Giovanni Paisiello (1740–1816)
- Hunt, Jno Leland. Giovanni Paisiello: His Life as an Opera Composer.
National Opera Association Monograph Series, 2. New York: National Opera
Association, 1975. vii, 88p. No ISBN. ML410 .P14 H8.
The author’s name is given here as it appears on the title page. A footnoted
biography, with a chronology and a worklist. Genesis and reception of the
operas. Paisiello’s years in Russia are of interest. Backnotes, brief bibliogra-
phy; without index. - Corte, Andrea della. Paisiello. Turin: Bocca, 1922. 352p. ML410 .P149 C82.
The standard older biography, with program notes for major operas. No bibli-
ography; name index. - Robinson, Michael F., and Ulrike Hofmann. Giovanni Paisiello (1740–1816):
A Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Thematic Catalogues, 15. Stuyvesant,
N.Y.: Pendragon, 1989–1994. 2v. ISBN 0-918728-75-4; 0-945193-60-2.
ML421 .P195 A3.
V.1: Dramatic works; v.2: Nondramatic works. A valuable compilation,
including incipits for all numbers in the operas, library locations, and com-
ments on productions. Indexed. - Piperno, Franco. “L’anima pazza per amore, ossia il Paisiello contrafatto.” In
Opera and Libretto I(#220), 137–148.
Considers newly discovered manuscripts in Chioggia of Paisiello’s arias from
Nina osia la pazza per amore(1789) and compares them with the original ver-
sion. - Scherliess, Volker. “Il barbiere di Siviglia: Paisiello and Rossini.” Analecta
musicologica21 (1982): 100–128.
Rossini’s work was a failure in its premiere, while Paisiello’s was one of the
most popular operas of the day. Genesis of both: revisions; manuscripts and
sources; technical comparison, especially of metric features. - Goldin, Daniela. “Il barbiere di Sivigliada Beaumarchais all’opera buffa.” In
Muraro (#2576), v.2, 323–348.
Paisiello’s librettist, Giuseppe Petrosellini, eliminated the nuances of the origi-
nal play, rushing on to action elements. He assumed the audience would know
the play, and merely gave tags of it to show where the plot was. Cesare
Sterbini, librettist for Rossini, was much more faithful to Beaumarchais and
also more imaginative in defining the characters. He maintained the tensions
of the original text.
See also Ruf (#1327).
264 Opera