MERCADANTE, SAVERIO RAFFAELE. - Musician, b. at Altamura in Sept. 1795, d. at Naples on 12 Dec. 1870, where he was a pupil of Zingarelli. In 1819 his first opera, L'apoteosi d'Ercole, was performed at the S. Carlo in Naples, and it was followed by a series of about 60 operas, concluding with the Virginia (1866).

The operas received with the greatest favor were Elisa e Claudio (Milan 1821); I briganti (Paris 1836); Il giuramento (Milan 1837), which was the most performed; Il Bravo (ibid. 1839); La vestale (Naples 1840); Gli Orazi e Curiazi (ibid. 1846). After having been from 1833 maestro di cappella at the cathedral of Novara, in 1840, stricken by blindness, he became director of the Conservatory of Naples. Besides several instrumental works and works of various character, his output in the religious field was notable, in which are counted the oratorio Le sette parole di Nostro Signore, about twenty masses, 13 metetti, 8 Magnificat, 5 Salve Regina, 2 Tantum ergo for 5 voices, hymns, psalms, versetti, litanies, etc.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: W. Neumann, S. M., Kassel 1855; G. Bustico, S. M. a Novara, in Riv. musicale it., 28 (1921), p. 361; G. Pannain.

Saggio su la musica a Napoli nel sec. XIX da M. a Martucci, ibid., 35 (1928), pp. 198 and 331; S. A. Luciani, S. M., Bari 1945; B. Notarnicola, S. M., Rome 1949.

Luigi Ronga

@incollection{ec8_mercadante_saverio_raffaele, author = {Ronga, Luigi}, title = {Mercadante, saverio raffaele}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {706--707}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/mercadante-saverio-raffaele} }

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Mercadante, Saverio Raffaele

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