Antonio Cesti

Antonio Cesti (; baptised Pietro Cesti, 5 August 1623; died 14 October 1669), known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, was also a singer (tenor) and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation".

Biography He was baptised Pietro Cesti at Arezzo on 5 August 1623. Claims that he studied with Giacomo Carissimi "appear to be groundless".

After holding a post somewhere in Florence as maestro di cappella, he entered the papal chapel in 1660. In 1666 he became Vice-Kapellmeister at Vienna, and died at Florence in 1669.

Music Cesti is known principally as a composer of operas. The most celebrated of these were La Dori (Innsbruck, 1657), Il pomo d'oro (Vienna, 1668) It includes a well-known soprano aria "Intorno all'idol mio" ("Around my idol").

Cesti was also a composer of chamber cantatas, and his operas are notable for the pure and delicate style of their airs, more suited to the chamber than to the stage. In 1655, Cesti's opera L'Argia was premiered in Innsbruck on the visit of the Swedish Queen Christina to celebrate her conversion to Catholicism.

As singer, Cesti performed roles in tenor and later also bass voice.

The yearly competition Internationaler Gesangwettbewerb für Barockoper Pietro Antonio Cesti for singers was named after him. It was established in 2010 by the conductor Alessandro De Marchi.

Works

Recordings Pietro Antonio Cesti "Pasticcio", Festwochen der Alten Musik in Innsbruck 1980, excerpts from operas "Il pomo d'oro", "Argia", "Tito", "Orontea", "Dori", "Semirami". Performers: René Jacobs, Judith Nelson, William Christie, Konrad Junghänel. ORF Edition Alte Musik. Le disgrazie d’amore, Auser Musici, Carlo Ipata, director, Hyperion CDA67771 (2010) Alma Mia, Raquel Andueza, soprano with La Galania directed by Fernández Baena: excerpts from operas L'Argia, La Dori, Orontea, Il Tito, and two cantatas: Non si parli più d'Amore and Ò quanto concorso. Anima e Corpo AeC003 (2014) L'Orontea Frankfurter Opern und Museumsorchester, Ivor Bolton (director), OEHMS Classics (2017) La Dori Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (director), CPO (2020)