Uttini, Francesco Antonio

Francesco Antonio Baldassare Uttini was born in 1723 in Bologna, in the Papal Region. He studied music in his hometown with Giovanni Battista Martini , Giacomo Antonio Perti and Pietro Giuseppe Sandoni . In 1743 he was admitted to the Philharmonic Academy in Bologna. In the same year he made his debut in Genoa as an opera composer of the opera-series “Alexander in India” ( Italian: Alessandro nelle Indie ) based on the libretto by Pietro Metastasio . From 1743 to 1752 he served in the chapels of local churches, while writing stage works for theaters. His operas, for the most part the series, enjoyed success with the audience, not only in Italy, but also in Germany and Denmark. In 1752, he was accepted into the position of deputy music director of the Mingotti troupe, where he met his future wife, singer Rosa Scarlatti , whom he married the next year.

In 1755, he was appointed bandmaster , but in the same year, along with the troupe, left Italy and went on a tour to Sweden at the invitation of Queen Lovisa Ulrika . Immediately upon arrival at the stage of the new theater in Drottningholm , the premiere of his opera The Shepherd King ( Italian: Il re pastore ) took place. Then he wrote a concert for flute and sonata for harpsichord. After the collapse of the troupe, he decided to stay in Sweden. In 1757 he was taken over as the bandmaster of the royal chapel, replacing Per Brant .

During this period he wrote numerous operas with a libretto in Italian and French and chamber-instrumental works, symphonies and cantatas. In 1772, commissioned by Gustav III, the king of Sweden, he wrote the opera Thetis and Pele ( Swedish. Thetis och Pelée ) based on the libretto by Johan Vellander , which became the first Swedish opera. The premiere took place on January 18, 1773 at the opening of the Royal Ballhus Theater in Stockholm. The opera was very popular with the public. ^[4] Following her, the composer's last operas were written in Swedish in libretto - in 1774 Birger Jarl and Mechtilde ( Swedish Birger Jarl och Mechtilde ) according to the libretto by Gustav Fredrik Gillenborg and in 1776 Alina, Queen of the Golconda ( Swedish Aline, drottning uti Golconda ) by Christopher Bogislaus Zibet libretto .

In 1778, he resigned as bandmaster, giving way to the “Swedish Mozart,” Joseph Martin Kraus and Johann Gottlieb Neumann , invited by Gustav III to reform the royal chapel. Widowed in 1775, in 1788, married a second time to singer Sofia Lillegren , and from that time on he no longer wrote music.

Francesco Antonio Baldassare Uttini died in Stockholm on October 25, 1795.

The composer's creative heritage includes 20 operas and numerous works of church and chamber music, including 17 concerts, 7 symphonies and 2 oratorios . ^{[5] [6]}

• Don Michael Randel. The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music : [ eng. ] . - Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1996 .-- 1013 p. - (Harvard University Press reference library). - ISBN 9780674372993 .
• Bertil H. Van Boer. Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period : [ eng. ] . - Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2012 .-- 639 p. - (Historical dictionaries of literature and the arts). - ISBN 9780810871830 .

• . Francesco Antonio Baldassare Uttini ( Neopr .) . Handelforever.com. - Biography of Francesco Antonio Baldassare Uttini. (ital.)