Mercadante, S :: Fantaisie

Fantaisie

Mercadante, S

Editions Henry Lemoine presents Saverio Mercadante's 'Fantasie' for flute, violin and piano, based on the themes of his opera 'Francesca Donato'.

Saverio Mercadante was born in Altamura in 1795; he studied at the Collegio San Sebastiano in Naples; his teachers were Tritto, Zingarelli, and Fenaroli, some of the best exponents of the school of Naples. In 1819 - by then he had already composed symphonies, quartets, and several other works for various instruments - he had his first opera staged in Naples: 'L'apoteosi d'Ercole'; it evoked the greatest interest and, until 1866 - the year in which his last score was composed - was followed by sixty melodramas plus an unfinished one. They were staged, some with great success, some with less, in many Italian cities and in Paris, Vienna, Cadiz, Madrid, and Lisbon. In addition to this great theatrical oeuvre he also wrote many sacred music during the period in which he was the conductor of the cathedral of Novara. He was highly esteemed by other great opera composers of the time: Rossini asked him to write an opera for the Theatre of Italians in Paris. Bellini proposed him as teacher of composition in Naples preferring him to Donizetti, and Verdi wanted him among the composers invited to compose a mass to honour Gioacchino Rossini. In 1840 he was appointed director of the Naples Academy of Music, his blindness notwithstanding; he died in Naples in 1870. Much has been written about Mercadante's music, praising his work, or slandering it; however, his real and essential role was that of a connecting link between Rossini and Verdi with highly original stylistic, melodic and formal expressions and the great importance he gave to the instrumentation.

After hearing his opera 'Le due illustri rivali' in 1838 in Venice, Franz Liszt wrote: 'His operas are by far the best constructed and orchestrated ones I have listened to. Mercadante's last works are the best thought out works of the present repertory.' This is an important judgment, beyond partiality; it underlines and confirms the consideration given by the greatest musicians of that time.