Domenico Cimarosa

Domenico Cimarosa was an Italian composer born in 1749 in Aversa and became one of the most influential masters of opera buffa in the late eighteenth century. Raised in a humble family, he moved with his parents to Naples as a child. His family name, recorded in his baptismal document, was Cimmarosa, and he appears to have been an only child. After his father died in an accident during the construction of the Capodimonte Palace, his mother found work in a nearby convent, where the young Cimarosa was admitted to the monastery school. His musical abilities soon attracted the attention of Fra Polcano, who provided him with a solid education in music, Latin and classical literature.

In 1761 he entered the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, where he studied for eleven years with leading masters of the old Italian school, including Gennaro Manna, Fedele Fenaroli, Antonio Sacchini and Niccolò Piccinni. He also studied violin with Saverio Carcais and later took additional vocal lessons from the celebrated castrato Giuseppe Aprile. During these formative years he learned violin, harpsichord and singing, even performing the title role in Sacchini’s intermezzo Fra Donato in student productions. His first compositions, mainly sacred motets and masses, appeared during this period. By 1772 he debuted as an opera composer with the comic opera Le stravaganze del conte, followed later that same year by the successful Le pazzie di Stelladaura e di Zoroastro, which further increased his reputation.

His early success in Naples quickly spread to Rome and other Italian cities, where his comic intermezzos and operas buffa became highly popular. In 1774 he was invited to compose in Rome, and his works soon entered the repertoire of theatres such as the Teatro Valle and La Scala, where L’italiana in Londra became the first of his operas performed there in 1780. Goethe admired his L’impresario in angustie during a visit to Rome. He also composed several opere serie, including Caio Mario and Alessandro nelle Indie, and additional sacred works, oratorios and numerous stage pieces. During the early 1780s he spent several years in Florence, where he wrote masses and a requiem.

By the 1780s Cimarosa’s reputation had grown enough to earn him positions as organist of the Neapolitan royal chapel and maestro at the Ospedaletto conservatory in Venice. Some of his operas of this period, including La ballerina amante, gained international visibility, with the latter chosen as the inaugural work of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon in 1793. In 1787 he accepted an invitation from Empress Catherine II and travelled extensively before arriving in St. Petersburg, making notable stops in Livorno, Parma, Vienna and Warsaw, where he stayed for several weeks. During his Russian period he composed works such as Cleopatra and a Requiem in G minor (1787), and Catherine’s court named the future Tsar Paul I as godfather to his son Paolo. Although his operas were performed at the Hermitage and Gatchina theatres, he left few traces in Russian archival documents compared with his Italian contemporaries.

Cimarosa then moved to Vienna, where he succeeded Antonio Salieri as court Kapellmeister to Emperor Leopold II. There he premiered his most celebrated opera, Il matrimonio segreto, in 1792, a success so great that the emperor ordered an immediate repeat performance that same evening. He also composed La calamita dei cuori and Amor rende sagace, and revised earlier works, including Il pittore parigino. His own favorite opera, however, was the later serious work Artemisia. His music was already known across Europe, and Haydn conducted performances of several of his operas at Esterházy during the 1780s.

In 1793 Cimarosa returned to Naples, where he resumed duties as court Kapellmeister. Local productions of Il matrimonio segreto and Le astuzie femminili enjoyed great acclaim. His later years brought additional achievements, including the serious operas Penelope and Gli Orazi e i Curiazi, as well as Neapolitan revisions of earlier works. His personal life, however, was marked by tragedy with the death of his wife in 1796. In the late 1790s he worked in Rome and Venice but returned to Naples just as revolutionary forces established the Parthenopean Republic. Sympathizing with the new regime, he composed a patriotic hymn for the republic’s ceremonies. After the Bourbon restoration, this association placed him in danger, and he attempted to atone through a cantata praising King Ferdinand IV.

Despite these efforts, he was arrested in December 1799 and imprisoned for four months on charges of supporting the republican cause. Only the intervention of influential friends and diplomats saved him from execution, and he was exiled from Naples. He relocated to Venice, where he received commissions for new works, including the opera Artemisia, and composed a mass for Pope Pius VII. His health, however, declined rapidly, likely from stomach cancer.

Cimarosa died in Venice on 11 January 1801. Rumors circulated that he had been poisoned on orders of Queen Carolina of Naples, prompting an official medical inquiry, which disproved the accusations. Accounts of his burial differ, with some sources stating he was interred in Rome thanks to Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, while others indicate a burial in the private church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Venice. Regarded as one of the principal architects of late eighteenth‑century opera buffa, Cimarosa composed around eighty operas distinguished by melodic richness, lively theatricality, refined instrumentation and the pioneering use of ensemble finales. His output also includes cantatas such as the popular Il maestro di cappella, oratorios including Giuditta and Il trionfo della religione, and numerous instrumental works. His orchestration evolved over time, incorporating clarinets during his Russian period and employing increasingly independent orchestral writing, as demonstrated in Il matrimonio segreto.

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