Domenico Reina
Encyclopedia
Domenico Reina was a Swiss
bel canto
tenor
, notable for creating roles in the opera
s of Vincenzo Bellini
, Gaetano Donizetti
, Saverio Mercadante
and other Italian composers.
He was born in Lugano
, studied in Milan
and made his operatic debut in 1820. He joined John Ebers
's company at the King's Theatre
, Haymarket and in 1823 sang in the first London performances of Gioachino Rossini's operas Ricciardo e Zoraide
, La donna del lago
and Matilde di Shabran
.
Reina returned to Italy and sang in the theatres of Rome
, Venice
, Turin
, Bologna
, Parma
and Livorno
. At La Scala
, Milan
, he created in 1829 the leading role of Arturo in Bellini's La straniera
, in 1834 that of Tamas in Donizetti's Gemma di Vergy
and in 1835 that of Leicester in his Maria Stuarda
. At the Teatro San Carlo, Naples
, he created the role of Decio in Mercadante's La vestale
in 1840. Other Mercadante operas in which Reina created roles were Il conte di Essex (La Scala, 1833), Uggero il danese (Bergamo
, 1834) and La gioventù di Enrico V (La Scala, 1834).
Other composers in whose operas Reina sang at the first performances were:
In other operas by Bellini, he sang Pollione (Norma
), Elvino (La sonnambula
), Tebaldo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi
) and Orombello (Beatrice di Tenda
). His Donizetti roles included the title role in Roberto Devereux
, Riccardo Percy (Anna Bolena
), Alamiro (Belisario
) and Fernando (Marino Faliero
). In Rossini operas, he also sang Almaviva in The Barber of Seville
, the title-roles in Otello
and Maometto II
, Antenore in Zelmira
, Idreno in Semiramide
, Osiride in Mosè in Egitto
, Amenofi and Elisero in the revision (Mosè e Pharaone) and Norfolk in Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra
. For other composers, he sang Comingio in Pacini's Adelaide e Comingio, Appio Diomede in his L'ultimo giorno di Pompeii and the title-tole in his Furio Camillo, Medoro in Stefano Pavesi
's Ser Marcantonio and Pisano in Mercadante's Il bravo.
Domenico Reina died in Milan in 1843.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
bel canto
Bel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, notable for creating roles in the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s of Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
, Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
, Saverio Mercadante
Saverio Mercadante
Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
and other Italian composers.
He was born in Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
, studied in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and made his operatic debut in 1820. He joined John Ebers
John Ebers
John Ebers was an English operatic manager, notable for his promotion of Italian opera in London in the 1820s.-Early life:Ebers was the son of German parents, was born in London about 1785...
's company at the King's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
, Haymarket and in 1823 sang in the first London performances of Gioachino Rossini's operas Ricciardo e Zoraide
Ricciardo e Zoraide
Ricciardo e Zoraide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Berio de Salsa...
, La donna del lago
La donna del lago
La donna del lago is an opera by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on The Lady of the Lake, a poem by Sir Walter Scott.This opera was the first to be based on Scott's romantic works...
and Matilde di Shabran
Matilde di Shabran
Matilde di Shabran , ossia Bellezza, e cuor di ferro , is a melodramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti after François-Benoît Hoffman’s libretto for Méhul’s Euphrosine and J. M. Boutet de Monvel's play Mathilde...
.
Reina returned to Italy and sang in the theatres of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
and Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
. At La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, he created in 1829 the leading role of Arturo in Bellini's La straniera
La straniera
La straniera is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, based on L'étrangère by Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt...
, in 1834 that of Tamas in Donizetti's Gemma di Vergy
Gemma di Vergy
Gemma de Vergy is a tragedia lirica or tragic opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti from a libretto by Emanuele Bidéra. It is based on the tragedy Charles VII chez ses grands vassaux by Alexandre Dumas père, which was later to become the subject of the opera The Saracen by the Russian composer...
and in 1835 that of Leicester in his Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda is a tragic opera, , in two acts, by Gaetano Donizetti, to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play Maria Stuart....
. At the Teatro San Carlo, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, he created the role of Decio in Mercadante's La vestale
La vestale (Mercadante)
La vestale is an opera by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. It takes the form of a tragedia lirica in three acts...
in 1840. Other Mercadante operas in which Reina created roles were Il conte di Essex (La Scala, 1833), Uggero il danese (Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
, 1834) and La gioventù di Enrico V (La Scala, 1834).
Other composers in whose operas Reina sang at the first performances were:
- Carlo CocciaCarlo CocciaCarlo Coccia was an Italian opera composer. He was known for the genre of opera semiseria.- Life and career :...
: Caterina di Guisa (1833), La figlia dell'arciere (1834), - Giacomo Cordella and others: Il dono a Partenope (1840)
- Giuseppe LilloGiuseppe LilloGiuseppe Lillo was an Italian composer. He is best known for his operas which followed in the same vein of Gioachino Rossini. He also produced works for solo piano, a small amount of sacred music, and some chamber music....
: Cristina di Svezia (1841) - Giovanni PaciniGiovanni PaciniGiovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas...
: Ivanhoe (1832), Irene ossia L'assedio di Messina (1833), Fernando duca di Valenza (1833) - Cesare PugniCesare PugniCesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
: Il disertore svizzero o La nostalgia (1831) - Luigi RicciLuigi RicciLuigi Ricci , was an Italian composer, particularly of operas.He was the elder brother of Federico Ricci, with whom he collaborated on several works.- Life :...
: Annibale in Torino (1830), La neve (1831) - Giuseppe StaffaGiuseppe StaffaGiuseppe Staffa was an Italian composer and conductor. He is best remembered for his seven operas which he composed between 1827 and 1852. He was active as a conductor in Naples at the Teatro del Fondo and Teatro Nuovo. One of his students was Enrico Bevignani.-References:...
: La battaglia di Navarino (1838).
In other operas by Bellini, he sang Pollione (Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
), Elvino (La sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
), Tebaldo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from Shakespeare...
) and Orombello (Beatrice di Tenda
Beatrice di Tenda
Beatrice di Tenda is a tragic opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, after the play of the same name by Carlo Tedaldi-Fores...
). His Donizetti roles included the title role in Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux
Roberto Devereux is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti...
, Riccardo Percy (Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
), Alamiro (Belisario
Belisario
Belisario is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's adaptation of Eduard von Schenk's play. The plot is loosely based on the life of the famous general Belisarius of the 6th century Byzantine Empire...
) and Fernando (Marino Faliero
Marino Faliero
Marino Faliero was the fifty-fifth Doge of Venice, appointed on 11 September 1354. He was sometimes referred to simply as Marin Falier or Falieri.-Biography:...
). In Rossini operas, he also sang Almaviva in The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
, the title-roles in Otello
Otello (Rossini)
Otello is an opera in three acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Berio di Salsi, based on Shakespeare's play Othello....
and Maometto II
Maometto II
Maometto II is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, to an Italian libretto by Cesare della Valle, set in the 1470s during the time of the war between the Turks and Venetians. Della Valle based his libretto on his earlier play Anna Erizo...
, Antenore in Zelmira
Zelmira
Zelmira is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. Based on the French play, Zelmire by de Belloy, it was the last of the composer's Neapolitan operas...
, Idreno in Semiramide
Semiramide
Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon...
, Osiride in Mosè in Egitto
Mosè in Egitto
Mosè in Egitto is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, which was based on a play by Francesco Ringhieri, L'Osiride, of 1760....
, Amenofi and Elisero in the revision (Mosè e Pharaone) and Norfolk in Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra
Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra
Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, is a dramma per musica or opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, from the play The Page of Leicester by Carlo Federici...
. For other composers, he sang Comingio in Pacini's Adelaide e Comingio, Appio Diomede in his L'ultimo giorno di Pompeii and the title-tole in his Furio Camillo, Medoro in Stefano Pavesi
Stefano Pavesi
Stefano Pavesi was an Italian composer.Born in Casaletto Vaprio, he is best known for his many operas.. He died at Crema, Lombardy in 1850.-References:...
's Ser Marcantonio and Pisano in Mercadante's Il bravo.
Domenico Reina died in Milan in 1843.