Life
Caldara was born in Venice (the exact date is not known), the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St. Mark's in Venice, where he learned to play several instruments, likely under the instruction of Giovanni Legrenzi. In 1699, he moved to Mantua, where he became maestro di cappella to Charles IV, Duke of Mantua. Charles IV was a pensionary from France, married a French woman, and supported France during the War of the Spanish Succession. Caldara left Mantua in 1707 after the French were driven out of Italy. He then moved to Barcelona, where he worked as a chamber composer for Charles III, a claimant to the Spanish throne. Charles III had a royal court in Barcelona after the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700, who died without a direct heir. In Barcelona, Caldara wrote operas that were the first Italian operas performed in Spain. He later moved to Rome, becoming maestro di cappella to Francesco Maria Marescotti Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Cerveteri. While in Rome, he composed La costanza in amor vince l'inganno (Faithfulness in Love Defeats Treachery) for the public theatre in Macerata in 1710.
When Emperor Joseph I died unexpectedly from smallpox at age 32 in April 1711, Caldara decided it was wise to reconnect with Charles III, who would soon become Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. Caldara traveled from Spain to Vienna through northern Italy. He visited Vienna in 1712 but found Marc'Antonio Ziani and Johann Joseph Fux already holding the top two musical positions. On his way back to Rome, he stopped at the Salzburg court, where he was welcomed. He sent one new opera to Salzburg each year from 1716 to 1727. In 1716, after Ziani died the year before and Fux was promoted to Hofkapellmeister, Caldara was appointed Vize-Kapellmeister at the Imperial Court in Vienna. He remained there until his death.
Caldara composed more than 70 operas, more than 30 oratorios, and other works such as motets and sonatas. Several of his compositions had libretti written by Pietro Metastasio, who was the court poet in Vienna from 1729.
Noted works
- Sofonisba (F. Silvani), Venice, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo and Teatro Malibran, 1708.
- Il più bel nome (P. Pariati), Barcelona, 1708.
- Tito e Berenice, 1714.
- Ifigenia in Aulide (Zeno), Vienna, 1718.
- Lucio Papirio dittatore (Zeno), Vienna, 1719.
- I disingannati (Pasquini), Vienna, 1729.
- Adriano in Siria (Metastasio), Vienna, 1732.
- L'Olimpiade (Metastasio), Vienna, 1733.
- La clemenza di Tito (Metastasio), Vienna, 1734.
- Achille in Sciro (Metastasio), Vienna, 1736.
- Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo, around 1700.
- Santo Stefano, primo Re d'Ungheria, 1713.
- La Conversione di Clodoveo Re di Francia, 1715.
- La passione di Gesù Cristo, 1730.
- Il Re del dolore, 1722.
- Stabat Mater, around 1725.
- Il più bel nome [de], a serenade celebrating the marriage of Archduke Charles of Austria and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel on August 2, 1708.
- "Sebben, crudele" (Aria from La costanza in amor vince l'inganno, 1710).
- D'improvviso (cantata).
- "Alma del core" (aria).
- "Selve amiche" (aria).
- Missa Providentiae.
- Missa Dolorosa, 1735.
- La Costanza vince il rigore (cantata).
- Crucifixus.
- Come Raggio di Sol.
- Christmas Cantata.
Discography
- Antonio Caldara, La Concordia De' Pianeti – vocals performed by Carlos Mena, Daniel Behle, Delphine Galou, Franco Fagioli, Luca Tittoto, Ruxandra Donose, and Veronica Cangemi. Orchestra: La Cetra Barockorchester Basel. Recorded at the Konzerthaus Dortmund from January 13 to 19, 2014, and released by Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv Produktion (catalog number 479 3356, 2014). This recording marks the first time the work was performed and recorded globally.
- Antonio Caldara, Sonatas & Cantatas for soprano, violin, and continuo – performed by Tullia Pedersoli (soprano), Davide Belosio (violin), Claudio Frigerio (cello), Mauro Pinciaroli (archlute), and Emma Bolamperti (harpsichord). Recorded by I Solisti Ambrosiani and released by Urania Records (catalog number LDV 14045, 2019). This is the first recording ever made of this work.