Pier Cavalli

Pier Cavalli (1602-1676), the leading Italian opera composer of the generation after Monteverdi. Born in Crema, he was a choirboy at St Mark’s Cathedral in Venice under Monteverdi’s direction; he later became a tenor and second organist there. He may have studied with Monteverdi, and certainly worked closely with him. From 1639, he composed numerous operas for the burgeoning public opera houses of Venice. His growing fame, and the rapid spread of interest in opera, led to productions of his works in many Italian cities, commissions for new operas for Milan and Naples, and, in 1660, an invitation to write Ercole Amante for the wedding of King Louis XIV in Paris—although this was not well received. Meanwhile, he never lost touch with church music: he published two collections of sacred music in 1656 and 1675, including masses, vespers, and psalm settings, and he became director of music at St Mark’s in 1668.

Cavalli’s operas continue the trends apparent in Monteverdi’s later operas towards a clear-cut division between recitatives and arias, the inclusion of arias in a popular style, and the juxtaposition of serious and comic scenes. They show him to be a gifted melodist, capable of writing moving laments, tender love duets, and sprightly comic numbers with equal effectiveness. His music had a considerable influence in his own time, not only on Italian composers but also on Lully in France and Purcell in England. After his death, however, his music was forgotten until his operas began to be revived in the 1960s and 1970s, some in highly theatrical but much rewritten and re-orchestrated versions by Raymond Leppard, others on a more intimate scale similar to that of their first performances.