Ivan Handoshkin - Russian Paganini

Ivan Handoshkin (1747-1804) was a Russian violinist and composer of the classicism. He is considered one of the best Russian violinists of the time. Alongside numerous foreign composers, he was one of the few domestic ones who built the rich music life of St. Petersburg and Moscow. That happened before Russian music began to flourish with the first representatives of the Russian national school.

Many foreign musicians, most notably Italian, but also French and German, were active in Russian cities. Since in the second half of the 18th and the first decades of the 19th century there was a great interest in Italian opera, at the imperial court in St. Petersburg, at the invitation of Catherine the Great, opera composers such as Giovanni Paisello, Giuseppe Sarti, Domenico Cimarosa and Tomaso Traetta were active.

Under the imperial patronage, by the mid-18th century, there was already a well-established tradition of the winter concert season. During Lent serious concerts were organized instead of theatrical performances. These concert activities were very appealing to European musicians who traveled great distances and through the harsh Russian winter to play there. It was financially profitable for them and also helped them build reputation as performers. Such exchanges of musical tendencies and traditions were conducive to the development of Ivan Handoshkin, who lived and worked at the time when virtuosos performed in St. Petersburg, such as Giovanni Battista Viotti, his student Gaetano Pugnani, then Antonio Lolli, who was Tartini's student and famous violin showman, the forerunner of the famous Paganini, then Karl Stamitz from a famous family of Mannheim musicians who contributed greatly to early classicism, as well as Ludwig Spohr. Today's music writers argue that Handoshkin's ability to play the violin could easily be compared to the artists listed, whose names are far more familiar to us.

Emperor Peter The Great

Imperial Russia

During the reign of Emperor Peter the Great, great artists were brought to Russia, both painters or architects and musicians. He wanted to compete with other European courts in power and prestige. Imperial affinity for the arts continues even later when Catherine the Great became Empress. Thanks to their patronage, favorable conditions have been created in Moscow and St. Petersburg for the flourishing of domestic productive and reproductive creativity. Thus, Handoshkin himself, as an imperial court musician, was able to learn from European music masters who either performed as virtuosos on their instrument in Russia or were engaged for some time in the role of court musicians.

Empress Catherine The Great

Empress Catherine the Great

At the beginning of the fourth decade of the 18th century, the Italian opera was introduced for the first time in Russia, thanks to Empress Anna. Since then, a lot of Italian masters lived and worked in Russia. Empress Catherine the Great sent two local musicians to study abroad. Those were Maxim Berezovsky and Dmitry Bortnyanski. Around the mid-18th century, the development of concert life in imperial Russia began. Initially, it was dominated by foreign virtuosos, until the advent of Ivan Handoshkin.

Catherine the Great was the patron of education, literature and the arts. She supported the development of Russian opera. The Hermitage Museum, today the second largest in the world, was founded on her initiative. Imperial Russia of her time was the meeting place for European musicians.

Ivan's music career

Although there are only a few solid details regarding the life of Ivan Handoshkin, his professional career can be reconstructed to some degree. This violin virtuoso was born in 1747 near Mirgorod. His father Ostap was primarily trained to be a tailor, but he also performed played in the orchestra of Emperor Peter III. His son Ivan most probably gained experience in the court orchestra from the age of thirteen, and his music teacher was Italian violinist Titto Porta. At the time, the concertmasters of this orchestra were Italian violinists Domenico dall'Oglio, a student of Tartini, as well as Pietro Peri. They influenced greatly young Handoshkin.

From the age of thirteen, this Russian artist worked at the Russian Imperial court, first in the service of Peter the Great and then the Empress Catherine the Great. In addition to his usual duties as a court musician, Handoshkin has organized successful public and private concerts, and for some time taught at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. He also participated in the founding of a Music Academy in Yekaterinoslav, but the institution was open only for a few years, so Handoshkin returned to his court duties. He died in St. Petersburg in 1804.

Ivan's composer opus

In addition to the genre of folk songs variations, so popular in the era of Romanticism, especially in the oeuvres of nationally-oriented composers, Handoshkin also stood out as a deft virtuoso who used various, complex violin techniques in his compositions, and interestingly, he was particularly fond of the rich and somewhat melancholy sound of the lower violin register instead of the brilliant and bright nuances of its higher register. He also composed violin sonatas.

Nancy Storace - Mozart's first Susanna

Nancy Storace
(1765-1817)

Nancy Storace was an extraordinary British opera singer of Italian descent who made her debut at just eight years old. She began her career in Italy and then became a well-known and respected singer in Vienna. Some of the most prominent composers of that time wrote for her. She first introduced the character Susanna in the opera "Le nozze di Figaro" in 1786.

First success in Italy

Nancy Storace was born in London in 1765. Her mother was English and her father was an Italian who played double bass. She studied singing in Italy with the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini, for whom Mozart composed his motet "Exultate Jubilate". Nancy began her career as an opera singer in Italy in 1776 by performing at Rauzzini's "L'ali d'amore". In 1782 she sang at the premiere of the opera by Giuseppe Sarti "Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode". Shortly after that, she was offered a high salary for joining the ensemble of the Viennese Court theater, just like her colleague Francesco Benucci.

Nancy Storace

Career in Vienna

In 1783, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II founded a new opera troupe that focused on performing Italian comic opera. At that time, Nancy Storace sang in Venice. She spent four very successful years in Vienna as a member of the court theater. The best composers of that time - Mozart, Salieri, Martin y Soler - wrote for her.

The audience appreciated her the most as an interpreter of lighter and vocally simpler roles. Excellent acting skills, stage presence and musicality were her strongest qualities. She was the first singer to introduce Susanna in Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro". 

In addition, Mozart wrote the aria Nacqui all'aria trionfale from the unfinished opera "Lo sposo deluso" and the concert aria Ch'io mi scordi di te for her farewell recital. It is a grandiose aria intended for soprano and obligatory piano, in which the compassionate lyricism is combined with virtuosity in the best possible way. The first part of the aria is slower and cantabile, while the second is faster and more virtuosic. The artist's farewell recital was held in February 1787 and afterwards she went to her native London, where she continued to build a successful opera career with her brother Stephen, who was an opera composer.

Vicente Martin y Soler

Vicente Martin y Soler

When Nancy was at the height of her career, Vicente Martin y Soler, a talented Spanish composer, was active in Vienna. He achieved great success as an opera composer, although he is relatively unknown to the public today. He was born in 1754 in Valencia. His father was a tenor at the city church, where Vicente sang as a young man. He studied music in Bologna with Giovanni Battista Martini. He developed his career in Italian theaters and arrived in Vienna at the end of 1785. After Vienna, Soler was active in St. Petersburg, where he went at the invitation of Catherine the Great. Before returning to the Russian imperial capital at the end of his life, Soler also worked in London. 

As for his stay in Vienna, one opera in particular overshadowed many others and even Mozart's Figaro. Soler's tunes became so popular that they were sung on the streets. Mozart paid tribute to him by quoting a tune in his opera "Don Giovanni". The opera that celebrated Soler was called "Una cosa rara" and Nancy Storace sang the role of Lila. Almost every number in this opera became a hit, and the simplicity of the music suited Nancy perfectly, which is heard in the aria Dolce mi parve un dì.

Stephen Storace

Vocal problems

In 1765, Nancy lost her voice due to a nervous breakdown and never seemed to fully recover afterwards. It happened during an opera production written by her brother Steven Storace. Tenor Michael Kelly wrote in his memoires what happened to Nancy. During first act, Nancy suddenly lost her voice and could not utter a tone throughout the performance. A few months later, after Nancy's return to the stage, Mozart and Salieri jointly co-wrote solo cantata Per la ricuperata salute di Ofelia, which was recently discovered and reconstructed.

Nancy Storace

Return to London

Nancy went to London in 1787 and continued to perform. She also renewed her friendship with Joseph Haydn, who successfully presented his works in London on several occasions in the 1790s. Nancy sang several times in concerts where Haydn's music has been performed. One of the most important was the concert when the composer was awarded the Doctoral title of Oxford University. Nancy's friendship with Haydn dates back to days she spent in Vienna. In 1784, she sang a solo role in the composer's oratorio Il trionfo di Tobia.

Nancy Storace

Nancy's contribution

Although music history is mainly about male musicians, it is important to remember female artists like Nancy Storace. It was very rare during this period for a British singer to gain such recognition in the opera world, which was then dominated by Italian artists. Nancy's success paved the way for other singers. In the century following her death, many more British singers have built successful careers in opera.

Adriana Ferrarese del Bene - Mozart's Fiordiligi

Adriana Ferrarese del Bene
(around 1755 - after 1804)

Born around 1755 in Ferrara, Adriana Ferrarese studied music at the Conservatory in Venice. She began her career as an opera singer in her native Italy, and then got a two-year engagement in London. She was active in Vienna from 1788 to 1791, after which she returned to Italy. She was the first Fiordiligi in music history and she also sang the role of Susanna, because Nancy Storace was no longer in Vienna at that moment.

Adriana Ferrarese as Susanna

"I love when an aria suits a singer like a well-tailored suit." - so wrote Mozart to his father Leopold, who confirmed his son never composed arias unless he knew the singer's vocal capabilities. At that time, it was already well-established practice for composers to write music for particular singers. It was even common for composers to write new arias if the original artist was unavailable.

This happened in 1789, when the opera "The Marriage of Figaro" was being staged for the second time. Since Nancy Storace, the first Susanna in music history, was no longer working in Vienna at the time, Mozart had to write two new arias for a new singer - Adriana Ferrarese del Bene. As she could not show her acting skills, as was the case with Nancy Storace, Mozart decided to emphasize her vocal qualities. In the aria of Susanna Al desio di chi t'adora the vocal demands are more evident than in those written for Nancy. Besides that, the music of this piece is even more beautiful because Mozart used obligatory instruments as an accompaniment for the singer. These were two basset horns, two bassoons and two horns.

Adriana Ferrarese as Fiordiligi

Mozart emphasized Adriana's vocal qualities when he wrote arias for her. This is evident in the arias he wrote as substitutes for Susanna, but most of all for Fiordiligi. Adriana's voice had three significant features - very good quality of the lower register, perfect executions of high notes and flexibility of the voice. This is evident in Fiordiligi's aria Come scoglio. As Ferrarese had well-developed lower register, Mozart used them in abundance, but not as passing notes of shorter duration. On the contrary, these note were placed on the strong beats and were written in long note values. That is why a singer has to master them well. Likewise, Adriana easily sang high notes and could easily manage large interval leaps, so Mozart emphasized that too. Those leaps often went over an octave, which means singers need to have a well balanced chest and head voice. Mozart also utilized the agility of Adriana's voice by writing lengthy coloratura passages covering almost the entire range of her voice. This aria is still one of the most demanding for sopranos today.

Other roles

When she made her debut as Diana in Soler's opera "L'arbore di Diana" in 1788, Adriana Ferrarese was praised for her powerful voice. In one Viennese newspaper a critic wrote: "...besides her incredible high register she has a striking lower register, and music connoisseurs claim that they have not heard such a voice in Vienna for a long time. They only complain that her acting skills are not at the level of her singing."

That Adriana really sang big interval leaps with ease and confidence is evident in the aria Alfin son sola...Sola e mesta fra tormenti from Salieri's opera "La cifra", which was first performed in Vienna in 1789.

Two Mozart's Luisas

Fiordiligi and Dorabella

Luisa Villanova - the first Dorabella

The singer who sang the role of Dorabella at the premiere of Mozart's opera "Cosi fan tutte", Italian soprano Luisa Villanova began her artistic career in Vienna in the early 1870s as a ballet dancer. She then became an opera singer in Italy. She returned to Vienna in 1789, where she successfully presented herself as Madame Lucille in Vicente Martin y Soler's opera "L'arbore di Diana". Music critics praised her charming appearance, sensitive and expressive acting as well as her beautiful voice.

Although she was remembered in music history primarily because of her association with Mozart, there is evidence she appeared as an opera singer in cities such as Turin, Venice, Milan, Padua, Naples, Rome and Madrid. In 1794, she sang the role of Carolina in Cimarosa's opera "Il matrimonio segreto" in Venice, which premiered shortly before that in Vienna.

Just before interpreting the character of Dorabella in Burgtheater in Vienna, Luisa Villanova had already made contacts with Mozart, who had written several arias for her. One of them is Ahi cosa veggio...Vado ma dove, which was written as an insertion aria for Vicente Martin y Soler's opera "Il burbero di buon cuore". At that time, it was not uncommon for composers to write insertion arias for operas by other composers. In this particular case, Mozart did so because the Spanish composer was no longer in Vienna when the preparations were made for a new stage production of his opera. This reveals another strange thing - the custom of writing new arias for new singers. It a singer who performed at the premiere was not available for next production, but someone else, composers had to write new music for the new singer. The purpose of this practice was to write music that could fit singers perfectly.

Costume design for Countess Almaviva
(1905)

Luisa Laschi Mombelli - First Countess Almaviva

A few months after its very successful premiere in Prague, Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" was first performed in Vienna in 1788. The best singers were hired for that production. Caterina Cavalieri sang the role of Donna Elvira. Mozart's first love, Aloysia Weber, interpreted the role of Donna Anna. At the time, one of the leading singers in Vienna was soprano Luisa Laschi, who received higher income than her German or Austrian colleagues with whom she sang at the Imperial Theater. It was she who sang the role of Zerlina, while the role of the faithful servant Leporello was interpreted by another excellent singer - Francesco Benucci. Mozart wrote some new music to fit the voices of his singers. One of the most beautiful numbers from the score is a hilariously comis duet sung by Zerlina and Leporello - Restati quà ... Per queste tue manine. 

Born around 1760 in Florence, Luisa Laschi Mombelli has had a brief, though intense career in opera, both in her native Italy and in Vienna. She has performed numerous roles, very diverse, making it difficult to accurately classify her voice. She interpreted the role of Countess Almaviva in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", the role of Aspasia in Salieri's opera "Axur, re d'Ormus" and the role of Isabella in the opera "Una cosa rara" by Vicente Martin y Soler. She was the first wife of a prominent lyric tenor Domenico Mombelli, who had a traveling opera troupe that was active between 1806 and 1811. His second wife Vincenza was also a singer, as were their two daughters Ester and Anna.

Luisa Laschi arrived in Vienna in 1784 and immediately after her first engagement she was praised for her clean voice, musicality and expressive singing. During her next stay in the imperial capital, which was in 1786, Luisa was tasked with presenting for the first time on stage the character of the Countess in Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro."

Joseph Martin Kraus - "Swedish Mozart"

Joseph Martin Kraus
(1756-1792)

German composer Joseph Martin Kraus was a contemporary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They were both born in 1756, just a few months apart. Just like Mozart, Kraus died at a very young age, although he lived one year longer than his Austrian colleague. Although he was born in Germany, Kraus developed his music career at the court of King Gustav III of Sweden. Music historians named him - "Swedish Mozart".

Music education

Joseph Martin Kraus was born in Miltenberg am Main. He attended Jesuit High School and Music Seminary in Mannheim, city that was still one of the largest music centers in Europe. He studied law in several German cities according to his parents' wishes. However, he was constantly attracted to music, especially when under the influence of a literary circle he adopted the principles of the Sturm und Drang movement.

What finally drove Kraus to music was his fellow musician's suggestion to go to Sweden and find an appropriate job at the court of King Gustav III, who at the time was considered a generous patron of the arts and literature. Kraus went to Sweden, but it was not that easy getting a job there. 

King Gustav III of Sweden

Gustav III - Patron of the Arts

King Gustav III was one of the most significant patrons of art in the 18th century. He was very fond of the performing arts, literature and painting. His love for the arts quickly became known throughout Europe and this attracted musicians from many countries.

Under the auspices of the Court Theater, he founded the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet in 1773. He commissioned works, wrote dramas and promoted Swedish actors and opera singers.

The assassination of Gustav III took place in 1792 at that same opera house during a masked ball. That event inspired Verdi to write his opera "Un ballo in maschera".

First year in Stockholm

Kraus moved to Stockholm at the urging of a friend in 1778, but it was not easy at all during his first years. He thought about returning home several times because he was in a very difficult financial situation. He often asked his parents to send him money. It was three years before he could get the attention of the King of Sweden. A successful performance of his opera Proserpin in 1781, written on the libretto king himself wrote, finally brought him an employment. Kraus was subsequently appointed deputy chaplain of the Royal Swedish Opera. King Gustav commissioned an opera that would be performed at the opening of the new opera house. So Kraus began to write Aeneas in Carthage.

Travels around Europe

In addition to finally hiring him as a musician, in 1782 the king sent Kraus on a trip to Europe. The young musician toured Germany, Austria, Italy and France during a four-year tour. Other members of the higher society, including artists, made similar trips in order to see and experience other cultures and make friends with important people. Among them was Mozart or Mendelssohn.

During his stay in Vienna, Kraus met Haydn and Gluck, but not Mozart. In Florence, he met Giovanni Batista Martini, "the greatest music theorist," as he called him. Kraus spent two years in the French capital and received commissions to write new symphonic pieces for the renowned Concerts Spirituel.

During this trip around Europe, Kraus composed a lot, and among the works created during this period is a Flute Quintet in D major.

Back in Sweden

Upon his return to Sweden in 1787, Joseph Martin Kraus worked diligently: he became a court chaplain and director of the Royal Academy of Music, organized concert activities for the Royal Court Orchestra, especially in the form of subscription concerts, and later became the principal conductor of that ensemble. A few months after King Gustav was assassinated, he died of tuberculosis at the age of 35.

Composer's opus

His opus includes pieces written for the theater, symphonic, vocal, chamber and solo music. His style is describe as very reminiscent of Mozart. It was recently revealed that he also wrote two concerts for viola and orchestra. The works were previously attributed to other composers by mistake.