[Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)] Crescentini, Girolamo. (1766-1846)
Sei Ariette (inedite), per voce sola con accomp.to di piano forte - SIGNED
Naples: Giuseppe Girard. 1820. First edition. A rare inscribed presentation copy from one of the last internationally renowned castrati singers, reputed to have been one of Napoleon's lovers. Napoleon conferred upon him the Order of the Iron Crown of Lombardy and appointed him singing teacher of the Imperial Family.Oblong 4to (235 x 343 mm). Engraved title and 23 engraved pages. Full green silk over boards. Faint foxing, front flyleaf excised, spine worn, board edges rubbed. Inscribed by Crescentini on the title page.
Celebrated for his creation of the role of Romeo in Zingarelli's "Giulietta e Romeo" at Teatro alla Scala di Milano (1796), "Stendhal said that no composer could have written the infinitely small nuances that formed the perfection of Crescentini's singing in his aria 'Ombra adorata aspetta,' " in that opera. He gave numerous other important first performances in works by Paisiello, Andreozzi and Cimarosa and was singing teacher in Paris to the royal family at Napoleon I's court. A famous teacher in Bologna - Isabella Colbran was among his students - he also "he composed didactic and vocal chamber works, which were famous throughout the 19th century. His vocalizzi were reprinted (by Ricordi and Lucca) up to the last decade of the century, and were used extensively by singing teachers in conservatories throughout Italy. He was a member of the Accademia di S Cecilia (Rome) and the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna." (Grove Music Online) (7066)
Autograph Letter Opera