Antonio Salieri

Born: 18 August 1750, Legnago (Italy)
Died: 7 May 1825, Vienna (Austria)

(this composer submitted by Christopher Thompson <OPERA5aol.com>)

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Wrote over 40 operas, most notably "Tarare", "Axur, re D’ormus" (Lorenzo da Ponte’s translation Beaumarchais’s libretto of "Tarare" into Italian), "Les Danaides", "Falstaff", "La Grotta di Trofonio", "Armida" and "La Locandiera". All these operas are excellent operas, and deserve much more recognition than they have now.

He also wrote numerous instrumental works. Wrote 2 symphonies in D, Seranatas for winds, the variations on "Follia di Spagna", a charming concerto for flute and oboe, a triple concerto, an organ concerto, 2 wonderful piano concertos, music for the ballet, and others. He wrote a few chamber works as well. Some harming string quartet overtures, some divertimenti, Scherzi, and some concertinos.

Also worthy of mention, he wrote numerous church works such as masses, requiems, and cantatas.

His music and style is wonderful. He should not of been forgotten. Two opera recordings are still out and many instrumental recordings are out. You can E-mail me if you want more infomation and some recording titles that I recommend by him. My E-mail is <OPERA5aol.com>.

Biography

Salieri was born on August 18, 1750 in Legnago, Italy. Not much is known about his early life. He moved to Vienna later in his musical career. He had many triumphs in opera. After W.A. Mozart died there was rumors of Salieri killing him, but Vienna did not believe these rumors and they have been confirmed not true. He had to be put in an asylum because he started to become unstable and died there on May 7, 1825.

There is a biography on him called "Maligned Master" by Volkmar Braunbehrens.

(contribution by Ryan Price <beanieprimenet.com>)

I have studied much on Antonio Salieri and have found his works incredibly wonderful. I also have researched a lot about his early life. Here is some of what I have gleaned from texts such as Maligned Master, the New Grove, and olf texts on Salieri.

After he had been orphaned, he spent his days with the renouned composer Gassmann in Vienna under his teachings. There he became fast friends with the emperor while attending many of his private musical gatherings with his master and tutor Gassmann. Finaly he began to participate in the gatherings, and thusly earned his first monies in music.

Through the years he became good friends with the Emperor, who also helped him in matters with his future wife. When he ask her guardian for her hand in marriage, the guardian refused due to the fact that Salieri only earned 100 ducats as court conductor. The Emperor upon hearing this rasied Salieri’s Stipend to 300 ducats under the stipulation that he take over some of the duties that Kapellmeister Bono (who was now in his sixties) could no longer perform.

Also mentioned in his early years, he was one of the "new school" of opera composing, and forged a new path for others to follow, indeed Mozart was one of the composers who had to "follow in his footsteps" when it came to such things.

Other facts of note... Salieri had seven children, was a close friend of Gassmann, and Gluck, was a man who suported the arts, the church, and had many students among which were Liszt, Beethoven, and others.

<pilar_pennyhotmail.com> writes: Let’s not forget Salieri’s mistress Catarina Cavalieri...

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Antonio Salieri - Falstaff / Del Carlo, Ringholz, Croft, Ostmann (Schwetzinger Festspiele)

starring: Arnold Ostman, Richard Croft, Teresa Ringholz, Carlos Feller, Delores Ziegler
directed by: John Del Carlo, Agnes Meth, Claus Viller

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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0807280002393
Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Arthaus Musik
Languages: EnglishSubtitledJapaneseSubtitledItalianOriginal LanguagePCM Stereo
Manufacturer: Arthaus Musik
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Arthaus Musik
Release Date: August 15, 2000
Running Time: 120 minutes
Studio: Arthaus Musik
Theatrical Release Date: 1996

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Thanks to Peter Schaffer's Amadeus, Antonio Salieri has been immortalized as the mediocre musician who probably poisoned Mozart in a fit of jealousy over the latter's immense talent. While history has been less than kind to Salieri, occasional stagings of his operas and recordings of his works show that this ignorance is not entirely justified. His opera Falstaff is one of several based on Shakespeare's immortal comic creation, and while not as memorable as Otto Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor or Verdi's immortal Falstaff, Salieri's version passes its two hours onstage with a pleasing comic touch.

This 1995 performance from the Schwetzinger Festspiele in Germany is proof positive that Salieri's operas can hold their own onstage. Director Michael Hampe stages the farce at a brisk but never breakneck pace, and he and his designers conjure up a plausibly comic world. John de Carlo looks exactly right as the overbearing knight whose eye for the ladies leads to his comeuppance, and he sings with brio. Conductor Arnold Östmann and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart play the bright-sounding score with panache. Visually, this Falstaff looks great, and aurally, the stereo mix is quite good. Since this is an opera that's rarely recorded, let alone heard, this disc is a must for fans of 18th-century music. --Kevin Filipski

Customer Reviews

Average Rating:

Rating: - Sparkling Salieri!
This production is about as sparkling a work as I've seen in quite some time. Salieri's score shows very heavy influences of his rival, Mozart, in particular his overture reminded me a good bit of Nozze di Figaro. It's perhaps easy to see (or hear) why
Mozart outshone Salieri. Mozart (we know) was genius who accomplished the unbelievable and amazing in such a brief span of life. Nonetheless, Salieri is very worthy of exploration and his works, this in particular, should be heard by modern ... Read More

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Rating: - Salieri is not Mozart
This DVD is nicely presented visually, but I found the sound on my admittedly ancient TV to be quite distorted. It seemed as if the sound was recorded at a level above what the recording equipment could take. Most of the singers including Falstaff seemed reasonably accurate, but the apparent distortion made the quality seem mediocre. The dialogue was quite good and the comic acting was excellent. On the other hand, the quality of the music was just not very good. Maybe everyone should hear Salieri's ... Read More

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Rating: - A very pleasant surprise
"Not very good" was how a friend of mine many years ago described the music to a certain opera he had just heard on a CD. Perhaps if he viewed the new Arthaus Musik DVD release of Salieri's (100 023), distributed by the excellent Naxos of America people, his opinion might change.

Now granted that it comes nowhere close to the standard set by the Verdi opera and it lacks the great beauty of the Vaughan Williams "Sir John in Love," it is almost as good as Nicolai's "Merry Wives ... Read More

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• An essay about Salieri with very detailed info of his life, rivalry with Mozart etc.