Nicola Vaccai

Nicola Vaccai (15 March 1790 – 5 or 6 August 1848) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas, and a singing teacher.

Nicola Vaccai.

Life and career as a composer

Born at Tolentino, he grew up in Pesaro, and studied music there until his parents sent him to Rome to study law. Having no intention of becoming a lawyer, he took voice lessons and eventually studied counterpoint with Giuseppe Jannaconi, an important Roman composer. When Vaccai turned twenty one, he went to Naples and became a disciple of Paisiello, whose Barber of Seville was considered a comic masterpiece until Rossini's Barber swept it from the stage 35 years later.[1]

Vaccai launched his career in Venice, initially earning his living by writing ballets and teaching voice. He had his first operatic success with I solitari di Scozia in Naples in 1815. In Parma he was commissioned to write Pietro il grande, where he was also one of the soloists in the first performance. This was followed by Zadig e Astartea (Naples, 1825) and then his best known opera Giulietta e Romeo (Milan, 1825).

Vaccai's sojourn in London began with a production of his most successful opera, Romeo and Juliet, at Kings Theatre in April, 1832. His charm and continental reputation ingratiated him to society and soon he was much sought after as a teacher.

Ending his wanderings with a return to Italy, Vaccai became a director and professor of composition at the Milan Conservatory in 1838. After six years he retired on account of poor health to his boyhood home, Pesaro, where he wrote his sixteenth opera. He died there in 1848.

Work as a teacher of singing: his Metodo pratico de canto

Later eclipsed by his rival Bellini, Vaccai is now chiefly remembered as a voice teacher. One of his notable students was soprano Marianna Barbieri-Nini. Vaccai wrote many books, one of which is his 1832 Metodo pratico de canto (Practical Vocal Method), which has been transposed to accommodate different voice types such as alto or low ranges such as bass in order to instruct students in the method of singing in the Italian legato style. It is still in print and may be used as a teaching tool.

In his introduction, Vaccai notes that only the voice of a master demonstrating his exercises accurately can instruct a student in the correct techniques of true legato singing. The book is also an important source of information about the performance of early 19th-century opera.

Voice teacher Elio Battaglia edited a new teacher’s edition of the "Metodo practico" or “Practical Method of Italian Singing” which was published by Ricordi in 1990 and which was accompanied by a CD of examples.

Operas
TitleCity and theatreDate of Première
I solitari di ScoziaNaples, Teatro Nuovo18 February 1815
MalvinaVenice, Teatro San Benedetto8 June 1816
Il lupo di Ostenda, ossia
L'innocenza salvata dalla colpa		Venice, Teatro San Benedetto17 June 1818
Pietro il grande, ossia
Un geloso alla tortura		Parma, Teatro Ducale,
now Teatro Regio		17 January 1824
La pastorella feudatariaTurin, Teatro Carignano18 September 1824
Zadig ed AstarteaNaples, Teatro San Carlo21 February 1825
Giulietta e RomeoMilan, Teatro della Canobbiana31 October 1825
Bianca di MessinaTurin, Teatro Regio20 January 1826
Il precipizio, o Le fucine di NorvegiaMilan, Teatro alla Scala16 August 1826
Giovanna d'ArcoVenice, Teatro La Fenice17 February 1827
Saladino e ClotildeMilan, Teatro alla Scala4 February 1828
Azmir e NetzareoMadrid, Principe28 June 1828
AlexiNaples, Teatro San Carlo6 July 1828
SaulNaples, Teatro San Carlo11 March 1829, but
composed between
1825 and 1826
Giovanna GrayMilan, Teatro alla Scala23 February 1836
Marco ViscontiTurin, Teatro Regio27 January 1838
La sposa di MessinaVenice, Teatro La Fenice2 March 1839
VirginiaRome, Teatro Apollo14 January 1845

Legacy

Teatro Nicola Vaccaj, the opera house in Tolentino, is named after the musician.

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References

Notes

  1. J.G. Paton, 'Introduction', in Nicola Vaccai, Practical Method of Italian Singing ed. J.G. Paton (G. Schirmer, 1975), pp. iii-iv.

Sources

  • Budden, Julian (1998), "Vaccai, Nicola" in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Four, pp. 881–882. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. 1998 ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5
  • Legger, Gianni (n.d.), Drammaturgia musicale italiana, Fondazzione Teatro Reggio (Torino).
  • Vaccai, Nicola (1996), Practical Method of Italian Singing: Mezzo Soprano (Alto) or Baritone, G. Schirmer, Inc. ISBN 9780793553181 Another edition of Vaccaj's vocal treatise exists in three separated fascicules in which curator M.-G. Genesi gives complete version of the verses used by the composer, and also adds the introductory Recitative section of each exercise, permitting to the singer to include this "enlarged version" of the single pieces within a vocal concert programme. Edition: Piacenza, 2003,in 3 volumes.
  • Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages. ISBN 0-19-869164-5
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