Francesco Rasi

Francesco Rasi

Francesco Rasi (May 14 1574November 30 1621) was an Italian composer, singer (tenor), chitarrone player, and poet. He studied at the University of Pisa and in 1594 he was studying with Giulio Caccini. He may have been in Carlo Gesualdo's retinue when he went to Ferrara for his wedding in 1594. In 1598 he joined the court of Duke Vincent I in Mantua, and probably served the Gonzaga family the rest of his life, with whom he travelled all over Italy and as far afield as Poland. He sang in the first performances of Jacopo Peri's "Euridice" and Caccini's "Il rapimento di Cefalo" in 1600. In 1607 he created the title role in Claudio Monteverdi's "Orfeo", and in 1608 sang in the first performances of Marco da Gagliano's "Dafne". [Porter]

In 1610 in Tuscany Rasi and his accomplices were sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered for the murder of is stepmother's servant and the attempted murder of his stepmother, however because of the protection of the Gonzaga family he escaped, and his sentence was eventually annulled with the agreement that he never return to Arezzo, his birthplace. [Porter]

He wrote an opera, "Cibele, ed Ati", which seems not to have been performed and whose music does not survive, and another libretto, "Elvidia rapita". He published poetry, including in the anthology "La cetra di sette corde", and a good deal of monody which survives in the anthologies "Vaghezze di musica" (1608) and "Madrigali" (1610). Almost all of these are written for tenor voice, suggesting that they were written to display Rasi's own skill as a singer, and they follow in the style of Caccini's compositions. [Parisi]

Rasi was a well respected singer, whose skill in ornamentation and diminution, beautiful voice, and ability to sing with grace and feeling, led to him being involved in the first performances of many of the first operas. [Parisi]

References

*William V. Porter. "Francesco Rasi", "Grove Music Online", ed. L. Macy (accessed July 10 2007), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] (subscription access).
*Susan Parisi. "Francesco Rasi (opera)", "Grove Music Online", ed. L. Macy (accessed July 10 2007), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] (subscription access).

Notes

Persondata
NAME=Rasi, Francesco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Italian composer, singer, instrumentalist, poet
DATE OF BIRTH=May 14 1574
PLACE OF BIRTH=Arezzo
DATE OF DEATH=November 30 1621)
PLACE OF DEATH=Mantua


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Francesco Rasi — (* 14. Mai 1574 in Arezzo(?); † 30. November 1621) war ein italienischer Sänger (Tenor), Instrumentalist (Chitarrone), Komponist und Dichter. In zeitgenössischen Quellen wird er nach seiner Geburtsstadt als „nobile d’Arezzo“ bezeichnet, er durfte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Francesco Rasi — (né le 14 mai 1574 à Arezzo, Toscane mort en 1621) était un compositeur, chanteur d opéra, claveciniste, joueur de chitarrone et poète italien. Biographie Francesco Rasi fut l élève de Giulio Caccini. En 1598, il entre au service du duc de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Rasi — Francesco Rasi (* 14. Mai 1574 in Arezzo(?); † 30. November 1621) war ein italienischer Sänger (Tenor), Instrumentalist (Chitarrone), Komponist und Dichter. In zeitgenössischen Quellen wird er nach seiner Geburtsstadt als „nobile d’Arezzo“… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • L'Orfeo — This article is about the Monteverdi opera. For the German record company, see ORFEO. Claudio Monteverdi …   Wikipedia

  • Liste der Biografien/Ran–Ras — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Liste von Barockkomponisten — Dieser Artikel versteht sich als Ergänzung des Artikels Barockmusik und stellt eine Auswahl von Komponisten des Barock dar. Eine weitere, alphabetisch geordnete Liste befindet sich unter Kategorie:Komponist (Barock). Inhaltsverzeichnis 1… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Chronological list of Italian classical composers — The following is a chronological list of classical music composers who live(d) in, work(ed) in, or are citizens of Italy. Contents 1 Medieval 2 Renaissance 3 Baroque 4 Classical era …   Wikipedia

  • Dafne (Gagliano) — Dafne (Daphne) is an opera by the Italian composer Marco da Gagliano. It is described as a favola in musica in one act and a prologue. The libretto, by Ottavio Rinuccini, is based on the myth of Daphne and Apollo as related by Ovid in the first… …   Wikipedia

  • L'Orfeo — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Orfeo et Orphée (homonymie). Couverture de la 1re édition L’Orfeo, favola in music …   Wikipédia en Français

  • 1574 in music — EventsPublicationsBirths* January 9 (baptized) Christoph Buel, German composer * January 17 Robert Fludd, English composer and writer (died 1637) * March 7 (baptized) John Wilbye, English madrigal composer (died 1638) * May 14 Francesco Rasi,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”