Giacomo David
Giacomo David (born Giacomo Davide, Presezzo, 1750 – Bergamo, 1830), was a leading Italian tenor of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.[1]
Biography
Probably self-taught as a singer, he studied composition in Naples with Nicola Sala,[2] and began his career in the early 1770s appearing on the stages of major Italian theatres such as the Teatro Regio in Turin, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice. Here he participated in the inauguration of the newly erected theatre La Fenice, in 1792, performing the role of Eraclide in Paisiello's I giochi di Agrigento. After having made his debut at Milan's Teatro alla Scala in 1782, he became a regular performer there at the beginning of the new century.
In 1791 Davide travelled to London, where the -e in his surname seems to have been dropped, and where he appeared at the King's Theatre as the protagonist of Paisiello's Pirro, one of his favourite roles. On 17 May 1791, he took part in a charity concert in the Hannover Square Rooms, where he executed the tenor aria "Cara deh torna", specially composed for the occasion by Joseph Haydn.[3]
In 1801, he took part in the inauguration of Trieste's Regio Teatro Nuovo, performing two premières on 20 and 21 April: Antonio Salieri's Annibale in Capua (Scipione) and Simon Mayr's Ginevra di Scozia (Polinesso).
His career was very long, continuing into the early twenty years of the 19th century, with a repertoire based upon such composers as Paisiello, Mayr, Ferdinando Bertoni, Domenico Cimarosa, Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi, Giuseppe Sarti, Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, and Francesco Bianchi. In many operas he worked alongside the castrati Girolamo Crescentini and Gaspare Pacchierotti, and the soprano Brigida Banti, who shared common artistic trends with him.[4]
In France, where he appeared opposite Isabella Colbran in Otello, David came to be known as Giacomo le père ("Giacomo the father"), because his son Giovanni David was also pursuing a successful career in opera.
David can be considered [5] as the initiator of the Bergamo tenor school which was going to produce such notable singers as Andrea Nozzari and Giacomo's aforesaid son, Giovanni (who were also actual pupils of his), Domenico Donzelli, Giovanni Battista Rubini, and Marco Bordogni.[6]
David died in 1830.
Artistic features
Giacomo David represents the typical baritonal tenor of the late 18th century, gifted with remarkable voice volume, but not lacking in high-pitching capability, though singing sharp notes in falsettone.[6] He had mastery of coloratura for which he was famous: "he was able to compete with the castratos in the florid music and far exceed them in his dramatic intensity",[7] and, by 1786 he was the first tenor in the history of Turin's Teatro Regio that was paid more than the primo uomo[8] during the carnival season. "Here was a sign that, with the castrati in decline, the tenor voice was beginning to engage the audience's interest as more than the stereotype utterance of kings and old men ...".[9] In fact, David's popularity was enormous and, along with his contemporaries, Matteo Babini and Giovanni Ansani, he contributed "[to lay] the foundation of the forthcoming myth of the tenor" which would be established during the Romantic era.[6]
Operatic roles
The list below is not exhaustive, but includes his most significant performances.[10]
| role | opera | genre | composer | theatre | date of performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucindo | La cameriera astuta | opera buffa | Alessandro Felici | Bergamo, Teatro di Bergamo | carnival, 1770 |
| Conte Lelio | La sposa fedele | opera buffa | uncertain | Vicenza, Teatro delle Grazie | "fiera dell'anno", 1771 |
| Conte Ernesto | L'incognita perseguitata | opera buffa | Pasquale Anfossi | Milan, Regio-Ducal Teatro | summer, 1773 |
| Rodomonte | Le pazzie d'Orlando | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pietro Guglielmi | Milan, Regio-Ducal Teatro | autumn, 1773 |
| Trasimede | Merope | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pietro Guglielmi | Turin, Teatro Regio | 26 December 1774 |
| Idreno | L'isola di Alcina ossia Alcina e Ruggiero | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Felice Alessandri | Turin, Nuovo Teatro Regio | 26 January 1775 |
| Artabano | Artaserse | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Battista Borghi | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 26 December 1775 |
| Alceo | Aristo e Temira | cantata pastorale (dramma per musica) | Ferdinando Bertoni | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 3 January 1776 |
| Creonte | Antigona | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Michele Mortellari | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 11 May 1776 |
| Arsace | Calliroe | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giacomo Rust | Padua, Teatro di Padua | June, 1776 |
| Dario | La disfatta di Dario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Bologna, Teatro Zagnoni | spring, 1777 |
| Pompeo | Farnace | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Sarti | Bologna, Teatro Zagnoni | spring, 1777 |
| Cavaliere Aquilanto | Il zotico incivilito | opera buffa | Pasquale Anfossi | Bologna, Teatro Zagnoni | autumn, 1777 |
| Artabano | Artaserse | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Ferdinando Bertoni | Lucca, Teatro di Lucca | autumn, 1777 |
| Massimo | Ezio | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Ferdinando Bertoni | Lucca, Teatro di Lucca | autumn, 1777 |
| Antigone | Eumene | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Battista Borghi | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 26 December 1777 |
| Medonte | Medonte, re di Epiro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Radicchi | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 3 January 1778 |
| Dario | La disfatta di Dario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Tommaso Traetta | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | carnival, 1778 |
| Alessandro | Alessandro nell'Indie | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Luigi Marescalchi | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 27 May 1778 |
| Papirio | Quinto Fabio | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Ferdinando Bertoni | Padua, Teatro Nuovo | June, 1778 |
| Cefeo | Andromeda | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Colla | Florence, Teatro della Pergola | autumn, 1778 |
| Jarba | Didone abbandonata | dramma per musica (opera seria) | "diversi" | Florence, Teatro della Pergola | autumn, 1778 |
| Osroa | Adriano in Siria | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Sarti | Rome, Teatro Argentina | carnival, 1779 |
| Antigono | Antigono | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Gazzaniga | Rome, Teatro Argentina | carnival, 1779 |
| Amasi | La Nitteti | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Luigi Gatti | Mantua, Teatro Regio-Ducal | spring, 1779 |
| Medonte | Medonte, re di Epiro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Sarti | Florence, Teatro Cocomero | summer, 1779 |
| Tito Manlio | Tito Manlio | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Battista Borghi | Rome, Teatro Argentina | carnival, 1780 |
| Medonte | Medonte | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Josef Mysliveček | Rome, Teatro Argentina | 26 January 1780 |
| Cajo Mario | Cajo Mario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Domenico Cimarosa | Mantua, Regio-Ducal | spring, 1780 |
| Alessandro | Alessandro nell'Indie | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Domenico Cimarosa | Rome, Teatro Argentina | 11 February 1781 |
| Cajo Mario | Il Cajo Mario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Ferdinando Bertoni | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 24 May 1781 |
| Learco | Reifile | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Felice Alessandri | Padua, Teatro Nuovo | June, 1781 |
| Giunio Bruto | Giunio Bruto | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Domenico Cimarosa | Verona, Accademia Filarmonica | autumn, 1781 |
| Dario | La disfatta di Dario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Genoa, Teatro Sant'Agostino | carnival, 1782 |
| Alessandro | Alessandro e Timoteo | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Sarti | Parma, Teatrino di Corte | 6 April 1782 |
| Mitridate | Tigrane | dramma per musica (opera seria) | anonymous | Genoa, Teatro Sant'Agostino | summer, 1782 |
| Prisco | La Circe | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Domenico Cimarosa | Milan, La Scala | 26 December 1782 |
| Palmoro | L'Idalide o sia La vergine del sole | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Sarti | Milan, La Scala | 8 January 1783 |
| Sabino | Epponia | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Giordani | Novara, Teatro Nuovo | spring, 1783 |
| Medonte | Medonte, re di Epiro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Gaetano Andreozzi | Alessandria, Teatro d'Alessandria | October, 1783 |
| Agamennone | Briseide | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Turin, Teatro Regio | 27 December 1783 |
| Ircano | Amaionne | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Bernardino Ottani | Turin, Teatro Regio | 24 January 1784 |
| Cajo Mario | Cajo Mario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 30 May 1784 |
| Ariodante | Artenice | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giacomo Tritto | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 13 August 1784 |
| Catone | Catone in Utica | tragedia per musica | Francesco Antonelli Torre | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 4 November 1784 |
| Antigono | Antigono | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 12 January 1785 |
| Rodoaldo | Ricimero | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Nicola Antonio Zingarelli | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 5 May 1785 |
| Agamennone | Ifigenia in Aulde | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Angelo Tarchi | Padua, Teatro Nuovo | June, 1785 |
| Artabano | Artaserse | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Ferdinando Bertoni | Brescia, Accademia degli Erranti | summer, 1785 |
| Ormodno | Il disertore | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Verona, Accademia Filarmonica | autumn, 1785 |
| Learco | Erifile | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Carlo Monza | Turin, Teatro Regio | 26 December 1785 |
| Palmoro | Idalide | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Salvatore Rispoli | Turin, Teatro Regio | 28 January 1786 |
| Clistene | Olimpia | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Alessio Prati | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 6 June 1786 |
| Tito | Giulio Sabino | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Sarti | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 13 August 1786 |
| Mesenzio | Mesenzio, re d'Etruria | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 4 November 1786 |
| Pirro | Pirro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 12 January 1787 |
| Adrasto | Laocoonte | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pietro Guglielmi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 30 May 1787 |
| Asdrubale | Scipione Africano | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 13 August 1787 |
| Attalo | Ariarate | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Angelo Tarchi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 4 November 1787 |
| Teseo | Fedra | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Domenico Cimarosa | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | January, 1788 |
| Artabano | Artaserse | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Ferdinando Bertoni | Cremona, Teatro della Niblie Società | 30 May 1788 |
| Araspe | Didone abbandonata | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pasquale Anfossi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 30 May 1788 |
| Latino | Enea e Lavinia | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pietro Guglielmo | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | August, 1788 |
| Adrasto | Il Rinaldo | dramma per musica | Pëtr Alekseevič Skokov | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 4 November 1788 |
| Catone | Catone in Utica | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 1 January 1789 |
| Flavio Valente | Ademira | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pietro Guglielmi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 30 May 1789 |
| Rodoaldo | Ricimero | opera seria | Giacomo Siri | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 13 August 1789 |
| Alessandro | Alessandro nell'Indie | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pietro Guglielmi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 4 November 1789 |
| Pirro | Pirro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | January, 1790 |
| Lindoro | Nina | opera buffa | Giovanni Paisiello | Naples, Teatro Fiorentini | 1790 |
| Aminta | Aminta | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pietro Guglielmi | Naples, unknown venue | 1790 |
| Ormondo | Il disertore | dramma per musica (opera seria) | "vari" | Genoa, Teatro Sant'Agostino | spring, 1790 |
| Pirro | Pirro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Genoa, Teatro Sant'Agostino | spring, 1790 |
| Dario | La disfatta di Dario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Giordani | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 13 August 1790 |
| Pirro | Pirro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Bologna, Teatro Zagnoni | autumn, 1790 |
| Arsace | La morte di Semiramide | tragedia in musica | Giuseppe Prati | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 16 November 1791 |
| Seleuco | Seleuco, re di Siria | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 26 December 1791 |
| Teseo | Il sacrifizi di Creta ossia Arianna e Teseo | dramma giocoso per musica | Peter Winter | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | 13 February 1792 |
| Pirro | Pirro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | carnival, 1792 |
| Seleuco | Seleuco re di Siria | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | carnival, 1792 |
| Eraclide | I giuochi di Agrigento | dramma per musica | Giovanni Paisiello | Venice, Teatro La Fenice (inauguration) | 16 May 1792 |
| Valentiniano III | Ezio | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Angelo Tarchi | Vicenza, Teatro Nuovo | summer, 1792 |
| Alessandro | Alessandro nell'Indie | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Venice, Teatro La Fenice | autumn, 1792 |
| Atar | Tarara o sia La virtù premiata | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Venice, Teatro La Fenice | 26 December 1792 |
| Alfonso IV | Ines de Castro | dramma per musica | Giuseppe Giordani | Venice, Teatro La Fenice | 28 January 1793 |
| Pirro | Pirro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Florence, Teatro della Pergola | spring, 1793 |
| Teseo | I sacrifizi di Creta | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Peter Winter | Florence, Teatro della Pergola | spring, 1793 |
| Cajo Mario | Cajo Mario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | anonymous | Livorno, Accademia degli Avvalorati | autumn, 1793 |
| Medonte | Medonte, re di Epiro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | anonymous | Livorno, Accademia degli Avvalorati | autumn, 1793 |
| Valentiniano III | Ezio | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Angelo Tarchi | Livorno, Accademia degli Avvalorati | autumn, 1793 |
| Artabano | Artaserse | dramma per musica (opera seria) | anonymous | Genoa, Teatro Sant'Agostino | carnival, 1794 |
| Cajo Mario | Cajo Mario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | anonymous | Reggio Emilia, Teatro Pubblico | spring, 1794 |
| Sabino | Epponia | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Sebastiano Nasolini | Bergamo, Teatro Ricciardi | August, 1794 |
| Cajo Mario | Cajo Mario | dramma per musica (opera seria) | anonymous | Trieste, Teatro della Città e Porto-Franco | autumn, 1794 |
| Pirro | Pirro | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Trieste, Teatro della Città e Porto-Franco | autumn, 1794 |
| Seleuco | Seleuco re di Siria | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Francesco Bianchi | Brescia, Accademia degl'Erranti | carnival, 1795 |
| Latino | Il trionfo di Camilla | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pietro Guglielmi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 30 May 1795 |
| Surena | Arsinoe | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Gaetano Andreozzi | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 13 August 1795 |
| Publio Orazio | Gli Orazi e i Curiazi | azione tragica (opera seria) | Nicola Antonio Zingarelli | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 4 November 1795 |
| Lucio Papirio | Lucio Papirio | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Gaetano Marinelli | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | January, 1796 |
| Ottaviano | La morte di Cleopatra | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Pietro Guglielmi | Naples, San Carlo | June, 1796 |
| Eggardo | Elfrida | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Venice, Teatro La Fenice | May, 1796 |
| Neleo | Artemisia regina di Caria | dramma serio per musica | Domenico Cimarosa | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 12 June 1797 |
| Zulema | Consalvo di Cordova | opera seria | Giuseppe Maria Curcio | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 13 August 1797 |
| Ulisse | Andromaca | dramma per musica | Giovanni Paisiello | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 4 November 1797 |
| Antigono | Antigono | dramma per musica | Antonio De Santis | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 12 January 1798 |
| Ulisse | Andromaca | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Venice, Teatro La Fenice | May, 1798 |
| Sesostri | Le feste d'Iside | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Sebastiano Nasolini | Trieste, Teatro Regio | autumn, 1798 |
| Don Rodrigo | Ines de Castro | opera seria | Nicola Antonio Zingarelli | Milan, Teatro alla Canobbiana | 11 October 1798 |
| Bruto | Bruto | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giuseppe Nicolini | Genoa, Teatro Sant'Agostino | carnival, 1799 |
| Ormondo | Il disertore | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Angelo Tarchi | Genoa, Teatro Sant'Agostino | carnival, 1799 |
| Ulisse | Andromaca | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Giovanni Paisiello | Padua, Teatro Nuovo | June, 1799 |
| Kaibar | Idante | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Marcos Portugal | Milan, La Scala | carnival, 1800 |
| Boleslao | La Lodoiska | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Simon Mayr | Milan, La Scala | carnival, 1800 |
| Mitridate | La morte di Mitridate | dramma per musica (opera seria) | Sebastiano Nasolini | Brescia, Teatro Nazionale | summer, 1800 |
| Scipione | Annibale in Capua | dramma serio per musica | Antonio Salieri | Trieste, Regio Teatro Nuovo(inauguration) | 20 April 1801 |
| Polinesso | Ginevra di Scozia | dramma eroico-serio per musica | Simon Mayr | Trieste, Regio Teatro Nuovo (inauguration) | 21 April 1801 |
| Nerestano | Zaira ossia Il trionfo della religione | dramma tragico-serio per musica | Vincenzo Federici | Milan, Teatro Carcano(inauguration) | 3 September 1803 |
| Ottone | Adelasia e Aleramo | melodramma serio | Giovanni Simone Mayr | Milan, Teatro alla Scala | 26 December 1806 |
| Marco Albino | I Gauri | melodramma eroico | Carlo Mellara | Venice, Teatro alla Fenice | 22 February 1810 |
| Genio della Francia | Il pegno di pace | cantata a 3 voci | Francesco Caffi | Venice, Teatro La Fenice | 11 March 1810 |
| Eacide | Il salto di Leucade | opera seria | Luigi Mosca | Naples, Teatro San Carlo | 15 January 1812 |
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References
Notes
- biographical data are drawn from the articles about David on Caruselli's Grande enciclopedia della musica lirica and The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (cf. "Sources" below)
- Green, Janet (1904), Musical Biographies, London: I. Squire, p. 163.
- to the "celebrated Davide" (as the composer himself wrote), Haydn had also enthusiastically allotted the leading role of Orpheus in his last opera L'anima del filosofo which was scheduled in London in 1791; it was not however to be performed until 1951 when it was finally staged at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino starring Maria Callas as Eurydice [cf. Eve Barsham, "Orpheus in England", in Patricia Howard (ed), C.W. von Gluck: Orfeo, Cambridge University Press (paperback), Cambridge/London etc., 2010, p. 65, ISBN 0-521-29664-1 (first published 1981)]
- cf. Celletti, p. 107: "It was only towards the end of the [eighteenth] century and during the first years of the nineteenth century that passion and vigour reappeared— in a number of exponents of the last generation of castrati, like Girolamo Crescentini and Gaspare Pacchiarotti, tenors like ... Giacomo David; in a few prima donnas like Brigida Banti ...".
- along with his contemporaries Giuseppe Viganoni and Adamo Bianchi
- Caruselli, II, article: David, Giacomo, p. 334
- Forbes
- the leading castrato in the company
- John Rosselli, Singers of Italian opera. The history of a profession, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995, ISBN 0-521-42697-9, pp. 129-130
- for a wider list see Giacomo David/Ruoli creati in the Italian Wikipedia
Sources
- This article is a substantial translation from Giacomo David in the Italian Wikipedia.
- Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Giacomo David". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
- (in Italian) Salvatore Caruselli (ed.), Grande enciclopedia della musica lirica, Longanesi &C. Periodici S.p.A., Roma, ad nomen
- Rodolfo Celletti, A history of Bel Canto, Oxford University Press (Clarendon Paperbacks), U.K., 1996, ISBN 0-19-816641-9
- Elizabeth Forbes, "Davide [David], Giacomo", in Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997, I, p. 1088, ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2
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