Giacomo Insanguine (1728-1795)

Thursday, March 17, 2016

“Maestro delle pezze” (Maestro of patchwork) is the not-so-flattering judgment delivered by Giovanni Paisiello about the tendency of Giacomo Insanguine (1728-1795) to (unadeptly) “patch up” the works of other composers by inserting his own compositions. And even though Paisiello’s razor-sharp tongue was well known, his verdict about Insanguine went unchallenged and for a long time prevented a fair reception of his works. Even in 1840, Marchese di Villarosa wrote in his Memorie dei compositori di musica del Regno di Napoli of a “stile privo d’estro e di giusto” (a style free from inspiration and taste) and François-Joseph Fétis adopted this critique in his Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique (2nd edition, 1866). Today, we can especially thank Pierluca Lanzilotta and his book Non oro, non gemme – Giacomo Insanguine detto Monopoli (Fasano di Brindisi: Schena, 1995) for giving us a differentiated image of Insanguine’s life and works.

Of the 171 sources by Giacomo Insanguine listed in the RISM online catalog, most are operas (80) and solfege exercises (61). This also reflects key aspects of Insanguine’s career: a large part of his works are operas that were mainly written for the two theaters in Naples, Teatro dei Fiorentini and Teatro nuovo. Starting in 1767, Insanguine, who also called himself Monopoli after his hometown, was at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Porta Capuana in Naples as a teacher of counterpoint.

The only autograph manuscript in RISM so far is a score from the third act of the opera Le Astuzie per amore in the Biblioteca del Conservatorio di Musica S. Pietro a Majella in Naples (I-Nc; RISM ID no. 850008584). In Dresden (D-Dl) there are two copies of the aria “Nel lasciarvi amati rai” from the opera Motezuma, which were originally (probably incorrectly) attributed to Franceso Bianchi. Both manuscripts may be viewed online (RISM ID nos. 212008228 and 210021436).

Image: Portrait of Giacomo Insanguine, artist unknown, via Wikimedia Commons

Catégorie: RISM A-Z