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PAISIELLO (or PAESIELLO), GIOVANNI (1...

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 519 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PAISIELLO (or PAESIELLO), GIOVANNI (1741-1816) , See also:Italian musical composer, was See also:born at Tarento on the 9th of May 1741. The beauty of his See also:voice attracted so much See also:attention that in 1754 he was removed from the Jesuit See also:college at Tarento to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at See also:Naples, where he studied under See also:Durante, and in See also:process of See also:time See also:rose to the position of assistant See also:master. For the See also:theatre of the Conservatorio, which he See also:left in 1763, he wrote some intermezzi, one of which attracted so much See also:notice that he was invited to write two operas, La Pupilla and Il Hondo al Rovescio, for See also:Bologna, and a third, Il Marchese di Tulipano, for See also:Rome. His reputation being now firmly established, he settled for some years at Naples, where, notwithstanding the popularity of Piccini, See also:Cimarosa and See also:Guglielmi, of whose triumphs he was bitterly jealous, he produced a See also:series of highly successful operas, one of which, L'Idolo cinese, made a deep impression upon the Neapolitan public. In 1772 he began to write See also:church See also:music, and composed a See also:requiem for Gennara Borbone. In the same See also:year he married See also:Cecilia Pallini, with whom he lived in continued happiness. In 1776 Paisiello was invited by the empress See also:Catherine II. to St See also:Petersburg, where he remained for eight years, producing, among other charming See also:works, his masterpiece, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, which soon attained a See also:European reputation. The See also:fate of this delightful See also:opera marks an See also:epoch in the See also:history of Italian See also:art; for with it the See also:gentle suavity cultivated by the masters of the 18th See also:century died out to make See also:room for the dazzling brilliancy of a later See also:period. When, in 1816, See also:Rossini set the same libretto to music, under the See also:title of Almaviva, it was hissed from the See also:stage; but it made its way, nevertheless, and under its changed title, Il Barbiere, is now acknowledged as Rossini's greatest See also:work, while Paisiello's opera is consigned to oblivion—a See also:strange instance of poetical vengeance, since Paisiello himself had many years previously endeavoured to See also:eclipse the fame of See also:Pergolesi by resetting the libretto of his famous intermezzo, La Serva padrona. Paisiello quitted See also:Russia in 1784, and, after producing Il Re Teodoro at See also:Vienna, entered the service of See also:Ferdinand IV. at Naples, where he composed many of his best operas, including Nina and La Molinara. After many vicissitudes, resulting from See also:political and dynastic changes, he was invited to See also:Paris .(1802) by See also:Napoleon, whose favour he had won five years previously by a See also:march composed for the funeral of See also:General See also:Hoche.

Napoleon treated him munificently, while cruelly neglecting two far greater composers, See also:

Cherubini and Maul, to whom the new favourite transferred the hatred he had formerly See also:borne to Cimarosa, Guglielmi and Piccini. Paisiello conducted the music of the See also:court in the Tuileries with a See also:stipend of 1o,000 francs and 4800 for lodging, but he entirely failed to conciliate the Parisian public, who received his opera See also:Proserpine so coldly that, in 1803, he requested and with some difficulty obtained permission to return to See also:Italy, upon the plea of his wife's See also:ill See also:health. On his arrival at Naples Paisiello was reinstated in his former appointments by See also:Joseph See also:Bonaparte and See also:Murat, but he had taxed his See also:genius beyond its strength, and was unable to meet the demands now made upon it for new ideas. His prospects, too, were See also:precarious. The See also:power of the Bonaparte See also:family was tottering to its fall; and Paisiello's fortunes See also:fell with it. The See also:death of his wife in 1815 tried him severely. His health failed rapidly, and constitutional See also:jealousy of the popularity of others was a source of worry and vexation. He died on the 5th of See also:June 1816. Paisiello's operas (of which he is known to have composed 94) abound with melodies, the graceful beauty of which is still warmly appreciated. Perhaps the best known of these airs is the famous " Nel See also:cor pill " from La Molinaro, immortalized by See also:Beethoven's delightful See also:variations. His church music was very voluminous, comprising eight masses, besides many smaller works; he also produced fifty-one instrumental compositions and many detached pieces. MS. scores of many of his operas were presented to the library of the See also:British Museum by See also:Dragonetti.

The library of the Gerolamini at Naples possesses an interesting MS. compilation recording Paisiello's opinions on contemporary composers, and exhibiting him as a somewhat severe critic, especially of the work of Pergolesi. His See also:

Life has been written by F. Schizze (See also:Milan, 1833).

End of Article: PAISIELLO (or PAESIELLO), GIOVANNI (1741-1816)

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