Martín y Soler, (Atanasio Martín Ignacio) Vicente (Tadeo Francisco Pellegrin)

Martín y Soler, (Atanasio Martín Ignacio) Vicente (Tadeo Francisco Pellegrin), distinguished Spanish composer; b. Valencia, May 2, 1754; d. St. Petersburg, Jan. 30, 1806. He was a choirboy in Valencia and a church organist in Alicante before going to Madrid, where he brought out his first work for the stage, the zarzuela La Madrileña, o Tutor burlado, most likely in 1776. He then went to Italy, where he became known as Martini lo Spagnuolo. He wrote operas for several theaters there, entering the service of the Infante, the future King Charles IV of Spain, about 1780. With Da Ponte as his librettist, he wrote the opera buffa II Burbero di buon cuore, which was premiered in Vienna to much acclaim on Jan. 4, 1786. It was revived there on Nov. 9, 1789, and included 2 additional arias written expressly for the occasion by Mozart. Martín y Soler and Da Ponte then collaborated on the opera buffa Una cosa rara, o sia Bellezza ed onestà, a masterful stage work first given in Vienna on Nov. 17, 1786, and subsequently performed throughout Europe. Mozart used a theme from this popular work in the supper scene of his Don Giovanni. Martin y Soler and Da Ponte subsequently collaborated on the successful opera buffa L’arbore di Diana (Vienna, Oct. 1, 1787). The composer was then called to St. Petersburg to serve as court composer to Catherine II the Great, who wrote the libretto for his comic opera Gore bogatyr Kosometovich (St. Petersburg, Feb. 9, 1789). He then went to London, collaborating again with Da Ponte on the highly successful La scuola dei maritati (Jan. 27, 1795) and L’isola del piacere (May 26, 1795), both engaging opere buffe. He returned to St. Petersburg in 1796 and was made Imperial Russian Privy Councillor by Paul I in 1798. He was inspector of the Italian Court Theater there (1800–1804).

Works

dramatic: opera:La Madrileña, o Tutor burlado, zarzuela (Madrid, 1776?); Ifigenia in Aulide, opera seria (Naples, Jan. 12, 1779); Ipermestra, opera seria (Naples, Jan. 12, 1780); Andromaca, opera seria (Turin, Dec. 26, 1780); Astartea, opera seria (Lucca, Carnival 1781); Partenope, componimento drammatico (Naples, 1782); L’amor geloso, azione teatrale comica (Naples, Carnival 1782); In amor ci vuoi destrezza, opera buffa (Venice, 1782); Vologeso, opera seria (Turin, Carnival 1783); Le burle per amore, opera buffa (Venice, Carnival 1784); La Vedova spiritosa, opera buffa (Parma, Carnival 1785); II Burbero di buon cuore, opera buffa (Vienna, Jan. 4, 1786); Una cosa rara, o sia Bellezza ed onestà, opera buffa (Vienna, Nov. 17, 1786); L’arbore di Diana, opera buffa (Vienna, Oct. 1, 1787); Gore bogatyr Kosometovich (The Unfortunate Hero Kosometovich), comic opera (St. Petersburg, Feb. 9, 1789); Pesnolyubie (Beloved Songs), comic opera (St. Petersburg, Jan. 18, 1790); II castello d’Atlante, opera buffa (Desenzano, Carnival 1791); La scuola dei maritati, opera buffa (London, Jan. 27, 1795); L’isola del piacere, opera buffa (London, May 26, 1795); Le nozze de’ contadini spagnuoli, intermezzo (London, May 28, 1795); La festa del villagio, opera buffa (St. Petersburg, Jan. 26 or 30, 1798). b a 1 1 e t :La bella Arsene (Naples, 1779 or 1780); I Ratti Sabini (Naples, 1779 or 1780); La Regina di Golconda (Lucca, 1781); Cristiano II, rè di Danimarca (Venice, 1782); Ad e Galatea (Parma, 1784); Didon abandonee (St. Petersburg, 1792); L’Oracle (St. Petersburg, 1793); Amour et Psyché (St. Petersburg, 1793); Tancrède (St. Petersburg, 1799); Le Retour de Poliorcète (St. Petersburg, 1799 or 1800). other: Salve Regina; cantatas; many canzoets; ariettas; duets; canons.

—Niciolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire