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Le
Marche, land
of great musicians
In
a precious period for all the arts (between the 18th and the 19th
centuries) the Marche region was the birth land of great musicians, such
as Giovan Battista Pergolesi, born in Jesi in 1710.
He had a very short life, died at the age of 26, and spent most of his
life in Naples. He composed wonderful arias characterized by a particular
and sensitive attention to small expressive details.
His most famous compositions include La serva padrona, Messa in fa
maggiore (Mass in F major), and above all the Stabat Mater (inspired
by a text written by Jacopone of Todi) which made Pergolesi’s name
immortal among musicians of all times.
A
few decades after Pergolesi’s death, Gaspare Spontini was born in
Maiolati , near Jesi. He, too was an important musician, his compositions
were first performed at the Pallacorda Theatre, in Florence in
1796.
Spontini obtained great success with many compositions, including Milton,
La Vestale (the Vestal), Olimpia and Agnese di Hoenstaufen.
He became well known and appreciated at the courts of Napoleon and Louis
18th.
The artist spent many years in France, but he also worked in Germany and
visited many European cities. Yet, he always got back to his home village,
Maiolati, where he decided to spend the last years of a life marked by
creativity and fame.
Gioacchino
Rossini was
born in Pesaro in 1792, from a family whose natural vocation was music. He
very much appreciated Mozart’s phrasings and proved his unusual ability
in composing when he was very young. Over the 76 years of his life, he
wrote unforgettable compositions, such as Tancredi, La Gazza
ladra and Guglielmo Tell.
He became famous worldwide as one of the best Italian composers with Il
barbiere di Siviglia (which the audience at first received with
coldness). After becoming a citizen of the world, Gioacchino Rossini died
in Paris, though choosing the municipality of Pesaro as his heir. The
municipality was honoured of such a choice and named its important theatre
and a music school after him.
Operas,
however, need to be sung well. The famous opera singer Beniamino Gigli was
born in Recanati in 1890, and soon showed his talent for singing. His
incomparable tenor voice was sought after by the most important theatres
in the world.
He was triumphally directed by Arturo Toscanini and when he was only 30 he
made his début at the Metropolitan Theatre of New York. He starred in
many films and his recordings are still very much in demand nowadays. He
sang in over 40 states during his career, and having been born in a poor
family, he generously distributed a substantial share of his gains to
charities. The town of Recanati remembers Gigli by keeping a collection of
souvenirs and memorabilia in its Civic Museum.
© 2001
Liberation Ventures Ltd.
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