Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Born in Naples in 1710 and in Pozzuoli in 1736 (probably of tuberculosis), the musician received his training from Gaetano Greco, Leonardo Vinci and Francesco Durante at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo in his home town. In 1732 he entered the service of Prince Ferdinando Colonna Stigliano, then in 1734 that of the Duke of Maddaloni. With Salustia (1732), Il prigioniero superbo (1733), Adriano in Siria (1734) and L‘Olimpiade (1735), Pergolesi served the opera seria genre, but his musical comedies Lo frate ‘nnamorato (1732) and Il Flaminio (1735) and above all his two intermezzi La serva padrona (1733) and Livietta e Tracollo (1734) were far more successful. In poor health, Pergolesi retired to the Franciscan monastery in Pozzuoli at the beginning of 1736, where he composed his last works, including the famous Stabat mater and a Salve Regina. Pergolesi's posthumous fame was immense: La serva padrona was performed not only in Italy, but also in Graz, Munich, Dresden, Hamburg and Paris. The second Parisian performance in 1752 was the occasion for the „Querelle des Bouffons“, the dispute between the supporters of traditional French opera and the advocates of Italian opera buffa. The Stabat mater, first printed in London in 1749, became the most widely printed single work of the 18th century. It was also widely performed in numerous adaptations, including one by Johann Sebastian Bach (Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden BWV 1038). The posthumous enthusiasm for Pergolesi led to many works being falsely attributed to him. Only the critical complete edition begun in 1986 was able to clarify this.

In the field of ballet, Pergolesi's name is associated with Pulcinella, choreographed by Leonid Myassin (Léonide Massine) in 1920. Igor Stravinsky created the music for it on the basis of pieces that were considered at the time to be entirely Pergolesi's creations. Today we know that only some of the pieces used by Stravinsky were actually written by Pergolesi. Pergolesi‘s Stabat mater formed the basis for choreographies by Peter Martins (New York 1998) and Edward Clug (Munich 2013, with the ballet of Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz), among others.