Antonio Orefice

Antonio Orefice (floruit 1708–1734) was an Italian opera composer active in Naples. His Patrò Calienno de la Costa was the first opera buffa in Neapolitan dialect to be performed on a public stage.

Life and career

Virtually nothing is known about Orefice's life. He was probably born around 1685, and some early sources have stated that he originally trained to be a lawyer. Records of his activity begin in Naples in 1708 with the production of his Il Maurizio, an opera seria which premiered in December of that year at the Teatro San Bartolomeo. He wrote several operas in this genre, including L'Engelberta co-composed with Francesco Mancini (1709), La pastorella al soglio (1710), and La Caligula delirante (1713), all of which premiered at the San Bartolomeo.

Orefice's last three works were La vecchia trammera (1732) and La Rosilla (1733), both co-composed with Leonardo Leo; and La Finta pellegrina (1734), co-composed with Domenico Sarro. All three were opere buffe, and all three premiered at the Teatro Nuovo. There is no further mention of Orefice after 1734, and he is presumed to have died shortly thereafter. Despite the popularity of his works during his lifetime, virtually all of his scores have been lost. His largest extant score is the first half of Engelberta. Also surviving are seven of the arias which he wrote for his Le fente zingare (1717). The seven arias constitute the earliest surviving scores for Neapolitan opera buffa. They were transcribed and published in 1965 by the Italian musicologist Giuseppe Pastore.