Antonio Masini Explained

Antonio Masini (c. 1639 – 20 September 1678) was born in Florence. During the last years of his life in Rome he was the Kapellmeister of the Cappela Giulia in Rome and furthermore the chamber musician of the former Queen of Sweden Kristina during her stay in Rome.^{[1] [2]}

Biography

During the years 1663 and 1664 his presence in Lucca and Ferrara is known. Furthermore a theatre performance in Ferrara in 1666 was mentioned. In accordance with a report he already had been in Rome in 1771. A request to pay a surgeon's bill is documented for the intended castration of a boy called Paolo Nanini in order to maintain his voice.^[3] In 1774 he advanced to be the director of music of the Cappella Giulia in Rome, additionally he was the maestro of the ensemble at the Confraternita della S. Casa di Loreto dei Marchigiani and at the church of S. Salvatore in Lauro. He kept this employment beginning with the year 1674 until his death in 1678. In February of 1678 he performed a play in the presence of the former Queen of Sweden. This so called Comedia di Antonio Masini took place in the Casa di Monsù Ridò a Monte Brianzo. Obviously this could have been the opera Il Narciso.^[4] He was succeeded by Francesco Beretta.^[5] According to Baini, his burial place is S. Maria in Posterola.

Works

His best known compositions are as follows:

• Il giuditio delle stagioni concerto musicale rappresentato nella solennità della Ss.ma Annuntiata, (performed at: scuole di S. Maria Cortelandini, Libretto: B. Beverini; Lucca 1663)
• L’Eumene (Oper, Libretto: A. Passarelli, performed in Ferrara at: teatro Bonacossi a S. Stefano, 1666)
• Il Narciso (obviously performed in presence of the former Queen of Sweden in 1678)

Furthermore there exist several oratorios and sacred songs (to be accompanied by Basso continuo) in the libraries of Naples, the Vatican, and in Bologna.

Further reading

• F. D’Accone, Ancora su l’opera prima di Scarlatti e la regina, in Cristina di Svezia e la musica. Atti del convegno internazionale… 1996, Roma 1998, p. 80
• HEYINK, Rainer. Fest und Musik als Mittel kaiserlicher Machtpolitik. Das Haus Habsburg und die deutsche Nationalkirche in Rom S. Maria dell’Anima. Tutzing: Schneider, 2010
• S. Monaldini, L’orto dell’Esperidi. Musici, attori e artisti nel patrocinio della famiglia Bentivoglio (1646-1685)
• The New Grove Dict. of music and musicians, XVI, p. 30

External links

• https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/antonio-masini_(Dizionario-Biografico)

Notes and References

1. Arnaldo Morelli - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 71 (2008); MASINI, Antonio, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani, über: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/antonio-masini_(Dizionario-Biografico)
2. Marko Deisinger (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, AT); Musikbezogene Quellen aus der Korrespondenz zwischen Rom und dem Wiener Kaiserhof. Neues zu Antimo Liberati, Alessandro Stradella und anderen italienischen Musikern und Musikerinnen des Barock, Musicologica Brunensia 53 / 2018 / Supplementum;, über: https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/bitstream/handle/11222.digilib/140862/1_MusicologicaBrunensia_53-2018-3_4.pdf?sequence=1
3. Arch. di Stato di Roma, Trenta notai capitolini, Uff. 15, vol. 260, cc. 582 s., 594 s.
4. 3. Korrespondenz 61Rom, 12. Februar 1678 aus: Marko Deisinger / [e-mail] of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, AT; Musikbezogene Quellen aus der Korrespondenz zwischen Rom und dem Wiener Kaiserhof. Neues zu Antimo Liberati, Alessandro Stradella und anderen italienischen Musikern und Musikerinnen des Barock Music-Related Sources from the Correspondence between Rome and the Viennese Court. New Material Concerning Antimo Liberati, Alessandro Stradella and other Italian Musicians from the Baroque Era
5. Johann Samuel, Ersch, Johann Gottfried Gruber_; Allgemeine encyklopädie der wissenschaften und künste in alphabetischer Folge, Italienische Musik, J.F. Gleditsch, 1846 1846 oder 1847, p. 162