Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista
Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista (b Jesi, nr. Ancona, 1710; d Pozzuoli, nr. Naples, 1736). It. composer, violinist, and organist. Principally talented as composer of comic operas, the first of which, Salustia, was a failure in Naples in 1732. In 1733 he comp. Il prigioner superbo, now forgotten except for its 2-act intermezzo La serva padrona, which has remained popular. Other operas, recently revived, incl. Lo frate 'nnamorato (1732), Adriano in Siria (1734), and Il flaminio (1735). His Stabat Mater (1736) for male sop., male alto, and orch. is still perf. After his early death from tuberculosis, many works were and still are falsely ascribed to him, such as the comic opera Il maestro di musica, concs., and songs. Stravinsky in Pulcinella ‘recomposed’ material by Pergolesi, but even there some of the attributions are false.
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Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista
