Leonardo Leo
Leonardo Leo, more correctly Leonardo Ortensio Salvatore de Leo, was a Baroque composer.
Biography
Leo was born in San Vito degli Schiavoni in the Apulia region, then part of the Kingdom of Naples.He became a student at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini at Naples in 1703, and was a pupil first of Francesco Provenzale and later of Nicola Fago. It has been supposed that he was a pupil of Pitoni and Alessandro Scarlatti, but he could not possibly have studied with either of these composers, although he was undoubtedly influenced by their compositions. His earliest known work was a sacred drama, L'infedeltà abbattuta, performed by his fellow-students in 1712.
In 1714 he produced, at the court theatre, an opera, Pisistrato, which was much admired.
He held various posts at the royal chapel, and continued to write for the stage, besides teaching at the conservatory. After adding comic scenes to Francesco Gasparini's Bajazette in 1722 for performance at Naples, he composed comic operas in Neapolitan such as La'mpeca scoperta in 1723, and L'Alidoro in 1740.
His most famous comic opera was Amor vuol sofferenza, better known as La Finta Frascatana, highly praised by De Brosses. He was equally distinguished as a composer of serious opera, Demofoonte, Farnace and L'Olimpiade being his most famous works in this branch, and is still better known as a composer of sacred music.
He died of a stroke while engaged in the composition of new arias for a revival of La Finta Frascatana. Leo was the first of the Neapolitan school to obtain a complete mastery over modern harmonic counterpoint.
Operas
Drammi per musica
- Il Pisistrato
- Eumene
- Sofonisba
- Cajo Gracco
- Arianna e Teseo
- Bajazette
- Tamerlano
- Timocrate
- Zenobia in Palmira
- Astianatte
- La somiglianza
- L'Orismene, overo dagli sdegni gli amori
- Ciro riconosciuto
- Argene
- La zingara
- Intermezzi per l'Argene
- Catone
- Demetrio
- Amore dà senno
- Emira
- La clemenza di Tito
- Onore vince amore
- La simpatia del sangue
- Siface
- L'Olimpiade
- Amor vuol sofferenza 1739
- Festa teatrale
- La contesa dell'Amore e della virtù
- Scipione nelle Spagne
- L'Alidoro
- Achille in Sciro
- Alessandro
- Demoofonte
- L'impresario delle Isole Canarie
- Andromaca
- L'ambizione delusa (Leo) 1742
- Decebalo (Leo) 1743
- Vologeso
- La finta Frascatana
- Artaserse
- Lucio Papirio
- Evergete
- Il matrimonio anascoso
- Alessandro nell'Indie
- Il Medo
- Nitocri, regina di egitto
- Il Pisistrate
- Il trionfo di Camillo
- ''Le nozze di Psiche''
Selected recordings
- 2002 Concerto for 4 Violins and Strings in D -Conductor: Reinhard Goebel, Orchestra: Cologne Musica Antiqua
- 2001 Concerto 4 violins and Strings in D - Performers: Elizabeth Wallfisch, Nicholas Kraemer
Label: Hyperion
- 2001: 6 Cello Concertos-Performer: Hidemi Suzuki, Makoto Akatsu Orchestra: Orchestra Van Wassenaer
più dell'usato, cantata for solo voice & strings- Conductor: Cosimo Prontera Performer: Cristina Miatello, Emanuele Bianchi
Orchestra: La Confraternita de' Musici
Label: Tactus
For a more complete discography of Leo, see http://www.leonardoleo.com/discography.htm