Life
Trained at the dawn of the Arcadian taste, his prestigious career led him to reach full maturity in an era of great stylistic richness, in which the solidity of Arcadia fused with the new elegance of the Rococo.
Born in Florence between 1681 and 1682, Francesco Bartolomeo Conti established himself at a very young age as a virtuoso of the theorbo and mandolin. By around 1701, he was already known in Ferrara and Milan, and in that same year, he obtained the appointment of auxiliary theorbist at the Habsburg court in Vienna, with a salary equal to that of the incumbent, Orazio Clementi.
In 1706 he debuted as an opera composer with Clotilde, and in 1708, upon Clementi's death, he became the principal theorbist. In 1711 he was appointed vice-Kapellmeister, beginning a career that saw him as a protagonist of Viennese musical life. That same year he married the singer Maria Landini, who performed the lead roles in his operas until her death in 1722. Subsequently, he married Anna Maria Lorenzani, also an interpreter of his compositions.
He was elected a member of the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna and in 1723 participated as a theorbist in the premiere of Johann Joseph Fux's opera Costanza e Fortezza. For health reasons, he spent several periods in Italy, but continued to compose and return to Vienna, where he died in 1732.
Conti was a prolific author of theatrical works, oratorios, and sacred music. His writing, appreciated for its virtuosity and cantability, also influenced musicians like Handel, who used his music in a London pasticcio.
Aneddoto
Two singing wives
Conti's two wives, Maria Landini and Anna Maria Lorenzani, were both celebrated singers who interpreted his operas, giving a direct voice to his theatrical creations.Works
He composed drammi per musica for the Viennese court, including Clotilde (1706), Don Chisciotte in Sierra Morena (1719), and various intermezzi buffi. He also wrote oratorios and sacred works for imperial celebrations, as well as the first mandolin sonatas. Some of his music was included in pasticcios performed in London and reused by Handel.
Briciole di storia
The vices of Italians
In the heart of the eighteenth century, Pietro Calepio wrote a Letter on Italian Customs that was translated into French and published in 1728 in the prestigious Bibliothèque Italique. In this text, which became very well known, Calepio did not limit himself to describing Italy in general, but clearly and sincerely denounced various vices of Italian society. Among his sharpest criticisms was the poor functioning of schools and, in particular, the idleness in which most of the nobility lived, considered the cause of their dissoluteness. He also denounced the low regard given to the female role.
Pubblico dominio (Commons)
