Perti, Giacomo or Jacopo Antonio
Perti, Giacomo or Jacopo Antonio
Perti, Giacomo or Jacopo Antonio,greatly significant Italian composer; b. Crevalcore, near Bologna, June 6, 1661; d. Bologna, April 10, 1756. He began to study music with his uncle, Lorenzo Perti, and with Rocco Laurenti, and later took lessons in counterpoint with Petronio Franceschini. As early as 1678 he had a Mass performed at the church of S. Tomaso al Mercato. In 1679 he collaborated on the opera Atide, to which he contributed the score for the 3rd act. In 1681 he was elected a member of the Accademia Filarmonica, of which he was 5 times the principe (in 1719 was named censor). He then went to Parma, where he continued his studies with Giuseppe Corso. In 1689 he had his opera Dionisio Siracusano performed in Parma, and another opera, La Rosaura, in Venice. In 1690 he succeeded his uncle as maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of S. Pietro in Bologna. In 1696 he became maestro di cappella of S. Petronio, a position he held until his death. He also held similar positions at S. Domenico (1704–55; deputized for Alberti from 1734) and at S. Maria in Galliera (1706–50). Emperor Charles VI made him a royal councillor in 1740. His students included G.B. Martini and Giuseppe Torelli.
Works
dramatic: Opera: Atide (Bologna, June 23, 1679; incomplete; in collaboration with others); Marzio Coriolano (Venice, Jan. 20, 1683); Oreste in Argo (Modena, Carnival 1685); L’incoronazione di Dario (Bologna, Jan. 13, 1686); La Flavia (Bologna, Feb. 16, 1686); Dionisio Siracusano (Parma, Carnival 1689); La Rosaura (Venice, 1689); Brenno in Efeso (Venice, 1690); L’inganno scoperto per vendetta (Venice, Carnival 1690 or 1691); // Pompeo (Genoa, Carnival 1691); Furio Camillo (Venice, Carnival 1692); Nerone fatto Cesare (Venice, 1693); La forza della virtù (Bologna, May 25, 1694); Laodicea e Berenice (Venice, 1695); Penelope la casta (Rome, Jan. 25, 1696); Fausta restituita all’impero (Rome, Jan. 19, 1697); Apollo geloso (Bologna, Aug. 16, 1698); Ariovisto (Milan, Sept. 1699; in collaboration with others); La prosperità di Elio Sejano (Milan, Carnival 1699; in collaboration with others); Dionisio rà di Portogallo (Pratolino, Sept. 1707); II fratricida innocente (Bologna, May 19,1708); Ginevra principessa di Scozia (Pratolino, Fall 1708); Berenice regina d’Egitto (Pratolino, Sept. 1709); Rodelinda regina de’ Longobardi (Pratolino, Fall 1710); Lucio vero (Bologna, Spring 1717); Rosinde ed Emireno (undated). Oratorios: S. Serafina [I due gigli porporati nel martirio de S. Serafina e S. Sabina] (Bologna, 1679); Abramo vincitore (Venice, 1683); Mosè (Modena, 1685); Oratorio della passione di Cristo (Bologna, 1685); La beata Imelde Lambertini (Bologna, 1686); Agar (Bologna, 1689); La passione del Redentore (Bologna, 1694); S. Galgano (Bologna, 1694); Cristo al limbo (Bologna, 1698); La sepoltura di Cristo (Bologna, 1704); S. Giovanni (Bologna, 1704); Gesù al sepolcro (Bologna, 1707); S. Petronio (Bologna, 1720); L’amor divino [I conforti di Maria vergine addolorata] (Bologna, 1723); also several undated oratorios. other sacred:Messa e salmi concertati for 4 Voices, Instruments, and Chorus (Bologna, 1735); 7 canzonette in aria marmoresca sopra le 7 principali feste di Nostra Signora (Bologna, 1780); 120 Psalms, 54 motets, 28 masses; about 150 secular cantatas; Cantate morali e spirituali for 1 and 2 Voices, with Violin (Bologna, 1688).
Bibliography
L. Mancini, J.A. P. (Bologna, 1813); G. Vecchi, ed., La musica barocca a Bologna ... G.A. P. (Bologna, 1961).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire