Luigi Cherubini
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Portrait of Luigi Cherubini |
Luigi Cherubini (
September 14,
1760 –
March 15,
1842) was an
Italian composer. Although his music is not well known today, it was greatly admired by many of his contemporaries.
Beethoven considered him to be the greatest dramatic composer of his time.
Cherubini was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in
Florence. His instruction in music began at the age of six with his father, himself a musician. By the age of thirteen, he had composed several religious works. From
1778 to
1780, he studied music in
Bologna and
Milan.
In 1788, Cherubini settled in
Paris. In the years following, he met with only partial success as an opera composer. His first major success was
Lodoïska (
1791) which was admired for its realistic heroism. This was followed by
Médée (
1797), which is Cherubini's best known work, and
Les deux journées (
1800). These and other operas were premièred at the
Théâtre Feydeau. His idealism, his independent disposition, and above all the austere, lofty character of his music, prevented him from becoming popular among his contemporaries. However, his fortunes improved slightly in 1795 when he was appointed inspector at the Paris Conservatoire.
In
1805, Cherubini received an invitation from
Vienna to write an opera and to direct it in person.
Faniska was produced the following year and was enthusiastically received, in particular, by
Haydn and Beethoven.
Disappointed with his lack of success in the theater, Cherubini turned increasingly to church music, writing seven masses, two requiems and many shorter pieces. During this period, he was also appointed
surintendant de la musique du roi under the restored monarchy. In
1815, the
London Philharmonic Society commissioned him to write a symphony, an overture, and a composition for chorus and orchestra, the performance of which he went especially to London to conduct, and this increased his international fame.
Cherubini's
Requiem in C-minor (
1816), commemorating the anniversary of the execution of King
Louis XVI of France, was a huge success. The work was greatly admired by Beethoven,
Schumann and
Brahms.
In
1822, Cherubini became director of the Conservatoire and completed his textbook,
Cours de contrepoint et de fugue, in
1835.
He died in Paris at age 81 and was buried in
Père Lachaise cemetery.
With the arrival in Paris in the 1820s of the brilliant, effervescent operas of
Rossini with their vocal pyrotechnics, the classically austere operas of Cherubini, like those of
Gluck and
Spontini, fell out of fashion. However,
Médée (or
Medea as it is known in Italy) is occasionally revived when a singer is available who can handle the role. Perhaps the most famous 20th century revival of the work was in Florence in 1953, with
Maria Callas in the title role and conducted by
Leonard Bernstein.
Another opera of Cherubini,
Les Abencérages, was revived (in Italian) at the Maggio Musicale in Florence in 1957 under the baton of
Carlo Maria Giulini.
Cherubini's
Requiem in C-minor is also occasionally performed. Most notably,
Arturo Toscanini conducted and made a recording of it with the
NBC Symphony Orchestra in February 1950.
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Entry for Luigi Cherubini in The Catholic Encyclopediafiu-vro:Cherubini Luigi
