Filippo Galli (bass)
Encyclopedia
Filippo Galli was an Italian
opera
singer who began his career as a tenor in 1801 but went on to become one of the most acclaimed basses of the Bel Canto
era, with a voice known for its wide range, extreme agility, and expressivity, and a remarkable gift for acting
, Galli was a marginal buffo tenor, appearing in Naples, Bologna, Parma, and Turin, primarily in the works of Nasolini, Generali, and Zingarelli. It is said that following an illness in 1810, his voice changed markedly into that of bass', but this may have been a cover story for his technical transition into the bass repertoire upon the advice of the composer Giovanni Paisiello
or singer Luigi Marchesi.
allowed him to sing L'inganno felice on August 1 at the Teatro San Moisè, Venice (in the role of Tarabotto). After his creation of Polidoro in Pietro Generali
's La vedova stravagante, he appeared in a new opera by Rossini—La pietra del paragone
(September 26, 1812). His performance in the "Sigillara" aria was the hit of the immensely successful opera.
His collaboration with Rossini increased: May 22, 1813 he sang the Mustafà in the premiere of L'italiana in Algeri
at the Teatro San Benedetto
in Venice. Rossini then composed numerous other bass parts specifically for Galli: August 14, 1814, Il turco in Italia
at la Scala; May 31, 1817 (again at la Scala), the very difficult role of Fernando in La gazza ladra
; December 3, 1820, the title role in Maometto II at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples; and February 3, 1823, Assur in Semiramide
at the Teatro alla Fenice, Venice.
Galli also created the role of Enrico (Henry) VIII in Donizetti
's Anna Bolena
at the Teatro Carcano, Milan.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
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...
singer who began his career as a tenor in 1801 but went on to become one of the most acclaimed basses of the Bel Canto
Bel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
era, with a voice known for its wide range, extreme agility, and expressivity, and a remarkable gift for acting
Early life
Born in RomeRome
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...
, Galli was a marginal buffo tenor, appearing in Naples, Bologna, Parma, and Turin, primarily in the works of Nasolini, Generali, and Zingarelli. It is said that following an illness in 1810, his voice changed markedly into that of bass', but this may have been a cover story for his technical transition into the bass repertoire upon the advice of the composer Giovanni Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era.-Life:Paisiello was born at Taranto and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and...
or singer Luigi Marchesi.
Career as bass
His new career took rise in 1812: his meeting with RossiniGioacchino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
allowed him to sing L'inganno felice on August 1 at the Teatro San Moisè, Venice (in the role of Tarabotto). After his creation of Polidoro in Pietro Generali
Pietro Generali
Pietro Generali is a former basketball player from Italy, who won the silver medal with his national team at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.-References:...
's La vedova stravagante, he appeared in a new opera by Rossini—La pietra del paragone
La pietra del paragone
La pietra del paragone is an opera, or melodramma giocoso, in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, to an original Italian libretto by Luigi Romanelli.-Performance history:...
(September 26, 1812). His performance in the "Sigillara" aria was the hit of the immensely successful opera.
His collaboration with Rossini increased: May 22, 1813 he sang the Mustafà in the premiere of L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
at the Teatro San Benedetto
Teatro San Benedetto
The Teatro San Benedetto was a theatre in Venice, particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It saw the premieres of over 140 operas, including Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, and was the theatre of choice for the presentation of opera seria until...
in Venice. Rossini then composed numerous other bass parts specifically for Galli: August 14, 1814, Il turco in Italia
Il turco in Italia
Il turco in Italia is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani...
at la Scala; May 31, 1817 (again at la Scala), the very difficult role of Fernando in La gazza ladra
La gazza ladra
La gazza ladra is a melodramma or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giovanni Gherardini after La pie voleuse by JMT Badouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez....
; December 3, 1820, the title role in Maometto II at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples; and February 3, 1823, Assur 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...
at the Teatro alla Fenice, Venice.
Galli also created the role of Enrico (Henry) VIII in 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...
's 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...
at the Teatro Carcano, Milan.
Repertoire
This is an alphabetical list of Filippo Galli's roles (with their respective operas and composers), appended as sources permit:- Adolfo, in Carlo CocciaCarlo CocciaCarlo Coccia was an Italian opera composer. He was known for the genre of opera semiseria.- Life and career :...
's La donna selvaggia - Adolfo, in Carlo Evasio SolivaCarlo Evasio SolivaCarlo Evasio Soliva was a Swiss-Italian composer of opera, chamber music, and sacred choral works. Soliva was born in Casale Monferrato, Piedmont to a family of Swiss chocolatiers who had emigrated from the canton of Ticino...
's La testa di bronzo o sia La capanna solitaria - Assur, in Gioachino Rossini's SemiramideSemiramideSemiramide 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...
- Batone, in Gioachino Rossini's L'inganno feliceL'inganno feliceL'inganno felice is an opera in one act by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa. Foppa reworked the libretto which Giuseppe Palomba had written for an opera of the same name by Paisiello ....
- Conte Asdrubale, in Gioachino Rossini's La pietra del paragoneLa pietra del paragoneLa pietra del paragone is an opera, or melodramma giocoso, in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, to an original Italian libretto by Luigi Romanelli.-Performance history:...
- Dandini, in Stefano PavesiStefano PavesiStefano 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 Agatina ovvero La virtù premiata - Dandini, in Gioachino Rossini's La CenerentolaLa CenerentolaLa Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
- Don Giovanni, in Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Don GiovanniDon GiovanniDon Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787... - Duca d'Ordowo, in Gioachino Rossini's Torvaldo e DorliskaTorvaldo e DorliskaTorvaldo e Dorliska is an operatic dramma semiserio in two act by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini, based on Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by the revolutionary Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai, whose work was the source of the Lodoïska libretto set by Luigi Cherubini...
- Elpino, in Gioachino Rossini's 1822 cantata Il vero omaggio
- Enrico VIII, in Gaetano DonizettiGaetano DonizettiDomenico 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...
's Anna BolenaAnna BolenaAnna 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... - Fernando Villabella, in Gioachino Rossini's La gazza ladraLa gazza ladraLa gazza ladra is a melodramma or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giovanni Gherardini after La pie voleuse by JMT Badouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez....
- Figaro, in Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Le nozze di Figaro - Gabriel, in François-Adrien BoieldieuFrançois-Adrien BoïeldieuFrançois-Adrien Boieldieu was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart".-Biography:...
's La dama biancaLa Dame blancheLa dame blanche is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer François-Adrien Boieldieu. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and is based on episodes from no less than five of the works by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott, including his novels The Monastery, Guy Mannering, and The... - Geronimo, in Domenico CimarosaDomenico CimarosaDomenico Cimarosa was an Italian opera composer of the Neapolitan school...
's Il matrimonio segretoIl matrimonio segretoIl matrimonio segreto is an opera in two acts, music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, based on the play The Clandestine Marriage by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick... - Giove, in Vittorio Trento's Andromeda
- Gondair, in 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...
's Gli arabi nelle Gallie - Ircano, in Gioachino Rossini's Ricciardo e ZoraideRicciardo e ZoraideRicciardo e Zoraide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Berio de Salsa...
- Maometto II, by Gioachino Rossini
- Mercurio, in Pietro Casella's Paride
- Mustafà, in Gioachino Rossini's L'italiana in AlgeriL'italiana in AlgeriL'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
- Oroveso, in Vincenzo BelliniVincenzo BelliniVincenzo 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...
's NormaNorma (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... - Papageno, in Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Die ZauberflöteThe Magic FluteThe Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue.... - Podesta di Firenze, in 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...
's Isabella ed Enrico'' - Polidoro, in Pietro Generali's La vedova stravagante
- Richard, in Joseph WeiglJoseph WeiglJoseph Weigl , was an Austrian composer and conductor.The son of Joseph Franz Weigl , the principal cellist in the orchestra of the Esterházy family, he was born in Eisenstadt and studied music under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salieri...
's La famiglia svizzeraDie SchweizerfamilieDie Schweizer Familie is an opera by the Austrian composer Joseph Weigl. It takes the form of a Singspiel in three acts. The libretto, by Ignaz Franz Castelli, is based on the vaudeville Pauvre Jacques by Charles-Augustin de Basson-Pierre und René André Polydore Chazet... - Selim, in Gioachino Rossini's Il turco in ItaliaIl turco in ItaliaIl turco in Italia is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani...
' - Teodoro, in 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...
's Il Barone di Dolsheim
Sources
- Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5