Life
Trained at the dawn of the Arcadian taste, his long and famous career led him to reach full maturity in an era of great stylistic richness, where the solidity of Arcadia merged with the new elegance of the Rococo and the critical spirit of the Enlightenment.
Giovanni Bononcini was born in Modena in 1670 into a family of musicians. His father Bartolomeo started him on his studies, which he continued with Giulio Cesare Arresti and, in Bologna, with other renowned masters. From a very young age, he demonstrated an extraordinary facility for composition, so much so that he was admitted to the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna at just 15 years old.
His career initially developed in Bologna and Rome, where he came into contact with aristocratic circles and with Cardinal Pamphilj, who commissioned cantatas and oratorios from him. In the 1690s, he began to distinguish himself as an opera composer, achieving success in Venice, Rome, and Naples.
Bononcini then experienced a long season in Vienna, where he entered the service of the imperial court as a composer and cellist. His music met with the favor of nobles and emperors, who appreciated his melodic vein and the elegant taste of his compositions. He also worked in Berlin and London, where he was Handel's rival in the management of the Royal Academy of Music, contributing to the renewal of Italian opera abroad.
Despite the difficulties encountered in the final phase of his career, he continued to compose until his last years, leaving a vast catalog ranging from opera seria to sacred music, from chamber cantatas to instrumental symphonies. He died in Vienna in 1747.
Aneddoto
Handel's rival in London
During his stay in London, Bononcini became Handel's direct competitor: the two city factions were divided into "Handelians" and "Bononcinists," and their supporters often filled the theaters to back one master or the other.Works
Among his most famous theatrical works are Xerse (1694), Il trionfo di Camilla (1696), which enjoyed enormous success in Naples and London, and Astarto (1715), performed with great splendor in Rome. His operatic production includes dozens of titles, received throughout Europe with great favor.
He also composed various oratorios, such as La conversione di Maddalena (1701) and San Nicola di Bari, chamber cantatas widespread in aristocratic salons, as well as masses, motets, and other sacred pages of great elegance.
Among his instrumental works, the Sinfonie, Concerti, and especially the cello sonatas are noteworthy, as they helped establish the instrument as a protagonist of 18th-century solo music.
Briciole di storia
Pubblico dominio (Commons)
