Portrait of Luigi Cherubini.

Luigi Cherubini (September 14, 1760 – March 15, 1842) was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. Although his music is not well known today, it was greatly admired by many of his contemporaries. Beethoven considered him to be the greatest dramatic composer of his time. The most significant part of Cherubini's work is his operas and sacred music. Description: Luigi Cherubini Size: 266 &times 315 pixels Source: What We Hear in Music, Anne S. Faulkner, Victor Talking Machine Co. ... Description: Luigi Cherubini Size: 266 &times 315 pixels Source: What We Hear in Music, Anne S. Faulkner, Victor Talking Machine Co. ... September 14 is the 257th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (258th in leap years). ... 1760 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1820 portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler Beethoven redirects here. ...

Biography

Cherubini was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence. His instruction in music began at the age of six with his father, himself a musician. By the age of thirteen, he had composed several religious works. From 1778 to 1780, he studied music in Bologna and Milan. Cherubini's early operas, settings of Italian libretti by Metastasio, adhered closely to the conventions of opera seria. Florences skyline Florences skyline at night from Piazza Michaelangelo Florence (Italian: ) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1780 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Bologna (IPA , from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in the local dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Pianura Padana, between the Po River and the Apennines, exactly between the Reno River and the Sàvena River. ... Milano redirects here. ... Pietro Trapassi (January 13, 1698 - April 12, 1782), Italian poet, is better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio. ... Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and serious style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1720s to ca 1770. ...

In 1788, Cherubini made a brief visit to London, where he started work on a setting of a French libretto by Jean-François Marmontel, Démophon. Cherubini's music began to show more originality and daring. Later the same year he settled in Paris. His first major success here was Lodoïska (1791) which was admired for its realistic heroism. This was followed by Eliza (1794), set in the Swiss Alps, and Médée (1797), which is Cherubini's best known work. Les deux journées (1800), in which Cherubini simplified his style somewhat, was a popular success. These and other operas were premièred at the Théâtre Feydeau. Jean-François Marmontel (July 11, 1723 - December 31, 1799) was a French historian and writer, a member of the Encyclopediste movement. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The West face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ... Medea (Italian, German, English) or Médée (French) is an opera by Luigi Cherubini. ... 1797 (MDCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Les deux journées, ou le Porteur dEau (The Two Days, or The Water Carrier) is an opera in three acts by Cherubini, first performed at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris in January, 1800. ... 1800 (MDCCC) was an exceptional common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, but a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. ...

Cherubini's popularity declined markedly after Les deux journées, with Parisian audiences turning to younger composers such as Boieldieu. His opera-ballet Anacréon was an outright failure. In 1805, Cherubini received an invitation from Vienna to write an opera and to direct it in person. Faniska was produced the following year and was enthusiastically received, in particular, by Haydn and Beethoven. Les abencérages (1813), an heroic drama set in Spain during the last days of the Moorish kingdom of Granada, was Cherubini's attempt to compete with Spontini's La Vestale. It brought the composer critical praise but few performances. François Adrien Boieldieu (December 16, 1775 – October 8, 1834) was a French composer, mainly of operas. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Inhabitants according to official census figures: 1800 to 2005 Vienna in 1858 Vienna (German: Wien ) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Granada – Greek: (Steph. ... Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (14 November 1774 – 24 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conductor. ... La Vestale (The Vestal Virgin) is an opera composed by Gaspare Spontini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy. ...

Disappointed with his lack of success in the theater, Cherubini turned increasingly to church music, writing seven masses, two requiems and many shorter pieces. During this period, he was also appointed surintendant de la musique du roi under the restored monarchy (his relations with Napoleon had been decidedly cool). In 1815, the London Philharmonic Society commissioned him to write a symphony, an overture, and a composition for chorus and orchestra, the performance of which he went especially to London to conduct, and this increased his international fame. For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... April 5-12: Mount Tambora explodes, changing climate. ...

Cherubini's Requiem in C-minor (1816), commemorating the anniversary of the execution of King Louis XVI of France, was a huge success. The work was greatly admired by Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms. In 1836, Cherubini wrote a Requiem in D Minor to be performed at his own funeral. It is for male choir only, as the religious authorities had criticised his use of female voices in the earlier work. 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then King of the French from 1791 to 1792. ... Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... October 2, Charles Darwin returns from his voyage around the world. ...

In 1822, Cherubini became director of the Conservatoire and completed his textbook, Cours de contrepoint et de fugue, in 1835. His role at the Conservatoire would bring him into conflict with the young Hector Berlioz, who went on to portray the old composer as a crotchety pedant in his memoirs. Some critics, such as Basil Deane, maintain that Berlioz's depiction has distorted Cherubini's image with posterity, and it must be remembered that Berlioz himself was a great admirer of much of Cherubini's music. There are many allusions to Cherubini's personal irritibality among his contemporaries; Adolphe Adam wrote, "some maintain his temper was very even, because he was always angry". Nevertheless, Cherubini had many friends, including Rossini, Chopin and, above all, the artist Ingres. The two had mutual interests: Cherubini was a keen amateur painter and Ingres enjoyed practising the violin. In 1841, Ingres produced the most celebrated portrait of the old composer. 1822 (MDCCCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Hector Louis Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem) of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ... Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (July 24, 1803 – May 3, 1856) was a French composer and music critic. ... Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 — November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Frédéric François Chopin as portrayed by Eugène Delacroix in 1838. ... Ingres (pronounced ingress) is a commercially supported, open-source relational database management system. ... 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Cherubini died in Paris at age 81 and was buried in Père Lachaise cemetery. Looking down the hill at the Père-Lachaise cemetery The cimetière du Père-Lachaise (pronounced pierre la-sh-ez) is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris (there are larger cemeteries in Paris suburbs). ...

With the arrival in Paris in the 1820s of the brilliant, effervescent operas of Rossini with their vocal pyrotechnics, the classically austere operas of Cherubini, like those of Gluck and Spontini, fell out of fashion. However, Médée (or Medea as it is known in Italy) is occasionally revived when a singer is available who can handle the role, such as Maria Callas and Hungarian diva Sylvia Sass who recorded the opera in 1977 with Lamberto Gardelli conducting. Perhaps the most famous 20th century live revival of the work was in Florence in 1953, with Maria Callas in the title role and conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1920x2560, 964 KB) Photograph by Rama File links The following pages link to this file: Luigi Cherubini ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1920x2560, 964 KB) Photograph by Rama File links The following pages link to this file: Luigi Cherubini ... Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 – November 13, 1868)[1] was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Gluck, detail of a portrait by Joseph Duplessis, dated 1775 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) Christoph Willibald (von) Gluck (July 2, 1714 – November 15, 1787) was a German composer. ... Gaspare Spontini (14 November 1774 – 24 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conductor. ... Maria Callas by Cecil Beaton, London, 1957 Maria Callas (Greek: Μαρία Κάλλας) (December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and perhaps the best-known opera singer of the post-World War II period. ... One of the last great dramatic sopranos of the 20th century, Sylvia Sass was born near Budapest, Hungary, in 1951. ... Lamberto Gardelli (8 November 1915 - 17 July 1998) was an Italian-born Swedish conductor. ... Maria Callas by Cecil Beaton, London, 1957 Maria Callas (Greek: Μαρία Κάλλας) (December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and perhaps the best-known opera singer of the post-World War II period. ... Leonard Bernstein in 1971 Leonard Bernstein (pronounced Bern-styne)[1] (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, pianist and conductor. ...

Another opera by Cherubini, Les abencérages, was revived (in Italian) at the Maggio Musicale in Florence in 1957 under the baton of Carlo Maria Giulini. Carlo Maria Giulini (May 9, 1914 – June 14, 2005) was an Italian conductor. ...

Cherubini's Requiem in C-minor is also occasionally performed. Most notably, Arturo Toscanini conducted and made a recording of it with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in February 1950. Arturo Toscanini listening to playbacks at RCA Victor (BMG Music) Arturo Toscanini (March 25, 1867 – January 16, 1957) was an Italian musician. ... The NBC Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra established as a commercial venture in 1937 by General David Sarnoff of NBC in order to coax the recently retired conductor Arturo Toscanini to come to America. ...

Selected works

Operas

• Démophon (1788)
• Lodoïska (1791)
• Eliza (1794)
• Médée (1797)
• L'hôtellerie portugaise (1798)
• Les deux journées (1800)
• Anacréon (1803)
• Faniska (1806)
• Les abencérages (1813)
• Ali-Baba (1833)

Médée (French), or Medea (Italian, German, English), is an opéra comique by Luigi Cherubini. ... Les deux journées, ou le Porteur dEau (The Two Days, or The Water Carrier) is an opera in three acts by Cherubini, first performed at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris in January, 1800. ...

Source

• Basil Deane, Cherubini (Oxford Studies of Composers, 1965)

External link

• Entry for Luigi Cherubini in The Catholic Encyclopedia