Vittori, Loreto

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Vittori, Loreto

Vittori, Loreto, prominent Italian castrato soprano and composer; b. Spoleto (baptized), Sept. 5, 1600; d. Rome, April 23, 1670. After serving as a chorister at Spoleto Cathedral (1614-17), he went to Rome to pursue his musical training; about 1618 he proceeded to Florence, where he continued his studies and began his operatic career in 1619. Returning to Rome, he was in the service of Cardinal Lodovico Ludovisi (1621-32); also sang in the papal choir (1622-47), where he was camerlengo (1642-44); likewise was in the service of Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1637-42). About 1623 he was created Cavaliere della Milizia di Gesù Cristo by Pope Urban Vili; in 1643 he entered the priesthood. He composed both sacred and secular dramatic works, but the music to most of these is lost; his fine pastoral opera, La Galatea (Rome, 1639), is extant. He was also a poet; publ. Dialoghi sacri, e morali (Rome, 1652) and La Troja rapita (Macerata, 1662).

Bibliography

C. Rau, L. V: Beiträge zur historisch-kritischen Würdigung seines Lebens, Wirkens und Schaffens (Munich, 1916).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire