Majo, Gian Francesco (de)
Majo, Gian Francesco (de)
Majo, Gian Francesco (de), Italian organist and composer, son of Giuseppe de Majo, known as Ciccio di Majo; b. Naples, March 24, 1732; d. there, Nov. 17, 1770. He received his primary training from his father, and also studied with his uncle Gennaro Manno and his great-uncle Francesco Feo. He was his father’s assistant as organista soprannumerario at the royal chapel, being made its 2nd organist by 1758. His first opera, Riamerò re dei Goti (Parma, Feb. 7, 1759), scored a great success in Rome in 1759, and his next opera, Astrea placata (Naples, June 29, 1760), established his reputation as a composer for the theater. After further studies with Padre Martini (1761–63), he went to Vienna to produce his opera Alcide negli orti Esperidi (June 7, 1764) for the coronation of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Joseph II. He then toured widely, returning to his birthplace the year of his death.
Works
dramatic: Opera: Riamerò re dei Goti (Parma, Feb. 7, 1759); Astrea placata (Naples, June 29, 1760); Cap Fabricio (Naples, Nov. 29, 1760); L’Almeria (Livorno, 1761); Artaserse (Venice, Jan. 30, 1762); Catone in litica (Turin, Dec. 26, 1762); Demofoonte (Rome, Feb. 1763); Alcide negli orti Esperidi (Vienna, June 7, 1764); Ifigenia in Tauride (Mannheim, Nov. 4, 1764); Montezuma (Turin, Carnival 1765); La constância dichosa (Madrid, 1765); Alessandro nell’Indie (Mannheim, Nov. 5, 1766); Antigono (Venice, Dec. 26, 1767); Antigona (Rome, Carnival 1768); Ipermestra (Naples, Aug. 13, 1768); Adriano in Siria (Rome, Carnival 1769); Didone abbandonata (Venice, Dec. 26, 1769); Eumene (Naples, Jan. 21, 1771; finished by Insanguine and Errichelli); also arias for 3 London pasticcios: Ezio (1764); Solimano (1765); The Golden Pippin (Feb. 6, 1773). other: Many oratorios, cantatas, and other sacred works.
Bibliography
D. DiChiera, The Life and Operas of G.F. d.M. (diss., Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles, 1962).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire