MANFROCE, Nicola Antonio 1791-1813

Vieni t'affretta al Tempio [Musical manuscript excerpt from the opera Alzira]

Scena e Duetto del Sigr. Mro. Niccola Manfroci

Firenze: 1819.

Oblong quarto (ca. 220 x 295 mm). Sewn. [1] (title), [46] pp., 1f. (blank).

Scored for 1 & 2 violins, flute, oboe, clarinets, oboes, horns, trumpets, violas, two solo voices (Zamoro and Gusmano), and basso continuo. Notated in brown/black ink on 12-stave rastrum-ruled paper. Copyist's note to title: "Copiō Sig:r Rubini di Firenze 1819."

Slightly worn.

Manfroce's first opera, Alzira, to a libretto by Gaetano Rossi, was first performed in Rome at the Teatro Valle on 10 September 1810.

"[Manfroce] was active in Naples (then under French rule), and his first work was a cantata for Napoleon’s birthday, La nascita di Alcide, performed at the Neapolitan court on 15 August 1809. His first opera, Alzira (1810, Rome), was followed by his masterpiece, Ecuba (1812, Naples). ...Manfroce’s subject was taken from a tragedy by Milcent, a version of the Achilles and Polyxena episode in the Trojan war, and is explicitly a derivation from the French operatic tradition. It was a courageous choice for the young composer to make, in preference to the Neapolitan tradition represented by his master Zingarelli. According to Florimo, he was perhaps influenced by hearing the Naples performance of Spontini’s La vestale in 1811. Ecuba, in spite of the characteristic unevenness of the first work of a young composer, shows that he would have been capable of great achievement, had he not died so young. Progressive features of his style include the use of recitatives, always with accompaniments including wind instruments, and the bipartite aria, often producing great dramatic concision." Renato Basso in Grove Music Online.

Item #34816

Price: $265.00  other currencies