Barbaja, Domenica. (1778 - 1841)
Autograph Letter
A very rare 1-page letter from the influential Italian impresario, manager of the royal opera houses of Naples, the Viennese Kärntnertortheater and Theater an der Wien, and of La Scala and the Cannobiana in Milan. 1 p. February 6, 1822. A letter addressed to the President of the Commission of Theaters and Entertainment, submitting for official approval the newly completed opera "La Caccia di Enrico Quarto" by Pietro Raimondi (1786 - 1853) with a libretto by Giuseppe Palomba. Boldy signed, usual folds, overall very fine.The opera was premiered during the Carneval of 1822, at the Teatro del Fondo di Separazione in Naples, with the celebrated tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini singing the lead role.
"The most famous impresario of his day, Barbaia played an important role in early 19th-century opera...His operatic tastes ranged widely. He introduced Spontini’s La vestale (1811) and Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide (1812), so inaugurating the new tradition of Italian opera seria in which all recitative was orchestrally accompanied (early examples include Mayr’s Medea in Corinto in 1813 and the Rossinian canon beginning with Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra in 1815). He was among the first to recognize Rossini’s genius and in 1815 engaged him at Naples with a six-year contract with the obligation to compose two operas a year and to direct revivals of older works, all for the yearly sum of 12,000 francs and part of the proceeds of the gambling tables. It was to Rossini that Barbaia lost his mistress, Isabella Colbran (later Colbran-Rossini), though relations between the two men remained cordial...Throughout his life he showed a flair for discovering young talent. Mercadante, Pacini, Carafa and Generali all owed to him many of their earliest opportunities. Through him Bellini first gained a footing at the S Carlo and La Scala. In 1827 Barbaia signed Donizetti to a three-year contract that obliged him to write four operas a year for Naples.
Rough in his manners and poorly educated, Barbaia was held in high esteem by both singers and composers (his word, said Pacini, was as good as a written contract), and his death was mourned throughout Italy. His personality inspired Emil Lucka’s novel Der Impresario (Vienna, 1937), and he figures as a character in Auber’s opera La sirène (1844)." (Julian Budden, Grove Music Online) (3050)
Autograph Letter Opera