Life
His career, both in the formative phase and in maturity, was situated at a fertile cultural crossroads of the mid-eighteenth century where the legacy of Arcadia, the grace of the Rococo style, and the first rationalist demands of the Enlightenment coexisted and influenced each other.
Born in Grottole in Basilicata in 1706, Carlo Cecere trained in Naples, where he developed his career as a composer and instrumentalist. He was appreciated both as a violinist and as a flautist, qualities that enabled him to write refined pages for both instruments. The chronicles describe him as an “excellent contrapuntist.”
He wrote mainly opera buffa, often to libretti by Pietro Trinchera and Antonio Palomba, and instrumental music that reflects the Neapolitan taste of the mid-eighteenth century, with clear and repetitive themes but pleasing effects. His most famous work, La tavernola abentorosa (1741), performed at the abbey of Monte Oliveto, caused a scandal among civil and religious authorities for its satirical audacity.
Alongside theater, Cecere left an extensive catalog of concertos, duets, and sonatas. He died in Naples in 1761, leaving behind a reputation as an original and witty composer.
Aneddoto
The scandal opera
La tavernola abentorosa, intended for an audience of ecclesiastics, was considered irreverent and was a topic of conversation for a long time among his contemporaries.Works
Opera buffa: Lo secretista (libretto by Pietro Trinchera, Naples 1738); La tavernola abentorosa (Trinchera, Naples 1741); Lo Rosmonda (Antonio Palomba, Naples 1755). All were successfully performed in Naples and its surroundings.
Instrumental music: 25 duets for two flutes (or violins); 2 concertos for flute and orchestra; concerto for two flutes and bass; concerto for flute, violins, and bass; concerto for mandolin, violins, and bass; sonata for cello and bass; divertimentos for two flutes and cello. These works circulated in manuscripts and prints, spreading throughout Italy and beyond.
Briciole di storia
Pubblico dominio (Commons)
