Giuseppe Siboni
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe Siboni was an Italian opera
tic tenor
, opera director, choir
conductor
, and voice teacher
. He began his career in his native country in 1797 and actively performed in major Italian opera house
s up through 1818. From 1806-1809 he performed successfully in London, and from 1810-1814 he was active in Vienna where he enjoyed the friendship of Ludwig van Beethoven
. He played a critical role in Danish musical life from 1819 until his death in 1839. In 1819 he joined the Royal Danish Theatre
in Copenhagen where he worked first as a singer and later as director of the opera chorus and head director. In 1825 he founded the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. He was married three times during his life, including his second marriage to the sister of poet Franz von Schober
. His third marriage produced a son, the composer and pianist Erik Siboni (1828–1892).
, Siboni studied singing
in his native city with castrato
Sebastiano Folicaldi. He made his professional opera debut in 1797 at the age of 17 in Florence. Over the next several years he sang with various Italian opera troupes, making appearances in Genoa, Milan, and Prague among other cities. In Prague he married Louise Veith, the daughter of a local banker. He made his debut at La Scala
on 26 December 1805 as Abenamet in the world premiere of Giuseppe Nicolini
's Abenamet e Zoraide. He returned there the following year to sing the role of Marco Orazio in Domenico Cimarosa
's Gli Orazi e i Curiazi
.
From 1806-1809, Siboni sang in three seasons at the King's Theatre
in London. His first critical success there was as Ruggero in Ferdinando Paër
's Il principe di Taranto on 23 December 1806. In the 1809-1810 season he was once again at La Scala where he had a particular triumph as the title hero in the world premiere of Simon Mayr
's Raoul di Crequi on 26 December 1809. From 1810-1814 he was active in Vienna where he notably performed in the world premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven
's Tremate, empi tremate on 27 February 1814. He was much admired at the Vienna Hofoper
as Licinio in Gaspare Spontini
's La vestale
and in several operas by Paer. In 1813 he performed as a guest artist in Prague.
Siboni returned to Italy in late 1814, and on 17 January 1815 he performed the role of Timagene in the house premiere of Gaetano Andreozzi's Il trionfo di Alessandro Magno il Macedone at the Teatro Argentina
in Rome. Later that month, he appeared at the Teatro di San Carlo
in Naples as Polinesso in Simon Mayr
's Ginevra di Scozia
. He was heard in several more roles in Naples in 1815-1816 and 1818, including Seleuco in Sebastiano Nasolini's La vendetta di Nino and Andreozzi's Timagene. From 1815-1817 he performed frequently at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
. While there he created the role of Classamoro in the world premiere of Pietro Generali
's Clato on 26 Dicembre 1816 and portrayed the role of Argirio in the house premiere of Gioachino Rossini's Tancredi
on 29 January 1817.
In 1818 Siboni made appearances at the Mariinsky Theatre
in St. Petersburg. He joined the roster of singers at the Royal Danish Theatre
(RDT) in Copenhagen in 1819. Christian VIII of Denmark
had heard him perform in 1815 and had been trying to recruit him for that theatre ever since. The king later honored Siboni with the title Kammersänger
. Siboni eventually was appointed director of the RDT and remained active with the opera in Copenhagen until his death in 1839. In 1825 he founded the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. Some of his notable pupils were Emilie da Fonseca
, Ida Henriette da Fonseca
, Johanne Luise Heiberg
and Peter Nicolaj Schram.
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...
tic 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...
, opera director, choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, and voice teacher
Voice teacher
A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who trains adults and children in the art of singing. This generally involves training in breath control and support, proper tone production, pitch control and musical intonation, proper formation of vowels and consonants as well as...
. He began his career in his native country in 1797 and actively performed in major Italian opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
s up through 1818. From 1806-1809 he performed successfully in London, and from 1810-1814 he was active in Vienna where he enjoyed the friendship of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
. He played a critical role in Danish musical life from 1819 until his death in 1839. In 1819 he joined the Royal Danish Theatre
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...
in Copenhagen where he worked first as a singer and later as director of the opera chorus and head director. In 1825 he founded the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. He was married three times during his life, including his second marriage to the sister of poet Franz von Schober
Franz von Schober
Franz Adolf Friedrich Schober, since 1801 von Schober was an Austrian poet, librettist, lithographer, actor in Breslau and Legationsrat in Weimar....
. His third marriage produced a son, the composer and pianist Erik Siboni (1828–1892).
Life and career
Born in ForlìForlì
Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
, Siboni studied singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
in his native city with castrato
Castrato
A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...
Sebastiano Folicaldi. He made his professional opera debut in 1797 at the age of 17 in Florence. Over the next several years he sang with various Italian opera troupes, making appearances in Genoa, Milan, and Prague among other cities. In Prague he married Louise Veith, the daughter of a local banker. He made his debut 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...
on 26 December 1805 as Abenamet in the world premiere of Giuseppe Nicolini
Giuseppe Nicolini
Giuseppe Nicolini was an Italian composer who wrote at least 45 operas. From 1819 onwards, he devoted himself primarily to religious music...
's Abenamet e Zoraide. He returned there the following year to sing the role of Marco Orazio in Domenico Cimarosa
Domenico Cimarosa
Domenico Cimarosa was an Italian opera composer of the Neapolitan school...
's Gli Orazi e i Curiazi
Gli Orazi e i Curiazi
Gli Orazi e i Curiazi is an opera in three acts composed by Domenico Cimarosa to a libretto by Antonio Simeone Sografi, based on Pierre Corneille's tragedy, Horace.-History:...
.
From 1806-1809, Siboni sang in three seasons 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...
in London. His first critical success there was as Ruggero in Ferdinando Paër
Ferdinando Paer
-Biography:Paer was born at Parma. His father was a trumpeter with the Ducal Bodyguards and also performed at church and court events. His name, Ferdinando, was after Duke Ferdinand of Parma and was given to him by Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Duke Ferdinand's wife...
's Il principe di Taranto on 23 December 1806. In the 1809-1810 season he was once again at La Scala where he had a particular triumph as the title hero in the world premiere of Simon Mayr
Simon Mayr
Johann Simon Mayr , also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr was a German composer.- Life :...
's Raoul di Crequi on 26 December 1809. From 1810-1814 he was active in Vienna where he notably performed in the world premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Tremate, empi tremate on 27 February 1814. He was much admired at the Vienna Hofoper
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
as Licinio in Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini was an Italian opera composer and conductor, extremely celebrated in his time, though largely forgotten after his death.-Biography:...
's La vestale
La vestale
La vestale is an opera composed by Gaspare Spontini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy. It was first performed at the Paris Opéra in Paris on December 15, 1807 and is regarded as Spontini's masterpiece...
and in several operas by Paer. In 1813 he performed as a guest artist in Prague.
Siboni returned to Italy in late 1814, and on 17 January 1815 he performed the role of Timagene in the house premiere of Gaetano Andreozzi's Il trionfo di Alessandro Magno il Macedone at the Teatro Argentina
Teatro Argentina
The Teatro Argentina is an opera house and theatre located in the Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. It is one of the oldest theatres in Rome, and was inaugurated on January 31, 1732 with Berenice by Domenico Sarro....
in Rome. Later that month, he appeared at the Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
in Naples as Polinesso in Simon Mayr
Simon Mayr
Johann Simon Mayr , also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr was a German composer.- Life :...
's Ginevra di Scozia
Ginevra di Scozia
Ginevra di Scozia is an opera in two acts by Simon Mayr set to an Italian libretto by Gaetano Rossi based on Antonio Salvi's, Ginevra, principessa di Scozia, which in turn was adapted from Cantos 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. Ginevra di Scozia premiered on 21 April 1801 at the...
. He was heard in several more roles in Naples in 1815-1816 and 1818, including Seleuco in Sebastiano Nasolini's La vendetta di Nino and Andreozzi's Timagene. From 1815-1817 he performed frequently at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
. While there he created the role of Classamoro in the world premiere of 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 Clato on 26 Dicembre 1816 and portrayed the role of Argirio in the house premiere of Gioachino Rossini's Tancredi
Tancredi
Tancredi is a melodramma eroico in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi, based on Voltaire's play Tancrède...
on 29 January 1817.
In 1818 Siboni made appearances at the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
in St. Petersburg. He joined the roster of singers at the Royal Danish Theatre
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...
(RDT) in Copenhagen in 1819. Christian VIII of Denmark
Christian VIII of Denmark
Christian VIII , was king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, king of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...
had heard him perform in 1815 and had been trying to recruit him for that theatre ever since. The king later honored Siboni with the title Kammersänger
Kammersänger
Kammersänger , abbreviation: "Ks.", literally means "Chamber singer." It is a German honorific title for distinguished singers...
. Siboni eventually was appointed director of the RDT and remained active with the opera in Copenhagen until his death in 1839. In 1825 he founded the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. Some of his notable pupils were Emilie da Fonseca
Emilie da Fonseca
Emilie da Fonseca Muller, married surname Bratz was a Norwegian stage actor and opera singer. She belonged to the pioneer group of artists in the first national theatre in Norway. She was also among the most noted artists of her time in Norway.- Biography :Emilie da Fonseca was the daughter of...
, Ida Henriette da Fonseca
Ida Henriette da Fonseca
Ida Henriette da Fonseca was a Danish opera singer and composer.Ida Henriette da Fonseca was the daughter of Abraham da Fonseca and Marie Sofie Kiærskou . She and her sister Emilie da Fonseca were students of Giuseppe Siboni, choir master of the Opera in Copenhagen...
, Johanne Luise Heiberg
Johanne Luise Heiberg
Johanne Luise Heiberg was one of the greatest Danish actresses of the 19th century. She is most famous for her work at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where she achieved great success.-Early life:...
and Peter Nicolaj Schram.