Leonardo Leo (5 August 1694 – 31 October 1744), more correctlyLeonardo Ortensio Salvatore de Leo, was aBaroquecomposer.
Leo was born in San Vito degli Schiavoni (currently known asSan Vito dei Normanni,province of Brindisi) in theApulia region, then part of theKingdom of Naples.
He became a student at theConservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini atNaples in 1703, and was a pupil first ofFrancesco Provenzale and later ofNicola Fago. It has been supposed that he was a pupil ofPitoni andAlessandro Scarlatti, but he could not possibly have studied with either of these composers, although he was undoubtedly influenced by their compositions. His earliest known work was a sacred drama,L'infedeltà abbattuta, performed by his fellow-students in 1712.
In 1714 he produced, at the court theatre, anopera,Pisistrato, which was much admired.
He held various posts at the royal chapel, and continued to write for the stage, besides teaching at the conservatory. After adding comic scenes toFrancesco Gasparini'sBajazette in 1722 for performance at Naples, he composed comic operas inNeapolitan such asLa'mpeca scoperta in 1723, andL'Alidoro in 1740.His most famous comic opera wasAmor vuol sofferenza (1739), better known asLa Finta Frascatana, highly praised byDe Brosses. He was equally distinguished as a composer of serious opera,Demofoonte (1735),Farnace (1737) andL'Olimpiade (1737) being his most famous works in this branch, and is still better known as a composer of sacred music.
He died ofa stroke while engaged in the composition of new arias for a revival ofLa Finta Frascatana. Leo was the first of theNeapolitan school to obtain a complete mastery over modernharmoniccounterpoint.
Undated operas:
Label: Archiv Masters (Disc Title: Italian Violin Concertos)
Orchestra: The Raglan Baroque PlayersLabel: Hyperion (Disc Title: The Neapolitans - Pergolesi, Durante, Leo)
Label: BIS (Disc Title: Leo-Six Cello Concertos)
più dell'usato, cantata for solo voice & strings- Conductor: Cosimo Prontera Performer: Cristina Miatello, Emanuele BianchiOrchestra: La Confraternita de' MusiciLabel: Tactus (Disc Title: Leonardo Leo: Serenate e Cantate)
For a more complete discography of Leo, seehttp://www.leonardoleo.com/discography.htmArchived 2017-05-02 at theWayback Machine[2]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Dent, Edward Joseph (1911). "Leo, Leonardo". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 441.
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