Tommaso Traetta
- Philco Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner, Concert Hall Orchestra, Howard Barlow, Firestone Hour Orchestra, Frank St. Leger, Donald Voorhees, Paul Whitman, Bidú Sayão, The Bell Telephone Hour Orchestra, Lyric Opera Orchestra
Biography
Opera composer Tommaso Traetta, though largely forgotten today, was a major figure in mid-18th century music, active in several capitals. Traetta began to write operas modeled on those of composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. He also aimed at a new simplicity that, in some ways, mirrored that found in Gluck's more famous works. His 1759 opera, Ippolito ed Aricia, was inspired by Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie. Traetta traveled to St. Petersburg in 1768 to take up a post as court kapellmeister to the Russian empress, Catherine the Great. Catherine preferred Italian styles, and some of Traetta's most critically acclaimed works, including the 1772 opera seria Antigona, were composed in Russia. Traetta left St. Petersburg under pressure. Traetta died in Venice on April 6, 1779. By the mid-2020s, about 20 of Traetta's works had been recorded, including Ippolito ed Aricia and Antigona.