Giovanni Battista Viotti | |
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| Born | (1755-05-12)12 May 1755 |
| Died | 3 March 1824(1824-03-03) (aged 68) London, England |
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Giovanni Battista Viotti (12 May 1755 – 3 March 1824) was an Italian violinist whose virtuosity was famed and whose work as a composer featured a prominent violin and an appealing lyrical tunefulness. He was also a director of French and Italian opera companies in Paris and London. He personally knewJoseph Haydn andLudwig van Beethoven.
Viotti was born atFontanetto Po in theKingdom of Sardinia (today in theprovince of Vercelli,Piedmont, Italy). For his musical talent, he was taken into the household of principe Alfonso dal Pozzo della Cisterna inTurin, where he received a musical education that prepared him to be a pupil ofGaetano Pugnani. He served at the Savoia court in Turin, 1773–80, then toured as a soloist, at first with Pugnani, before going to Paris alone, where he made his début at theConcert Spirituel, 17 March 1782.[1] He was an instant sensation and served for a time atVersailles before founding a new opera house, theThéâtre de Monsieur in 1788, under the patronage ofLouis-Stanislas-Xavier, comte de Provence, the king's brother, whose court title was Monsieur.[2] There he mounted operas of his friendLuigi Cherubini, among lesser lights. When theFrench Revolution took a radical turn and, though his opera house was renamed the Théâtre Feydeau, former royal connections became a dangerous liability, he moved in 1792 to London, making his début atJohann Peter Salomon's Hanover Square Concert, 7 February 1793. In London he went from success to success, as a featured violinist for Salomon's concert series, 1793–1794; as musical director of the new Opera Concerts in 1795; as a star in the benefit concerts forHaydn, 1794 and 1795; as acting manager of Italian opera at theKing's Theatre, 1794–1795; and as leader and director of the orchestra, 1797. He was invited to perform in the houses of the Londonbon ton, including for the Prince of Wales.
Then, with Britain at war with Revolutionary France, he was ordered to leave the country, under suspicion ofJacobin sympathies. Period papers hint at an intrigue in the favour of Viotti's rival,Wilhelm Cramer, who had led the Opera House orchestra before Viotti took over. TheMorning Post andGazetteer in its issue of Friday, 9 March 1798, reported that "the Duke of L... and the Earl of C... have been particularly active in entreating his Majesty to order Viotti out of the kingdom". This may refer toFrancis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds, and toPhilip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield.Pierre Rode, Viotti's favourite pupil, was expelled from England, too, and may have left the country some days previous to Viotti who awaited the outcome of his case, after several gentlemen and evenPrincess Elizabeth spoke in his favour. But finally, Viotti left England with a packet ship on 8 March 1798. He lived on the estate of a rich English merchant, John Smith, inSchenefeld (Pinneberg) near Hamburg from ca. March 1798 to ca. July 1799. Between March and May 1798 he gave private lessons to the 13-year-old virtuosoFriedrich Wilhelm Pixis. After that, according to two papers issued in February 1800, he seems to have lived incognito on the estate of his English friends, William andMargaret Chinnery, at Gillwell House, where he lived officially from 1801; according to another paper he was still in Schenefeld in April 1800. He gave up giving concerts to run a wine business, but used to play in private concerts. In July 1811, he became a naturalised British citizen, after his friend, the Duke of Cambridge, a younger brother of the Prince of Wales, had interceded on his behalf. In 1813, he was one of the founders of thePhilharmonic Society of London. Viotti didn't perform as a soloist anymore but as orchestra leader and chamber musician. After his wine business failed, he returned to Paris to work as director of theAcadémie Royale de Musique, from 1819 to 1821. He returned to London in November 1823 together with Margaret Chinnery and died in her presence on 3 March 1824.
In spite of his few direct pupils, Viotti was a very influential violinist. The teacher of bothPierre Rode andPierre Baillot and an important influence onRodolphe Kreutzer, all of whom became notable teachers themselves, he is considered the founding father of the 19th-century French violin school. He also taughtPaul Alday andAugust Duranowski, who was an influence onNiccolò Paganini.
Viotti owned a violin fabricated byAntonio Stradivari in 1709 that would eventually become known as theViotti Stradivarius. He is also thought to have commissioned the construction of at least one replica of this violin. TheViotti ex-Bruce, renamed in honour of its previous owner, was purchased by theRoyal Academy of Music in September 2005. Funding was provided byHM Government in lieu ofInheritance Tax, and by theNational Art Collections Fund, theNational Heritage Memorial Fund and many private donors. The instrument was to be displayed in the York Gate Collections, the academy's free museum and research centre. TheViotti ex-Bruce is to be heard as well as seen: the instrument is to be played sparingly, under very controlled circumstances, at research events and occasional performances elsewhere.
Viotti's most notable compositions are his 29violin concertos, which were an influence onLudwig van Beethoven. One in particular, No. 22 in A minor (1792), is still very frequently performed, especially by advanced student players. The other concertos are of similar quality but lesser known. Other notable concertos include: No. 23 in G major (1792). During the 1990-2000 decade,Guido Rimonda found three more concertos. However, these discoveries – that can be regarded as concertos No. 30, 31 and 32 - are incomplete, since only two movements were found for each concerto. Most likely they are the unpublished concertos mentioned by Viotti himself in his will left in favour of Mrs. Chinnery who cared for him in London, in the last years of his life.
In 2005, violinistFranco Mezzena released a complete set on theDynamic label. Since 2012Guido Rimonda started releasing Viotti's 32 concertos forDecca Universal Group label. This project will be completed by the end of 2023. In the meantime, in 2021, Guido Rimonda started the first publishing of Viotti's complete scores of violin concertos forEdizioni Curci Milan.
Viotti's music generally features the violin prominently. Most of hisstring quartets largely ignore the balanced texture pioneered byHaydn, giving a "solo" role to the first violin and as such may be consideredQuatuors brillants. However, hisTre Quartetti Concertanti, G.112, 113 and 114 (afterRemo Giazotto who catalogued Viotti's works[3]), composed in 1815 and published in Paris in 1817, are true concertante works offering extensive solos for each instrument and not just the first violin. Viotti often wrote chamber music for more traditional combinations such as two violins and cello. The Opp. 18 and 19 are perhaps the best known of these and are still in print today. He also wrotesonatas,songs, and other works.
The Italian violinistGuido Rimonda has pointed out in 2013[4] that the incipit of his "Tema e variazioni in Do maggiore" has a very strong resemblance to the French hymnLa Marseillaise.[5][6] This incipit was first thought to have been published before La Marseillaise, but it appeared to be a misconception as Viotti published several variations of "La Marseillaise" in 1795[7] and wrote as a note "I have never composed the quartets below" (Je n'ai jamais composé les quatuors ci dessous).[8][9][10]
Viotti is commemorated annually in theViotti International Music Competition near his birthplace inVercelli, Italy.[11] In the same city takes place also theViotti Festival - International Music Festival - an event that is part of the circuit "Piemonte dal Vivo" Italy.[12]
Basti ricordare che "La Marsigliese" nasce da un tema con variazioni di Viotti scritto nel 1781, ben 11 anni prima della comparsa dell'inno nazionale francese ufficiale (ri-orchestrato da Berlioz con l'aggiunta delle parole da R. De Lisle). Il brano sarà presente nel secondo CD dell'integrale in uscita nel marzo 2013..
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