La nascita di Maria VergineLa pace, R.1.93La Partenza and Capriccio in D minor, R.8.14/38, 36La passione di Gesù CristoLa scusa, R.2.18La Semiramide in villa, R.1.31La semplice fortunata, R.1.38La serva padrona, R.1.63La somiglianza de' nomi, R.1.27La vedova di bel genio, R.1.8La Zelmira, R.1.23L'amor contrastato, R.1.76L'amore in ballo, R.1.04L'amore ingegnoso, R.1.68Le astuzie amorose, R.1.47Le due contesse, R.1.50Le finte contesse, R.1.7Le 'mbroglie de le bajasse, R.1.9Le nozze di Peleo e Tetide, R.1.15Le nozze di Silvio e Clori, R.2.11Le nozze disturbate, R.1.6Le trame per amore, R.1.24Le vane gelosie, R.80.17L'idolo cinese, R.1.10Lucinda ed Armidoro, R.1.55Lucio Papirio dittatore, R.1.12

M

Montezuma, R.1.32

N

Nina, R.1.78Nitteti, R.1.54

O

Olimpia, R.1.14Olimpiade, R.1.70

P

Piece for OrganPirro, R.1.72

R

Raccolta di varii rondeaux e capricciRegole per bene accompagnare il partimento

S

Sinfonia in D majorSismano nel Mogol, R.1.36Socrate immaginario, R.1.48

T

The Barber of SevilleTirsi a Fille, R.2.15

Z

Zenobia in Palmira, R.1.81
Wikipedia
Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini and whose music was championed by Haydn and Beethoven.
Paisiello was born in Taranto in the Apulia region and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and eventually became assistant master. For the theatre of the Conservatorio, which he left in 1763, he wrote some intermezzi, one of which attracted so much notice that he was invited to write two operas, La Pupilla and Il Mondo al Rovescio, for Bologna, and a third, Il Marchese di Tidipano, for Rome.
His reputation now firmly established, he settled for some years at Naples, where, despite the popularity of Niccolò Piccinni, Domenico Cimarosa and Pietro Guglielmi, of whose triumphs he was bitterly jealous, he produced a series of highly successful operas, one of which, L'ldolo cinese, made a deep impression upon the Neapolitan public. The young Mozart met him in Bologna in 1771.
In 1772 Paisiello began to write church music, and composed a requiem for Gennara di Borbone, of the reigning dynasty. In the same year he married Cecilia Pallini, and the marriage was a happy one. In 1776 Paisiello was invited by the empress Catherine the Great of Russia to Saint Petersburg, where he remained for eight years, producing, among other charming works, his masterpiece, Il barbiere di Siviglia, which soon attained a European reputation. The fate of this opera marks an epoch in the history of Italian art; for with it the gentle suavity cultivated by the masters of the 18th century died out to make room for the dazzling brilliance of a later period.
When, in 1816, Gioachino Rossini set a revised version of the libretto to music, under the title of Almaviva ossia la inutil precauzione the fans of Paisiello stormed the stage. Rossini's opera, now known as Il barbiere di Siviglia, is now acknowledged as Rossini's greatest work, while Paisiello's opera is only infrequently produced—a strange instance of poetical vengeance, since Paisiello himself had many years previously endeavoured to eclipse the fame of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi by resetting the libretto of his famous intermezzo, La serva padrona.
Paisiello left Russia in 1784, and, after producing Il Re Teodoro at Vienna, entered the service of Ferdinand IV of Naples, where he composed many of his best operas, including Nina and La Molinara. The English tenor Michael Kelly witnessed another meeting between Paisiello and Mozart. After many vicissitudes, resulting from political and dynastic changes, he was invited to Paris (1802) by Napoleon, whose favor he had won five years previously by composing a march for the funeral of General Hoche. Napoleon treated him munificently, while cruelly neglecting two more famous composers, Luigi Cherubini and Étienne Méhul, to whom the new favorite transferred the hatred he had formerly borne to Cimarosa, Guglielmi and Piccinni.
Paisiello conducted the music of the court in the Tuileries with a stipend of 10,000 francs and 4,800 for lodging, but he entirely failed to conciliate the Parisian public, who received his opera Proserpine so coldly that, in 1803, he requested and with some difficulty obtained permission to return to Italy, upon the plea of his wife's ill health. On his arrival at Naples Paisiello was reinstated in his former appointments by Joseph Bonaparte and Joachim Murat, but he had taxed his genius beyond its strength, and was unable to meet the demands now made upon it for new ideas. His prospects, too, were precarious. The power of the Bonaparte family was tottering to its fall; and Paisiello's fortunes fell with it. The death of his wife in 1815 tried him severely. His health failed rapidly, and constitutional jealousy of the popularity of others was a source of worry and vexation.
Paisiello is known to have composed 94 operas, which are known for their gracefully beautiful melodies. Perhaps the best-known tune he ever wrote is "Nel cor più non mi sento" from La Molinara, immortalized when Beethoven composed variations based on it. Another favourite vocal piece is "Chi vuol la zingarella" from I zingari in fiesta, that vividly portrays the scene of an attractive gypsy girl with its dramatic music. Paisiello also wrote a great deal of church music, including eight masses; as well as fifty-one instrumental compositions and many stand-alone songs. He also composed the Inno al Re, the national anthem of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Manuscript scores of many of his operas were presented to the library of the British Museum by Domenico Dragonetti.
The library of the Gerolamini at Naples possesses an interesting manuscript compilation recording Paisiello's opinions on contemporary composers, and exhibiting him as a somewhat severe critic, especially of the work of Pergolesi.
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music notes that "Paisiello was one of the most successful and influential opera composers of his time. Most of his over 80 operas are comic and use a simple, direct and spirited style, latterly with sharper characterization, more colorful scoring and warmer melodies (features that influenced Mozart). His serious operas have less than the conventional amount of virtuoso vocal writing; those for Russia are the closest to Gluck's 'reform' approach."
Works composed for Napoleon's or King Joseph's chapels.
(to be completed)