António Leal Moreira


António Leal Moreira was a Portuguese Classical composer and organist. He composed a large number of operas, most of which were premiered in Lisbon; much of the rest of his output is sacred, though he composed a handful of symphonies as well. One of his works, Sinfonia para a Real Basílica de Mafra, is an organ symphony composed specifically for the 6 organs of Mafra National Palace's Basilica.

Biography

Born in Abrantes in Portugal, on 30 June 1766 Moreira entered the Seminary of the Patriarchal of Lisbon, where he was student of João de Sousa Carvalho. In 1775 he became assistant to his teacher and organist. In 1787 he was appointed chapel master. On 19 May 1777, he performed his first sacred work, the Mass of the Holy Spirit, which was sung during the acclamation of Queen Maria I of Portugal.
On 8 August 1777, he was admitted as a member of the union of musicians of Lisbon, the Brotherhood of Santa Cecilia. Most of his sacred music was composed for the Royal Chapel and from 1782 he began to write serenades, which were played in the palaces of Queluz and Ajuda.
In 1790 he was appointed musical director of the Theatre of the Street of the Counts, which was presenting Italian operas. Three years later at the palace, the drama "Il Natale Augusto" opened in Lisbon. The production was supported by the financier, Anselmo José da Cruz Sobral. Among the various singers who participated was the Portuguese mezzo-soprano Luísa Todi.
In 1793, Moreira became the first musical director of the new São Carlos Theatre, where his work was represented with a Portuguese text of the "Revenge of the Gypsy". In 1799 he left the direction of the São Carlos to Marcos Portugal and Francesco Federici. The following year he contributed to the production "pasticcio" Il disertore francese, which was staged at the Carignano Theatre in Turin and the La Scala Theatre in Milan.

Artist considerations

His theatrical and sacred works were strongly influenced by the style of Giovanni Paisiello and Domenico Cimarosa. After António Teixeira, he was the first to compose opera using text written in Portuguese, although most of his works are in Italian.

Compositions

Opera