Matteo Babini


Matteo Antonio Babini, also known by the family name of Babbini, was a leading Italian tenor of the late 18th-century, and a teacher of singing and stage art.

Life and career

Matteo Babini was born in Bologna on 19 February 1754.
After studying in his town with Arcangelo Cortoni, he made his début at Modena probably in 1770 or 1771, at the age of 16 or 17, as a second tenor. It is likely he sang in a revival of Paisiello's Demetrio.
After performing in several Italian theatres, most notably in the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice, Babini was engaged, between 1777 and 1781, to appear at Berlin's Court and, later, to perform works by Paisiello in Saint Petersburg. While there, he was popular performing in Paisiello's operas, even some in the comic genre with which he was not associated while in Italy.
Babini went on to perform all around Europe, including Lisbon, Madrid, Vienna, and London. In 1786, in London, he took part in the premiere of Cherubini's Giulio Sabino.
His career in Italy continued successfully through the nineties, with highlights including his part in the premiere of Cimarosa's Gli Orazi e i Curiazi, where he played the part of the villainous hero Marcus Horatius.
Babini retired from the stage in 1803, though he was still in demand for premiere performances by such composers as Zingarelli and Bertoni.
Having settled again in his native town, after an Italian career based almost wholly around Venice, he then proceeded to teach. In addition to singing, he also taught the stage art by which he had so much distinguished himself. One of his pupils was a teenaged Gioachino Rossini, who would recount, to Ferdinand Hiller in his old age, the story of his juvenile fancies to become a singer and of his meeting the great tenor.
Babini died in Bologna on 22 September 1816.

Artistic contributions

Matteo Babini played a key part in the recovery, towards the end of the 18th century, of the expressive character of operatic singing which, had been losing favour to the vocal acrobatics of the castrati and the higher notes of the sopranos. Being a baritonal tenor with a very narrow range, and not being particularly versed in coloratura, Babini felt at ease in only one octave.
Babini's main contributions to the renaissance of operatic art were through his role of actor-singer, and he became known for the exuberant style of his recitals, the realism of his acting, and his imposing stage presence – he was said to be tall, blond, and slender, and with a very fine countenance.
According to Giovanni Morelli, Babini's repertoire developed following his stays in Paris during the crucial moments of the French Revolution, in the years 1787 to 1789, and in 1792, and shifted towards the new-fashioned historical drama and the Rousseau monodrama cantata, especially Pimmalione, which he performed around the major Italian theatres with a huge success.
In his interpretations, Babbini endeavoured to portray "peoples' customs and heroes' vicissitudes", and in the Venetian premiere of Cimarosa's Oriazi he went on the stage wearing historical costume, "which the audience remained so much satisfied with, that thenceforth theatres turned it into an invariable standard".
Babini partnered, amongst others, Crescentini, Grassini, Banti, Pacchiarotti, and also the tenor Giacomo David, with whom he often alternated the same parts.

Roles

The following list is not complete:
RoleOperaGenreComposerTheatrePremiere
GiocondoL'astrattoDramma giocosoNiccolò PiccinniBologna, Teatro Formagliariautumn 1772
AnassandroMeropeDramma per musica Giacomo InsanguineVenice, Teatro (Grimani) San Benedetto26 December 1772
OsminoSolimanoDramma per musicaJohann Gottlieb NaumannVenice, Teatro San Benedetto3 January 1773
ClearcoAntigonoDramma per musica Pasquale AnfossiVenice, Teatro (Gallo) San Benedetto23 May 1773
Amenofi La NittetiDramma per musicaGiovanni PaisielloSaint Petersburg, Court Theatre c 17/28 January 1778
LicomedeAchille in SciroDramma per musicaGiovanni PaisielloSaint Petersburg, Court Theatre 26 January/6 February 1778
ValerioLo sposo burlatoDramma giocoso-pasticcioGiovanni PaisielloSaint Petersburg, Court Theatre 13/24 July 1778
PheniveDemetrioOperaGiovanni PaisielloTsarskoye Selo, Court Theatre13/24 June 1779
GelinoLa finta amanteOpera comicaGiovanni PaisielloMogilëv, Theatre 24 May/5 June 1780
FronimoAlcide al bivioFesta teatraleGiovanni PaisielloSaint Petersburg, Court Theatre
Artaserse ArtaserseDramma per musica Giacomo RustPerugia, Teatro Civico 1781
SarabesZemiraDramma per musicaPasquale AnfossiVenice, Teatro San Benedetto26 December 1781
Scitalce-SardanapaloArbaceDramma per musica Venice, Teatro San Benedetto3 January 1782
OrmondoIl disertore franceseDramma per musica Francesco BianchiVenice, Teatro San Benedetto26 December 1784
Alessandro MagnoAlessandro nell'IndieDramma per musica Francesco BianchiVenice, Teatro San Benedetto28 January 1785
–Giulio SabinoDramma per musica Luigi CherubiniLondon, King's Theatre30 March 1786
PorsennaIl trionfo di CleliaDramma per musicaAngelo TarchiTurin, Nuovo Teatro Regio26 December 1786
VolodimiroVolodimiroDramma per musicaDomenico CimarosaTurin, Nuovo Teatro Regio20 January 1787
Artabano ArtaserseDramma per musica Francesco BianchiPadua, Teatro Nuovo e della Nobiltà11 June 1787
BrutoLa morte di CesareDramma serio per musicaFrancesco BianchiVenice, Teatro (Grimani) San Samuele27 December 1788
Amenofi NittetiDramma per musica Ferdinando BertoniVenice, Teatro San Samuele di Venezia6 February 1789
GiasoneGli Argonauti in Colco ossia La conquista del vello d'oroDramma per musicaGiuseppe GazzanigaVenice, Teatro San Samuele26 December 1789
PimmalionePimmalioneScena drammatica in musicaVenice, Teatro San Samuele26 January 1790
AlessandroApelleNiccolò Antonio ZingarelliVenice, Teatro alla Fenice18 November 1793
VirginioVirginiaTragedia per musica Felice AlessandriVenice, Teatro alla Fenice26 December 1793
AlcéoSaffo o sia I riti d'Apollo LeucadioDramma per musicaGiovanni Simone MayrVenice, Teatro alla Fenice17 February 1794
UlissePenelopeDramma per musicaDomenico CimarosaNaples, Teatro del Fondo26 December 1794
Marco OrazioGli Orazi e i CuriaziTragedia per musica Domenico CimarosaVenice, Teatro alla Fenice26 December 1796
MentoreTelemaco nell'isola di CalipsoDramma per musicaGiovanni Simone MayrVenice, Teatro Sant'Angelo16 January 1797
MitridateLa morte di MitridateDramma per musica Niccolò Antonio ZingarelliVenice, Teatro alla Fenice27 May 1797
protagonistaInno patriottico per la guardia civicaAnthemCatterino CavosVenice, Teatro alla Fenice14 September 1797
EdipoEdipo a ColonoTragedia per musica Niccolò Antonio ZingarelliVenice, Teatro alla Fenice26 December 1802
Publio Scipione AfricanoLa caduta della nuova CartagineDramma per musicaGiuseppe FarinelliVenice, Teatro alla Fenice5 February 1803
MercurioAdria consolataFesta teatrale Ferdinando BertoniVenice, Teatro alla Fenice12 February 1803