Manuel García (tenor)
Encyclopedia
Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García (also known as Manuel García the Senior; 21 January 1775 – 10 June 1832) was a Spanish
opera singer, composer
, impresario
, and singing teacher.
, Spain
, on 21 January 1775. In 1808, he went to Paris
, with previous experience as a tenor
at Madrid
and Cadiz
. By 1808, when he appeared in the opera Griselda
in Paris, he was already a composer of light operas. He lived in Naples, Italy, performing in Gioachino Rossini's operas. These included the premières of Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra
and The Barber of Seville
, in which he portrayed the role of Count Almaviva. In 1816, he visited Paris and London, England. Between 1819 and 1823, he lived in Paris, and sang in operas such as The Barber of Seville, Otello
, and Don Giovanni
.
His elder daughter was the celebrated mezzo-soprano
Maria Malibran
, and his second daughter was Pauline Viardot, a musician of consequence and, as a singer, one of "the most brilliant dramatic stars" of her time. His son, Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García
, after being a second-rate baritone
, became a world-famous vocal pedagogue
, "the main theorist of Rossini vocal school".
In 1826, he and his company visited the United States. They staged the first performances of Italian opera in New York
. The García family took all the main parts in performances of The Barber of Seville, with García as Almaviva, his second wife Joaquina Sitchez (also called "la Briones") as Berta, Manuel Jr. as Figaro, and Maria as Rosina; Pauline was still very young at this time. Venetian opera librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte
was in America and encouraged the company to perform Don Giovanni. Don Giovanni was given its first American performance in the presence of its librettist, with García singing the title role, la Briones as Donna Elvira, Maria as Zerlina, and Manuel Jr. as Leporello.
They also performed in Mexico
, and García recounted in his memoirs that while on the road between Mexico and Vera Cruz
, he was robbed of all his money by brigands.
García had planned to settle in Mexico, but following to political troubles, in 1829 he had to return to Paris, where he was once again very warmly welcome by the public. His voice, however, was being impaired by age as well as fatigue, and, never ceasing to compose, "he soon dedicated himself to teaching, for which he seems to have been specially gifted". After having last appeared on stage in August 1831, he died on 10 June the following year and was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery
. His funeral oration was delivered by François-Joseph Fétis
, who "honoured him above all as a composer, remarking that his best works remained unpublished – as is still true today". In 1836, Franz Liszt
wrote a Rondeau fantastique sur un thème espagnol, S, 252, for piano, based on García's song "El contrabandista".
According to James Radomski, "García's dynamic perfectionism left its impact on three continents and his legacy, in the hands of his children, was carried into the 20th century".
, it was mainly after coming to Italy in 1812 and meeting “the highly respected tenor and teacher Giovanni Ansani that he acquired the skills that would enable him to cope with Rossini. Ansani taught him how to project, and perhaps how to achieve the heavier sound that Mozart had recognized in all Italian singers as long ago as 1770, and presumably gave him the pedagogical rigour that would enable him to teach so authoritatively”. In fact, his "voice was, according to Fétis
, a deep tenor": indeed, his singing had baritonal characteristics and has been presently referred to as baritenore
, mainly in Italy. García possessed, however, an unusual vocal compass: although he was also able to cope with real baritone roles, the parts written for him by Rossini generally tend to be higher than those written for other baritonal tenors like Andrea Nozzari
or Domenico Donzelli
, and, according to Paolo Scudo's testimony, it was García, and not Gilbert-Louis Duprez
, the first singer able to utter the “C from the chest”. Given his artistic background, however, García is not reported to have ever sung it in public.
Despite his range, he cannot be regarded as a tenore contraltino. He had, for instance, in his repertoire the role of Lindoro in L'italiana in Algeri
, but, when he had to confront "the extremely high tessitura
and the mainly syllabic writing of [his entrance aria] 'Languir per una bella', he transposed the aria down a minor third
, performing it in C major instead of E flat". García was also able to master falsetto
vocal phonation to such a point that, in a tonadilla
of his, El poeta calculista, he could perform a duet with himself, where he sang both the tenor and the soprano
parts.
Having an extravagant, even violent, personality and despotic attitudes even towards his children (who were also his pupils), he transported onto the stage something of his personal character, making his performances as Otello and Don Giovanni memorable, but he also succeeded in bridling his exuberance and in getting the style under perfect control, so that he could render his Mozart
Count Almaviva a real, proud and elegant, grandee of Spain.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
opera singer, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
, and singing teacher.
Biography
García was born in SevilleSeville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, on 21 January 1775. In 1808, he went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, with previous experience as a 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...
at Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
. By 1808, when he appeared in the opera Griselda
Griselda
Griselda is a feminine given name used in the English, Italian, Spanish, and Germanic languages. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States....
in Paris, he was already a composer of light operas. He lived in Naples, Italy, performing in Gioachino Rossini's operas. These included the premières of 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...
and 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...
, in which he portrayed the role of Count Almaviva. In 1816, he visited Paris and London, England. Between 1819 and 1823, he lived in Paris, and sang in operas such as The Barber of Seville, 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 Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don 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...
.
His elder daughter was the celebrated mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
Maria Malibran
Maria Malibran
The mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran , was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28...
, and his second daughter was Pauline Viardot, a musician of consequence and, as a singer, one of "the most brilliant dramatic stars" of her time. His son, Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García
Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García
Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García , was a Spanish singer, music educator, and vocal pedagogue.-Biography:García was born on 17 March 1805 in the town of Zafra in Badajoz Province, Spain. His father was singer and teacher Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García...
, after being a second-rate baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, became a world-famous vocal pedagogue
Vocal pedagogy
Vocal pedagogy is the study of the art and science of voice instruction. It is used in the teaching of singing and assists in defining what singing is, how singing works, and how proper singing technique is accomplished....
, "the main theorist of Rossini vocal school".
In 1826, he and his company visited the United States. They staged the first performances of Italian opera in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The García family took all the main parts in performances of The Barber of Seville, with García as Almaviva, his second wife Joaquina Sitchez (also called "la Briones") as Berta, Manuel Jr. as Figaro, and Maria as Rosina; Pauline was still very young at this time. Venetian opera librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte
Lorenzo Da Ponte
Lorenzo Da Ponte was a Venetian opera librettist and poet. He wrote the librettos for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's greatest operas, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Così fan tutte....
was in America and encouraged the company to perform Don Giovanni. Don Giovanni was given its first American performance in the presence of its librettist, with García singing the title role, la Briones as Donna Elvira, Maria as Zerlina, and Manuel Jr. as Leporello.
They also performed in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and García recounted in his memoirs that while on the road between Mexico and Vera Cruz
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
, he was robbed of all his money by brigands.
García had planned to settle in Mexico, but following to political troubles, in 1829 he had to return to Paris, where he was once again very warmly welcome by the public. His voice, however, was being impaired by age as well as fatigue, and, never ceasing to compose, "he soon dedicated himself to teaching, for which he seems to have been specially gifted". After having last appeared on stage in August 1831, he died on 10 June the following year and was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
. His funeral oration was delivered by François-Joseph Fétis
François-Joseph Fétis
François-Joseph Fétis was a Belgian musicologist, composer, critic and teacher. He was one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century, and his enormous compilation of biographical data in the Biographie universelle des musiciens remains an important source of information today...
, who "honoured him above all as a composer, remarking that his best works remained unpublished – as is still true today". In 1836, Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
wrote a Rondeau fantastique sur un thème espagnol, S, 252, for piano, based on García's song "El contrabandista".
According to James Radomski, "García's dynamic perfectionism left its impact on three continents and his legacy, in the hands of his children, was carried into the 20th century".
Artistic features
In spite of his Spanish origins, Manuel García became a paragon of the Italian-style tenor of the early 19th century. According to John PotterJohn Potter (musician)
-Life:John Potter's musical education began as a chorister at King's College Cambridge, after which he became a scholar at The King's School, Canterbury and exhibitioner at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
, it was mainly after coming to Italy in 1812 and meeting “the highly respected tenor and teacher Giovanni Ansani that he acquired the skills that would enable him to cope with Rossini. Ansani taught him how to project, and perhaps how to achieve the heavier sound that Mozart had recognized in all Italian singers as long ago as 1770, and presumably gave him the pedagogical rigour that would enable him to teach so authoritatively”. In fact, his "voice was, according to Fétis
François-Joseph Fétis
François-Joseph Fétis was a Belgian musicologist, composer, critic and teacher. He was one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century, and his enormous compilation of biographical data in the Biographie universelle des musiciens remains an important source of information today...
, a deep tenor": indeed, his singing had baritonal characteristics and has been presently referred to as baritenore
Baritenor
Baritenor is a musical term formed by a blend of the words "baritone" and "tenor". It is used to describe both baritone and tenor voices. In Webster's Third New International Dictionary it is defined as "a baritone singing voice with virtually a tenor range"...
, mainly in Italy. García possessed, however, an unusual vocal compass: although he was also able to cope with real baritone roles, the parts written for him by Rossini generally tend to be higher than those written for other baritonal tenors like Andrea Nozzari
Andrea Nozzari
Andrea Nozzari was an Italian tenor.Nozzari was born in Vertova and studied in Bergamo and Rome. He is notable for the principal roles written for him by Gioachino Rossini and mostly premiered in Domenico Barbaia's theatres in Naples...
or Domenico Donzelli
Domenico Donzelli
Domenico Donzelli was an Italian tenor with a robust voice who enjoyed an important career in Paris, London and his native country during the 1808-1841 period.-Biography:...
, and, according to Paolo Scudo's testimony, it was García, and not Gilbert-Louis Duprez
Gilbert Duprez
Gilbert Duprez was a French tenor, singing teacher and minor composer who famously pioneered the delivery of the operatic high C from the chest. He also created the role of Edgardo in the popular bel canto-era opera Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835.-Biography:Gilbert-Louis Duprez, to give his full...
, the first singer able to utter the “C from the chest”. Given his artistic background, however, García is not reported to have ever sung it in public.
Despite his range, he cannot be regarded as a tenore contraltino. He had, for instance, in his repertoire the role of Lindoro in 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...
, but, when he had to confront "the extremely high tessitura
Tessitura
In music, the term tessitura generally describes the most musically acceptable and comfortable range for a given singer or, less frequently, musical instrument; the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding texture or timbre...
and the mainly syllabic writing of [his entrance aria] 'Languir per una bella', he transposed the aria down a minor third
Minor third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor third spans three semitones, the major...
, performing it in C major instead of E flat". García was also able to master falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
vocal phonation to such a point that, in a tonadilla
Tonadilla
Tonadilla was a Spanish musical song form of theatrical origin; not danced. The genre was a type of short, satirical musical comedy popular in 18th-century Spain, and later in Cuba and other Spanish colonial countries. It originated as a song type, then dialogue for characters was written into the...
of his, El poeta calculista, he could perform a duet with himself, where he sang both the tenor and the soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
parts.
Having an extravagant, even violent, personality and despotic attitudes even towards his children (who were also his pupils), he transported onto the stage something of his personal character, making his performances as Otello and Don Giovanni memorable, but he also succeeded in bridling his exuberance and in getting the style under perfect control, so that he could render his Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang 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...
Count Almaviva a real, proud and elegant, grandee of Spain.
Roles created and significant performances
The following is a selected list (mainly drawn from the Amadeusonline Almanac by Gherardo Casaglia) which intends to note significant moments in Manuel García’s career after his arrival in Italy. The symbol (*) indicates premieres, while the symbol (**) marks other notable performances, especially involving premieres in towns and theatres.| role | opera | genre | composer | theatre | performance date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Achille | Ifigenia in Aulide Iphigénie en Aulide Iphigénie en Aulide is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by Leblanc du Roullet and was based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie... |
tragedia-opera (2nd version) [performed in Italian] | Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years... |
Naples, Real Teatro 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... |
15 August 1812 (**) |
| Achille | Ecuba | tragedia per musica | Nicola Antonio Manfroce Nicola Antonio Manfroce Nicola Antonio Manfroce was an Italian composer.-References:... |
Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo | 13 December 1812 (*) |
| Oitone | Gaulo ed Oitone | melodramma serio | 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:... |
Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo | 9 March 1813 (*) |
| Califfo Isaun | Il califfo di Bagdad | opera comica | Manuel García | Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo | 8 November 1813 (**) |
| Egeo | Medea in Corinto Medea in Corinto Medea in Corinto is an opera in Italian by the composer Simon Mayr. It takes the form of a melodramma tragico in two acts. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based on the Greek myth of Medea and the plays on the theme by Euripides and Pierre Corneille... |
melodramma tragico (1st version) | Simon Mayr Simon Mayr Johann Simon Mayr , also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr was a German composer.- Life :... |
Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo | 28 November 1813 (*) |
| Endimione | Diana ed Endimione | cantata Cantata A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.... |
Manuel García | Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo | 9 February 1814 (*) |
| Almaviva | Le nozze di Figaro | opera buffa | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang 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... |
Naples, Teatro del Fondo della Separazione Teatro del Fondo The Teatro del Fondo is a theatre in Naples, now known as the Teatro Mercadante. Together with the Teatro San Carlo, it was originally one of the two royal opera houses of the 18th and 19th-century city.... |
March 1814 (**) |
| Alceo | Partenope | festa teatrale Festa teatrale The term festa teatrale refers to a genre of drama, and of opera in particular. The genre cannot be rigidly defined, and in any case feste teatrali tend to be split into two different sets: feste teatrali divided by acts are operas, while works in this genre performed without division, or merely... |
Giuseppe Farinelli Giuseppe Farinelli Giuseppe Farinelli was an Italian composer active at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century who excelled in writing opera buffas... |
Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo | 15 August 1814 (*) |
| Don Rodrigo | Donna Caritea, regina di Spagna | dramma serio per musica | Giuseppe Farinelli | Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo | 16 September 1814 (*) |
| Dallaton | Tella e Dallaton, o sia La donzella di Raab | opera seria Opera seria Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770... |
Manuel García | Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo | 4 November 1814 (*) |
| Ermindo | La gelosia corretta | commedia per musica | Michele Carafa Michele Carafa Michele Enrico Carafa di Colobrano was an Italian opera composer. He was born in Naples and studied in Paris with Luigi Cherubini. He was Professor of counterpoint at the Paris Conservatoire from 1840 to 1858... |
Naples, Teatro dei Fiorentini di Napoli | carnival 1815 (*) |
| Enrico V | La gioventù di Enrico Quinto | opera | Ferdinand Hérold | Naples, Teatro del Fondo della Separazione | 5 January 1815 (*) |
| Ataliba | Cora | opera seria | Simon Mayr | Real Teatro San Carlo di Napoli | 27 Marzo 1815 (*) |
| Norfolk | 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... |
dramma per musica Dramma per musica Dramma per musica is a term which was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the late-17th and mid-19th centuries... |
Gioachino Rossini | Naples, Real Teatro San Carlo | 4 October 1815 (*) |
| Almaviva | Almaviva ossia L'inutile precauzione 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... (Il barbiere di Siviglia) |
dramma comico | Gioachino Rossini | Rome, Teatro della Torre 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.... |
20 February 1816 (*) |
| Lindoro | 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... |
melodramma buffo | Gioachino Rossini | Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien Comédie-Italienne Over time, there have been several buildings and several theatrical companies named the "Théâtre-Italien" or the "Comédie-Italienne" in Paris. Following the times, the theatre has shown both plays and operas... |
1 February 1817 (**) |
| Torvaldo | Torvaldo e Dorliska Torvaldo e Dorliska Torvaldo 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... |
dramma lirico semiserio | Gioachino Rossini | Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien | 21 November 1820 (**) |
| Giocondo | 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:... |
melodramma giocoso (revision) | Gioachino Rossini | Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien | 5 April 1821 (**) |
| Otello | Otello | dramma tragico per musica (1st version) | Gioachino Rossini | Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien | 5 June 1821 (**) |
| Norfolk | Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra | dramma per musica | Gioachino Rossini | Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien | 10 March 1822 (**) |
| Florestan | Florestan ou Le conseil des dix | opéra | Manuel García | Paris, Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique | 26 June 1822 (*) |
| Aaron | 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.... |
azione tragico-sacra (3rd version) | Gioachino Rossini | Paris, Salle Louvois du Théâtre-Italien | 20 October 1822 (**) |
| Ilo | 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... |
dramma serio per musica (2nd version) | Gioachino Rossini | London, King's Theatre in the Haymarket 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... |
24 January 1824 (**) |
| Agorante | 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... |
dramma per musica (1st version) | Gioachino Rossini | London, King's Theatre in the Haymarket | 24 March 1824 (**) |
| Idreno | 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... |
melodramma tragico | Gioachino Rossini | London, King's Theatre in the Haymarket | 15 July 1824 (**) |
| Almaviva | Il barbiere di Siviglia | dramma giocoso Dramma giocoso Dramma giocoso is the name of a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of "dramma giocoso per musica" and is essentially a description of the text rather than the opera as a whole... |
Gioachino Rossini | New York, Park Theatre Park Theatre Park Theatre or Park Theater may refer to:* Park Theatre , British Columbia* Park Theatre * Park Theatre , New York* Park Performing Arts Center, formerly Park Theater, in Union City, New Jersey... |
29 November 1825 (**) |
| Otello | Otello | dramma tragico per musica (1st version) | Gioachino Rossini | New York, Park Theatre | 7 February 1826 (**) |
| Narciso | 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... |
dramma buffo per musica (opera buffa, 2nd version) | Gioachino Rossini | New York, Park Theatre | 14 March 1826 (**) |
| Don Giovanni | Don Giovanni Don Giovanni Don 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... |
opera buffa | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | New York, Park Theatre | 23 May 1826 (**) |
| Ramiro | La Cenerentola La Cenerentola La 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... |
melodramma giocoso | Gioachino Rossini | New York, Park Theatre | 27 June 1827 (**) |
Selected works
The following lists are drawn from The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (article: "García, Manuel", by James Radomski), with possible details from different sources.- Performed
- El majo y la maja (tonadillaTonadillaTonadilla was a Spanish musical song form of theatrical origin; not danced. The genre was a type of short, satirical musical comedy popular in 18th-century Spain, and later in Cuba and other Spanish colonial countries. It originated as a song type, then dialogue for characters was written into the...
, Madrid, 1798) - La declaración (tonadilla, Madrid, 1799)
- El seductor arrepentido (opereta, Madrid, 1802)
- Quien porfía mucho alcanza (opereta, Madrid, 1802)
- El luto fingido (opereta, Madrid, 1803)
- El criado fingido (opereta, Madrid, 1804)
- El padrastro, o Quien a yerro mata a yerro muere (Madrid, 1804)
- El poeta calculista (monologue, Madrid, 1805)
- El cautiverio aparente (opereta, Madrid, 1805)
- El preso (monologue, Madrid, 1806)
- Los lacónicos, o La trampa descubierta (opereta, Madrid, 1806)
- Los ripios del maestro Adán (opereta, Madrid, 1807)
- Il califfo di Bagdad (opera buffaOpera buffaOpera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
, Naples, 1813) - Talla e Dallaton, o sia La donzella di Raab (opera seriaOpera seriaOpera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
, Naples, 1814) - Le prince d’occasion (opéra-comiqueOpéra-ComiqueThe Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
, Paris, 1817) - Il fazzoletto (opera buffa, Paris, 1820)
- La mort du Tasse (tragédie lyrique, Paris, 1821)
- La meunière (opera comica, Paris, 1821)
- Florestan, ou Le conseil des dix (opéra, Paris, 1822)
- Les deux contrats de mariage (opera buffa, Paris, 1824)
- Astuzie e prudenza (London, 1825)
- L'amante astuto (comic opera, New York, 1825)
- Il lupo d'Ostenda, o sia L'innocente salvato dal colpevole (New York, 1825)
- La figlia del aria (New York, 1826)
- La buona famiglia (New York, 1826)
- El Abufar, ossia La famiglia araba (Mexico City, 1827)
- Un'ora di matrimonio (opera buffa, Mexico City, 1827)
- Zemira ed Azor (Mexico City, 1827)
- Acendi (Mexico City, 1828)
- El gitano por amor (Mexico City, 1828)
- Los maritos solteros (Mexico City, 1828)
- Semiramis (Mexico City, 1828)
- Xaira (Mexico City, 1828)
- El majo y la maja (tonadilla
- Unperformed (or privately performed)
- Un avvertimento ai gelosi
- Le cinesi
- Il finto sordo
- L'isola disabitata
- I tre gobbi
- I banditi, o sia La foresta pericolosa
- Don Chisciotte (opera buffa in two acts)
- La gioventù d'Enrico V
- L'origine des graces
- Le tre sultane
- El Zapatero de Bagdad