Araia or Araja, Francesco
Araia or Araja, Francesco
Araia or Araja, Francesco, Italian composer; b. Naples, June 25, 1709; d. c. 1770. He devoted himself mainly to writing serious operas. In 1735 he was called to the Russian court in St. Petersburg as maestro di cappella, where he produced his most celebrated opera, Cephalus and Procris (March 9, 1755), the first such score sung in the Russian language. After an Italian sojourn (1740–42), he resumed his duties in St. Petersburg. In 1759 he retired to Italy, but visited Russia again in 1762 before settling in Bologna.
Works
DRAMATIC: Opera: Berenice (Florence, 1730); Ciro riconosciuto (Rome, Carnival 1731); II Cleomene (Rome, 1731); La forza dell’amore e dell’odio (Milan, Jan. 1734); Lucio Vero (Venice, Carnival 1735); II finto Nino, overo La Semiramide riconosciuta (St. Petersburg, Feb. 9, 1737); Artaserse (St. Petersburg, Feb. 9, 1738); Seleuco (Moscow, May 7, 1744); Scipione (St. Petersburg, Sept. 4 or 5, 1745); Mitridate (St. Petersburgs, May 7, 1747); L’asilo della pace (St. Petersburg, May 7, 1748); Bellerofonte (St. Petersburg, Dec. 9, 1750); Eudossa incoronata, o sia Teodosio II (St. Petersburg, May 9, 1751); Cephalus and Procris (St. Petersburg, March 9, 1755); Amor prigioniero (Oranienbaum, 1755); Alessandro nell’Indie (St. Petersburg, Dec. 29, 1755). OTHER: Various other stage pieces; S. Andrea Corsini, oratorio (Rome, 1731); cantatas; keyboard pieces.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire