Domenico Cimarosa

Concerto

Born on December 17, 1749 in Aversa, in the Kingdom of Naples, Domenico Cimarosa is one of the last and most important representatives of the 18th-century Neapolitan school. Trained at the Conservatory of Santa Maria di Loreto by Giuseppe Giordani, he began a brilliant career as an opera composer at a very early age, which took him to the four corners of Europe, mainly to Saint Petersburg, Vienna, and Florence, where he obtained permanent positions that allowed him to produce his greatest successes, such as "Il matrimonio segreto" and "Le Astuzie femminili." A convinced Republican and committed supporter of Italian unity, which fiercely opposed him to his rival Paisiello, he was imprisoned by Cardinal Ruffo in 1799 and left Naples for Venice, where he died in 1801. His work is marked by a remarkable faculty for melodic invention, a perfect use of the voice, and flawless orchestration. The present "Concerto per mandolino," attributed to him, features rhythmic figures, harmonic cadences, and a style that is both brilliant and light, very similar to his aria for voice, mandolin, and orchestra, "Quand è il giorno delle nozze," from the opera "Il Pittor Parigino." This virtuoso triptych in Vivaldi form adopts the key of G major, ideal for the mandolin, and is a successful example of its perfect use from both a technical and expressive point of view. Composed in a pre-classical style more modern than Giovanni Paisiello's concerto in C Maggiore, Cimarosa's concerto stands out as one of the most important works in 18th-century literature for the instrument.