| Despite the constant search for celebrations in the musical calendar, sometimes even the births and deaths of marginal figures, the centenary of the birth of one of the most important Italian composers of the first half of the 17th century, together with Monteverdi and Frescobaldi, has been overlooked: Luigi Rossi, defined by his contemporaries as Phonasco toto orbe celeberrimo (“a world-famous singing teacher”), and by Saint-Evremond as “Luigi, le premier homme de l’univers en son art” (“Luigi, the world-leader in his art form”). It’s as if today no-one remembered Bernini, Pietro da Cortona or Andrea Sacchi anymore, who like Rossi, were leading Baroque figures in Rome around the middle of the 17th century. Yet we don’t even know Rossi’s exact date of birth, which occured somewhere between 1597 and 1598, according to what can be deduced from his will; an earthquake destroyed all his letters, once held in his birthplace, Torremaggiore, a small city of the old kingdom of Naples near Foggia, which was beautified by Frederick II in the Middle Ages and later the manor of a family of Neapolitan nobles from which the enigmatic 18th-century scientist and alchemist Roberto Di Sangro, Prince of San Severo, descended. Rossi’s career was similar to that of many composers of his time who emigrated from southern Italy in search of fame and fortune, but his reputation made him one of the leading figures of European Baroque culture. This is a short review of his main periods. |
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