Michele Carafa: Neapolitan composer in Paris

Life

Trained in the heart of Neoclassicism, his long mature career took place in the heart of Romanticism, embodying the stylistic transition and the operatic taste of the early nineteenth century.

Michele Enrico Francesco Vincenzo Aloisio Paolo Carafa de Colobrano was born in Naples in 1787 into a noble family. He composed his first opera, Il Fantasma (1802), at a very young age, which was performed in 1805. He attended the Nunziatella Military Academy and then studied in Paris with Cherubini and Kalkbrenner. Despite his musical talent, he initially followed a military career as an officer of the hussars in the Grande Armée.

He participated in the Russian campaign with Murat and was decorated with the Legion of Honor by Napoleon. After the Bourbon restoration, he abandoned military life and returned permanently to music. In 1814 he performed Il vascello d’occidente in Naples and in 1816 Gabriella di Vergy, which met with great success. In 1821 he moved to Paris, where he consolidated his fame with Jeanne d’Arc à Orléans and Le Valet de Chambre.

He composed successful operas such as Masaniello, applauded at the Opéra-Comique, and other works that enjoyed success in France and Italy. In 1834 he obtained French citizenship and in 1837 was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. From 1840 to 1858 he taught counterpoint and composition at the Paris Conservatory. His last opera, Thérèse, dates back to 1838. He died in Paris in 1872 and was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery.

Works

Among his principal theatrical works: Il vascello d’occidente (1814, Naples), Gabriella di Vergy (1816, Naples), Jeanne d’Arc à Orléans (1821, Paris), Le Valet de Chambre (1823, Paris), Il parìa (Venice), and Masaniello (Opéra-Comique, Paris). He also composed ballets, sacred music, and adaptations. His Parisian activity represented the peak of his career, with over twenty operas performed in the major French theaters.