1686–1768 · Baroque
Nicola Porpora (1686–1768) was an Italian composer and teacher from Naples, a representative of the Neapolitan opera school. His operas were staged in various Italian cities and elsewhere in Europe, and he was known as an outstanding singing teacher: his students included Farinelli and Joseph Haydn, who took composition lessons from him in Vienna.
Nicola Porpora was born in Naples, in the Kingdom of Naples, on 17 August 1686. He began studying music at the age of ten, entering the Naples conservatory dei Poveri di Gesu Cristo, where the city's opera scene at the time was largely shaped by Alessandro Scarlatti. His composition teacher was Gaetano Greco.
Porpora's first opera, Agrippina, was staged in Naples in 1708, and his second, Berenice, was successfully performed in Rome in 1710. Over a long career in opera he went on to write a good many further works for the stage. Writing operas alone did not yet provide a composer with a steady income, so at the same time he served as Kapellmeister to aristocratic patrons, among them the prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, commander of the forces at Naples, and the Portuguese ambassador in Rome.
From 1715 to 1721 Porpora taught at the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio in Naples and earned a reputation as an outstanding singing teacher; it was this teaching, more than his operas, that brought him his most lasting fame. His students included the celebrated castrato singers Farinelli and Caffarelli, as well as Salimbeni, Caterina Gabrielli, Regina Mingotti and Antonio Uberti, nicknamed 'Porporino'. The composer Johann Adolph Hasse, who later became one of Porpora's main rivals in opera, also studied with him in these years. Another of his students was the composer Matteo Capranica.
Porpora spoke French, German and English, wrote poetry, had a thorough knowledge of Latin and Italian literature and was known for his wit in conversation; he was also noted for the skill of his recitative writing.
Porpora's operas were staged not only in Naples and Rome but also in Milan, Venice, Vienna, London and other European cities. Major works of this period include the opera Orlando, given in 1720, the 1733 opera Arianna in Nasso, the oratorio Gedeone to a libretto by A. Perrucci, performed in Vienna in March 1737, and also a mass and a cycle of Venetian Vespers.
From 1725 Porpora lived in Vienna, and then in Dresden. In 1729 he was invited to London to conduct an opera theatre. During his London years he wrote the oratorio Davide e Bersabea to a libretto by P. Rolli, dedicated twelve cantatas for voice and basso continuo to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and wrote six chamber symphonies published as Op. 2 in 1736. Creative rivalry with Handel proved too much for him, and Porpora had to return to Italy.
From 1736 Porpora lived in Venice and Naples, and from 1747 in Dresden. From 1751 he was in Vienna, where the young Joseph Haydn took composition lessons from him; Haydn was at the time taking his first steps as an independent musician in the city; his students also included Marianna Martines. In 1754, also in Vienna, he wrote twelve trio sonatas for two violins and bass. In 1758 Porpora returned to Naples and took charge of the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio as its director.
Porpora's last years were marked by obscurity and poverty: his final opera, Camilla, was unsuccessful, and his Dresden pension stopped being paid. The cost of his funeral was covered by a subscription concert. Nicola Porpora died in Naples on 3 March 1768 and was buried there.
Porpora's music belongs to the Baroque era and is almost entirely vocal. His output includes more than 40 operas, 12 serenades, 4 pasticcios, 14 'sacred operas' or oratorios, about 135 cantatas with keyboard accompaniment, 40 choral church works, 7 masses, 9 solo motets, 12 antiphons in honour of the Virgin Mary, as well as laments and duets. Among his instrumental works are a Cello Concerto in G major, a Cello Sonata in F major, six chamber symphonies (6 sinfonie da camera a 3, Op. 2, 1736, London), violin sonatas and keyboard fugues.
Among Porpora's operas, the larger-scale works include Orlando (1720) and Arianna in Nasso (1733), as well as the oratorio Gedeone to a libretto by A. Perrucci (1737). His last opera was Camilla, which was unsuccessful.
The site offers the sheet music of Solfeggio and four arias from Porpora's operas: Bel piacer and Passaggier che su la sponda, both from Semiramide riconosciuta, Parto ti lascio from Il Germanico, and Senti se l'ingannai from Agrippina. Solfeggio is set at the intermediate level, Bel piacer, Parto ti lascio and Senti se l'ingannai at the upper-intermediate level, and Passaggier che su la sponda at the advanced level. It is convenient to start with Solfeggio, move on to the upper-intermediate arias, and finish with the more demanding Passaggier che su la sponda. All five editions trace back to Porpora's vocal works — operas and one solfeggio — a reminder that his reputation rests chiefly on writing for the voice and on teaching singing.