Bernardo Porta (1758Marc Honegger, Dictionnaire de la musique : Tome 2, Les Hommes et leurs œuvres. L-Z, Paris, Bordas, 1979, 1232 p. (), p. 872 in Rome – 11 June 1829 in Paris) was an Italian composer who was active in France.

Biography After composition lessons with Magrini, Bernardo Porta became maestro di cappella and director of the orchestra at Tivoli. After returning to Rome, he went into service at the court of Constantin Alexandre, prince of Salm-Salm. During this period of Porta's life, he wrote his first opera La Principessa d'Amalfi (1780) for the Teatro Argentina, but it had little success.Letailleur & Charlton 2001.

In 1788 Porta moved to France, where he composed Le diable à quatre ou La double métamorphose (1790) on a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine for the Théâtre Italien.Wild & Charlton 2005, p. 221. During the French Revolution, he wrote Agricol Viala, ou Le héros de treize ans (1794), a one-act opéra comique, which glorified a martyr of the revolution, Joseph Agricol Viala.Wild & Charlton 2005, p. 128.

Porta's 3-act opera Les Horaces with a libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard (based on a play by Corneille) was premiered by the Paris Opéra at the Théâtre de la République et des Arts on 18 October 1800. Guillard's libretto had already been set by Antonio Salieri as Les Horaces (premiered by the Opéra in 1786), but this work had been a failure and was dropped after three performances. However, Porta's opera did not do much better and was presented on only nine occasions. Porta's was the third work with this name to be performed at the Opéra. The first was a 5-act ballet, premiered in 1777 with music by Josef Starzer and choreography by Jean-Georges Noverre. Porta's opera would be totally forgotten today, except for an attempted assassination of Napoleon, which occurred at the theatre during one of its performances.Lajarte 1878, p. 18; Pitou 1985, p. 279. His opera paid homage to the painting Oath of the Horatii by his friend Jacques Louis David.

His last opera to be performed was Le connétable de Clisson, which premiered at the Opéra on 9 or 10 February 1804. Critics described it as mediocre. It received eighteen performances over two years.Pitou 1985, p. 121.

Porta also composed masses, motets, oratorios and some instrumental music: 6 duo's for two cello's, 2 trio's, 3 quartets for flute, violin, alto and bass, and quintets. Most of this instrumental music was intended for beginners.

He died on 11 June 1829 due to cholera.Van Boer 2012, p. 448.

Operas 1780 : La Princesse d'Amalfi 1788 : Le Diable à quatre ou la Double Métamorphose 1791 : Pagamin 1793 : La Blanche Haquenée 1793 : Alexis et Rosette, ou les Houlans 1794 : La Réunion du 10 août, ou l'Inauguration de la République 1794 : Agricol Viala, ou le Héros de 13 ans 1797 : Le Pauvre Aveugle, ou la Chanson savoyarde 1797 : L'Oracle 1798 : Le Prisonnier français, ou le Bienfait récompensé 1800 : Deux morts qui se voient 1800 : Les Deux Statues 1800 : Les Horaces 1802 : Le Vieux de la montagne 1804 : Le Connétable de Clisson

Other works

Vocal works 1788 : Cantate à Mr le Baron de Bagge ... pour le jour de sa fête (Moline) masses motets 2 oratorios

Instrumental Music 6 duo's for two cello's 2 trio's 3 quartets for flute, violin, alto and bass 3 duos pour commençants for two flutes quintets

Notes

Bibliography Letailleur, Paulette, revised by David Charlton (2001). "Porta, Bernardo" in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan. (hardcover). (eBook). Lajarte, Théodore de (1878). Bibliothèque musicale du Théâtre de l'Opéra, volume 2 [1793–1876]. Paris: Librairie des Bibliophiles. View at Google Books. Pitou, Spire (1985). The Paris Opera: An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers. Rococo and Romantic, 1715–1815. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. . Van Boer, Bertil (2012). Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period. Lanham/Toronto/Plymouth, UK: The Scarecrow Press. . Wild, Nicole; Charlton, David (2005). Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762-1972. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. .

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