Francesco Gasparini

Italian baroque composer and teacher Francesco Gasparini was born at Camaiore near Lucca on 19 March 1668. He studied in Rome with Corelli and Pasquini and wrote his first important opera, Roderico, there.

Moving to Venice in 1702 he established himself as one of the city's leading composers. Significant works are the opera Ambleto and the Missa Canonica (both of 1705).

He taught Benedetto Marcello, Johann Joachim Quantz and Domenico Scarlatti, and was musical director of the Ospedale della Pietà, where Vivaldi worked as a violin master.

Gasparini returned to Rome in 1720 for Tigrane (1724), his last important work, and died there on 22 March 1727, aged fifty-nine, leaving over sixty operas.

 

A selection of articles about Francesco Gasparini

Ensemble. A Gasparini Renaissance - Giuseppe Pennisi experiences 'Il Bajazet'

Ensemble. Excellent Singing - Handel and Rossini from Los Angeles Opera impress Maria Nockin