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Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Francesco Provenzale
Person · male · Naples · born 1632 · died 1704 · recording since 1996
Italian composer
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Also known as フランチェスコ・プロヴェンツァーレ
Timeline
7 events▣ Album 4◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1630s
1700s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: Passione
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
Biography
English biography531 words · 3 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1377339111
Biography
Francesco Provenzale (25 September 1632 – 6 September 1704) was an Italian Baroque composer and teacher. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. Notably Provenzale was the teacher of famed castrato 'il cavaliere Nicolo Grimaldi (detto Nicolini)'.
Biography
Before the year 1658, there is virtually no record of Provenzale's existence, although it is thought that he studied at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples.
The year of his entry into history is 1654, the year his opera Teseo was performed in Naples. In his life, he mainly focused his energies on teaching, but he has a place in history as the first Neapolitan composer to embrace opera. Before Teseo, he seems to have composed at least two other operas. That same year, an opera called Il Ciro, no doubt by Provenzale, was performed in Venice at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo. What was remarkable about the opera was that part of the music was by Francesco Cavalli; no other collaborative opera is known of in Venice before this date and Provenzale's Xerse and Artemisia may both have been arrangements of original works by Cavalli.
Between composing opera and teaching, Provenzale managed to live a comfortable life. In 1660, he was married to Chiara Basile and by spring 1663, he became maestro of the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto, where he had been working for at least two years. In 1665 his son Giuseppe was born; he and his wife also had two daughters. From this point on, until age began to take a toll, his life was a fairly enviable success story. His works were frequently performed in Naples. As his reputation grew, commissions began to pour in and his body of students grew. And although he served as maestro in numerous institutions, the top position of chief maestro at any of these eluded him. Late in life, when removed from some of his posts due to his age, he became deputy to Alessandro Scarlatti. In 1704, he was at last made chief maestro at the royal chapel, but it was only days before his death. The post was inherited by Gaetano Veneziano, his star student.
Provenzale's surviving works, only a fraction of what he composed, are the operas Il schiavo di sua moglie and La Stellidaura vendicante, the sacred melodrama La colomba ferita (considered his best piece, about the life of Saint Rosalia), and numerous sacred works. Qualities of Italian vocal styles that strongly express sadness and pain are nowhere better exemplified than in the long melodic lines and expressive chromatic harmonies of the aria "Lasciatemi morir" ("Let me die"), from his opera Il schiavo di sua moglie (His Wife's Slave).
Selected recordings
Cantatas, I Turchini Florio. Symphonia; reissue on Il Canto della Sirena 3CD Glossa 2011
Missa defunctorum with Cristofaro Caresana: Dixit Dominus Cappella della Pieta de' Turchini Florio (2007)
Provenzale: Passione (1996)
Provenzale: Vespro
La Bella Devozione
Motetti
La colomba ferita 2CD
Lo schiavo di sua moglie 1672
La Stellidaura vendicante 1674 - Stellidaura: Jennifer Rivera (mezzo-soprano), Armillo: Hagen Matzeit (countertenor), Armidoro: Bogdan Mihai (tenor), Orismondo: Carlo Allemano (tenor), Giampetro: Enzo Capuano (bass). Academia Montis Regalis dir. Alessandro de Marchi, DHM Classics, 2013
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 17 | 76.4th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 4 | 78.1th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -292 | 1.8th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (4 release groups · 4 studio albums)
Albums · 4
1996 · studio album
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Tracklist · 27 tracks · 1:09:37
1Versetti dello Stabat2:242Dialogo per la Passione: 1. Sinfonia1:393Dialogo per la Passione: 2. Aria: San Giovanni2:454Dialogo per la Passione: 3. Aria: Maria1:485Dialogo per la Passione: 4. Duetto: alto e tenore1:216Dialogo per la Passione: 5. Duetto: soprano I e II1:307Dialogo per la Passione: 6. Aria: Angelo I e II1:448Dialogo per la Passione: 7. Duetto: soprano I e II1:329Dialogo per la Passione: 8. Aria: alto1:4710Dialogo per la Passione: 9. Aria: MARIA1:5711Dialogo per la passione: 10. Recitativo e aria :1:1512Dialogo per la Passione: 11. Recitativo e Aria: soprano1:5113Dialogo per la Passione: 12. Aria: tenore1:0014Dialogo per la Passione: 13. Aria: soprano2:4515Dialogo per la Passione: 14. Sinfonia2:0416Dialogo per la Passione: 15. Coro5:1117Guardami Dio d'amici (1665)3:2318Stabat Mater a cinque voci (c.1660)5:2519Sonata a tre violini e organo: 1. Largo assai1:1220Sonata a tre violini e organo: 2. Allemanda - Allegro assai1:3221Sonata a tre violini e organo: 3. Allegro e non presto1:5122Sonata a tre violini e organo: 4. Adagio1:5023Sonata a tre violini e organo: 5. Allegro2:0524Beati omnes a cinque voci4:4025Toccata Prima (1641)3:3326Canzona francese (1641)3:3027Litanie a cinque voci per la beata Vergine Maria (c.1660)8:031997 · studio album
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Tracklist · 45 tracks · 1:52:59
Disc 11La Colomba ferita: Sinfonia avanti il prologo0:482La Colomba ferita: Prologo7:093La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 12:104La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 24:325La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 33:356La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 4-53:207La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 5: Quest'amante mi ferì2:528La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 63:479La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 74:0210La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 82:0411La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 91:2912La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 9: Ritornello3:1613La Colomba ferita, Atto I Scena 9: O pummo d'oro mio1:2314La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 11:1515La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 21:3116La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 32:3617La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 43:2218La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 55:4619La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 61:2920La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 72:0121La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 80:5022La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 92:4023La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 101:5624La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 112:3525La Colomba ferita, Atto II Scena 11: Seppellitevi, o speranze2:25Disc 21La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 12:282La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 1: Al fuggir s'impenni il piè1:183La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 23:424La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 31:425La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 3: Ristoro il mio male0:576La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 41:377La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 52:098La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 61:279La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 6: Solitudine amica1:2410La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 74:3911La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 7: Sferzate le corde1:1612La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 81:2913La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 92:5414La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 9: Costei donna? / Scena 102:1715La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 10: Vincesti, trionfa, romita donzella!1:3216La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 10: Quando, quando sarà1:2517La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 112:2318La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 123:2219La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 13-141:5520La Colomba ferita, Atto III Scena 154:101998 · studio album
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Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:02:08
1Cantemus, psallamus (a due soprani)10:422Sonata seconda L'Aragona a tre violoni e basso continuo6:163O Jesu mea spes (a due soprani)10:054Sonata decima La Maddaloni a tre violoni e basso continuo6:185Audite caeli a soprano e tenore10:006Sonate II a tre violoni e basso continuo8:367Angelicae mentes (a due soprani)10:11Vespro all'oratorio dei Girolamini
1998 · studio album
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Tracklist · 21 tracks · 1:14:44
1Sinfonia a 5: Grave - Allegro - (Largo) - Allegro2:402Deus in adjutorium meum intende / Domine ad adiuvandum me festina0:373De excelso misit ignem0:164Dixit Dominus4:475Accipite jucunditatem4:146Concaluit cor meum intra me0:237Confitebor4:408Similabo eum viro sapienti2:269Cor meum et caro mea0:1510Beatus vir13:0811Exulta, jubila6:3812Factus est in corde meo0:2313Laudate pueri3:2414Vanitas vanitatum9:0215Defecit caro mea0:2216Laudate Dominum0:4417Magnus secundum nomen suum8:0418Iste Confessor3:1819Domus mea0:1920Magnificat4:4621Lauda Jerusalem4:18
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Francesco Provenzale head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 17 | 76.4th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 4 | 78.1th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -292 | 1.8th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/fc904c47-b9e3-4745-8c2c-6b897111f676discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/fc904c47-b9e3-4745-8c2c-6b897111f676core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q934164genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q934164seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Provenzalebiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Provenzale
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q934164 · MusicBrainz: fc904c47-b9e3-4745-8c2c-6b897111f676
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