Leonardo Leo


Leonardo Leo, more correctly Lionardo Oronzo Salvatore de Leo, was a Neapolitan Baroque composer.

Biography

Leo was born in San Vito degli Schiavoni in the Apulia region, then part of the Kingdom of Naples.
He became a student at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini at Naples in 1703, and was a pupil first of Francesco Provenzale and later of Nicola Fago. It has been supposed that he was a pupil of Pitoni and Alessandro 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'infedelta abbattuta, performed by his fellow-students in 1712.
In 1714 he produced, at the court theatre, an opera, 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 to Francesco Gasparini's Bajazette in 1722 for performance at Naples, he composed comic operas in Neapolitan such as La'mpeca scoperta in 1723, and L'Alidoro in 1740.
His most famous comic opera was Amor vuol sofferenza, better known as La Finta Frascatana, highly praised by De Brosses. He was equally distinguished as a composer of serious opera, Demofoonte, Farnace and L'Olimpiade being his most famous works in this branch, and is still better known as a composer of sacred music. He died of a stroke while engaged in the composition of new arias for a revival of La Finta Frascatana.
Leo was the first of the Neapolitan school to obtain a complete mastery over modern harmonic counterpoint. His sacred music is masterly and dignified, logical rather than passionate, and free from the sentimentality which is present in the work of Francesco Durante and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. His serious operas suffer from a coldness and severity of style, but in his comic operas he shows a keen sense of humour. His ensemble movements are spirited, but never worked up to a strong climax.
A fine and characteristic example of his sacred music is the Dixit Dominus in C, edited by CV Stanford and published by Novello. A number of songs from operas are accessible in modern editions.

Operas

Drammi per musica

  1. Sofonisba
  2. Cajo Gracco
  3. Bajazette
  4. Tamerlano
  5. Timocrate
  6. Zenobia in Palmira
  7. Astianatte
  8. La somiglianza
  9. L'Orismene, overo dagli sdegni gli amori
  10. Ciro riconosciuto
  11. Argene
  12. La zingara
  13. Intermezzi per l'Argene
  14. Catone
  15. Demetrio
  16. Amore dà senno
  17. Emira
  18. La clemenza di Tito
  19. Onore vince amore
  20. La simpatia del sangue
  21. Siface
  22. Amor vuol sofferenza 1739
  23. Festa teatrale
  24. La contesa dell'Amore e della virtù
  25. Scipione nelle Spagne
  26. L'Alidoro
  27. Alessandro
  28. Demoofonte
  29. L'impresario delle Isole Canarie
  30. Andromaca
  31. L'ambizione delusa 1742
  32. Decebalo 1743
  33. Vologeso
  34. La finta Frascatana
Undated operas:
  1. Artaserse
  2. Lucio Papirio
  3. Arianna e Teseo
  4. L'Olimpiade
  5. Evergete
  6. Il matrimonio anascoso
  7. Alessandro nell'Indie
  8. Il Medo
  9. Nitocri, regina di egitto
  10. Il Pisistrate
  11. Il trionfo di Camillo
  12. Le nozze di Psiche
  13. Achille in Sciro

    Selected recordings

Label: Archiv Masters
Orchestra: The Raglan Baroque Players
Label: Hyperion
Label: BIS
più dell'usato, cantata for solo voice & strings- Conductor: Cosimo Prontera Performer: Cristina Miatello, Emanuele Bianchi
Orchestra: La Confraternita de' Musici
Label: Tactus
For a more complete discography of Leo, see http://www.leonardoleo.com/discography.htm