Scarlatti, Allesandro

Among the prominent opera composers and probably the developer of 18th century Neapolitan opera. He made his principal career in Naples and is the one who introduced the "accompanied" recitative; in this type of recitative, singers would recite their conversation, accentually and with orchestral accompaniment. Thus, the composer gained the ability to better transmit feelings, unlike the recitativo secco, which is essentially unaccompanied and lacks a definite meter.

Scarlatti also set the aria, the opera, as a form with a reprise in an a-b-a structure, and therefore called it "Aria da-capo". He also turned opera overture into a meaningful movement in the opera, rather than a mere secondary section whose purpose is to silence the audience.

Scarlatti wrote about 115 operas, including "Tigrane", most of them were lost and so are not performed nowadays.

He shaped the homophonic style (a solo of one performer, when the others accompany), unlike polyphony that had prevailed until then, in which all voices had an equal, independent part. He wrote about 600 chamber cantatas, that included arias in high levels of performance.

Sites

Audio

Video

Images

MIDI