Morlacchi, Francesco (Giuseppe Baldassare)

Morlacchi, Francesco (Giuseppe Baldassare), prominent Italian conductor and composer; b. Perugia, June 14, 1784; d. Innsbruck, Oct. 28, 1841. He studied with his uncle, the Cathedral organist L. Mazzetti, and with Luigi Caruso in Perugia, then with Zingarelli in Loreto (1803–04) and Padre Mattei at Bologna’s Liceo Filarmonica (1805), where he received his diploma of “maestro compositore” for the cantata II tempio della gloria, written in honor of Napoleon’s coronation as King of Italy. He demonstrated his contrapuntal skill by composing a Miserere à 16(1807). He first gained success as a composer for the stage with his operas La Principessa per ripiego(Rome, autumn 1809) and Le Danaidi(Rome, Feb. 11,1810). He then was called to Dresden as deputy Kapellmeister of the Italian Opera in 1810, being made Kapellmeister for life in 1811; he retained the latter title until the Italian Opera was closed in 1832. During these years, he wrote some of his most successful stage works, among them II nuovo barbiere di Siviglia(Dresden, May 1816), La simplicetta di Pirna(Dresden, Aug. 1817), La gioventù di Enrico(Dresden, Oct. 4, 1823), II Colombo(Genoa, June 28, 1828), and II Rinnegato(Dresden, March 1832); also wrote a Requiem upon the death of King Friedrich August I of Saxony (1827). In later years he divided his time between Dresden and Italy. Stricken with tuberculosis in 1839, he died on his way to his homeland.

Bibliography

G. Ricci des Ferres-Cancani, F.M.: Un maestro italiano alla corte di Sassonia (1785–1841)(Florence, 1956); B. Brumana and G. Ciliberti, eds., F. M. e la musica del suo tempo (1785–1841)(Florence, 1986).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire