Background
Cimarosa was born in Aversa on Dec. 17, 1749. He was the son of a poor stonemason and a laundress.
In 1756 Cimarosa's family moved to Naples where his father died shortly thereafter.
opera composer musical composer
Cimarosa was born in Aversa on Dec. 17, 1749. He was the son of a poor stonemason and a laundress.
In 1756 Cimarosa's family moved to Naples where his father died shortly thereafter.
Domenico Cimarosa's parents were poor, but anxious to give their son a good education and after removing to Naples they sent him to a free school connected with one of the monasteries of that city. At the age of 12 he entered the Conservatory of S. Maria di Loreto; he studied composition, voice, and keyboard and sang major parts in conservatory performances.
At the age of twenty-three Cimarosa began his career as a composer with a comic opera called Le Slravagame del Conte, first performed at the Teatro dei Fiorentini at Naples in 1772, the year he left the conservatory.
He composed two operas, Cleopatra and La vergine del sole, as well as cantatas and vocal and instrumental works during his stay.
His constitution was not strong enough to stand St. Petersburg's weather, so he left in 1791 to become conductor to Leopold II in Vienna.
It was here that he composed his masterpiece, Il matrimonio segreto, in 1792.
In 1799 he was imprisoned for publicly expressing his sympathy for Napoleon.
In addition to 61 operas, many with two versions, Cimarosa composed oratorios, cantatas, miscellaneous vocal works, and instrumental works, including 32 one-movement piano sonatas.
His melodic gifts so impressed Goethe that he wrote two texts, Die Spröde and Die Bekehrte, to be sung to Cimarosa's melodies. Cimarosa's operatic style is similar to that of many of his Italian contemporaries.
The speed at which he composed is reflected in his tendency to use conventional procedures.
Although these ensembles do not show the breadth and depth of a Mozart, they are well above the standard of contemporary practice.
The last period of his life said to have been embittered by the intrigues of envious and hostile persons, including his old rival, Giovanni Paisiello. During the occupation of Naples by the troops of the French Republic, Cimarosa joined the liberal party, but on the return of the Bourbons was imprisoned along with many of his political friends (some say even condemned to death). His sentence was commuted to banishment when influential admirers interceded, and he left Naples with the intention of returning to St. Petersburg, but his health was broken and after much suffering he died in Venice on 11 January 1801 of an intestinal inflammation. The nature of his disease led to the rumor of his having been poisoned by his enemies; however, a formal inquest proved this to be unfounded. He worked until the last moment of his life, and one of his operas, Artemizia, remained unfinished at his death. The place of his death is marked by a memorial in Campo San Angelo near the calle de Caffetier.
Domenico Cimarosa was married to Gaetana Pallante.Gaetana died one year later, and here Cimarosa's matrimonial history becomes clouded. It would appear that he may possibly have remarried immediately. In any case a woman (possibly his second wife) bore him two children, and died shortly afterwards. His next wife died much later in 1796, after bearing him one son, Paolo.