The Italian Domenico Cimarosa was born on December 17, 1749 in Naples as a bricklayer's and laundry helper's son.
At the age of 12, Cimarosa became an intellectual student of Francesco Durante (1648-1755), Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725), Antonio Sacchini (1730-1786), and Nicola Piccini (1728-1800). Especially spiritual compositions dominated in Cimarosa's life.
Suddenly charming insrumental works showed a master of compositions. In 1772, Cimarosa published his first opera comique - indisputable a masterwork. That opera has been remained as untitled and as a stage play without title role. Unbelievab he coule, but true!
Later, also in Rome,Milan, Vienna and Dresden/Germany, Cimarosa published innumerable operas and put even Nicola Piccini in the shade. In 1787, Climarosa moved to Saint Petersburg, but he couldn't survive the harsh Russian climate.
In 1792 - eight years after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's death - the Austrian capital Vienna celebrated the premiere of "Il matrimonio segreto" (The Secret Marriage). That opera became Cimarosa's greatest success. In Naples, "The Secret Marriage" has been on stage 167times.
An Italian cheerfulness and preciousness composition with a solo of the wrong-headed Cimarosa was "Il Maestro di Capello".
In 1799, Cimarosa was sentence to death because of plot participation. He passed away in Venice on January 11, 1801 alegedly because of poisoning. But even today, nobody knows the reall story of his death.
