Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio
In which are Incorporated, Translations of his Principal Letters

Volume 2 of Burney's 1796 account of the colourful life of Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782), covers his success in Vienna.

Charles Burney (Author), Pietro Metastasio (Author)

9781108014656, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 October 2010

458 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.6 cm, 0.58 kg

This three-volume biography, first published in 1796, recounts the colourful life of the popular Italian poet and librettist Pietro Trapassi (1698–1782), better known by his pseudonym Metastasio. Charles Burney (1726–1814), a British composer and the author of a celebrated four-volume History of Music published between 1776 and 1789, interweaves his own accounts of the poet's life with Metastasio's original letters translated into English. Metastasio's posthumously published correspondence with his friends and patrons provides the essential thread to understanding his complex life and affairs. The son of a shopkeeper, Metastasio was adopted as a young boy by the director of the Arcadian Academy, Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, who was charmed by the child's extraordinary talent for improvising poetry. Volume 2 covers Metastasio's successful Viennese career from 1751 to 1770, and includes the bulk of his correspondence with his friend the famous castrato Farinelli.

Section I. Letters to Sig. d'Argenvilliers, Sig. Filipponi and Farinelli
Section II. Letters to Farinelli
Section III. Letters to Farinelli and others
Section IV. Political information to correspondents during the war between the Empress Queen and the King of Prussia
Section V. Letters to Farinelli and others
Section VI. Letters to Padre Martini and others
Section VII. Letters to Sig. D. Saverio Mattei and others.

Subject Areas: Baroque music [c 1600 to c 1750 AVGC3]