Editing Giovanni Pacini (section)

==Career as composer==
During his lifetime, Pacini wrote some 74 operas. This is less than earlier estimates, which ranged from 80 to 90, since it has now been ascertained that many were just alternate titles for other works. It has been noted that he "bothered little about harmony and instrumentation",<ref name="Rose"/> a fact supported by Rossini who once said: "God help us if he knew music. No one could resist him".<ref name="Rose"/> Certainly, Pacini recognized Rossini's strengths and his dominance during this period: "Everyone followed the same school, the same fashions, and as a result they were all imitators of the great luminary .... If I was a follower of the great man from Pesaro, so was everyone else"<ref name="Pacini">Pacini 1875, quoted in Budden, p. 9</ref>
[[File:Eruption of Vesuvius from Pacini's opera L'ultimo giorno di Pompei.jpg|thumb|275px|The final scene of ''L'ultimo giorno di Pompei'' using a set designed by [[Alessandro Sanquirico]]]] 
After Rossini moved to Paris in 1824, Pacini and his contemporaries ([[Giacomo Meyerbeer]], [[Nicola Vaccai]], [[Michele Carafa]], [[Carlo Coccia]], [[Vincenzo Bellini]], [[Gaetano Donizetti]], the brothers [[Federico Ricci|Federico]] and [[Luigi Ricci (composer)|Luigi Ricci]], and [[Saverio Mercadante]]) collectively began to change the nature of Italian opera and took [[bel canto]] singing in a new direction. Orchestration became heavier, coloratura was reduced, especially for men's voices, and more importance was placed on lyrical pathos. While there were exceptions, romantic leads were assigned to tenors (in Rossini's time, they were frequently sung by alto or mezzo-soprano women). Villains became basses or later baritones (while they often were tenors for Rossini). Over time, far more emphasis was placed on the drama.

The role that Pacini played in instituting these changes is only now beginning to be recognized.  There is little doubt that Pacini and his contemporary Nicola Vaccai exerted a stronger influence on Bellini than has been credited before.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}} This change in attitude can be credited to the revival of two key works: Vaccai's ''[[Giulietta e Romeo (Vaccai)|Giulietta e Romeo]]'' and Pacini's ''[[L'ultimo giorno di Pompei]]'', both composed in 1825 within a few weeks of each other.

[[image:1832. BRULLOV VSADNICA1.jpg|thumb|left|Daughters of Pacini, Giovannina and Amazilia, [[Horsewoman (Bryullov)|Horsewoman]], 1832, by [[Karl Bryullov]].]]
The success of many of Pacini's lighter operas especially ''[[Il Barone di Dolsheim]], La sposa fedele,'' and ''[[La schiava in Bagdad]]'' (all composed between 1818 and 1820) made Pacini one of the most prominent composers in Italy. His position was greatly enhanced by the rapid-fire successes of ''[[Alessandro nelle Indie]]'' (Naples, 1824, revised, Milan, 1826; given and recorded in London in November 2006), ''Amazilia'' (Naples 1824, revised, Vienna, 1827), and the previously mentioned ''L'Ultimo giorno di Pompei'' (Naples, 1825).

In ''Alessandro nelle Indie'', the title role of Alessandro was created by a baritonal tenor, [[Andrea Nozzari]], but it was sung by the much lighter-voiced [[Giovanni David]] at the Milan revival, indicating Pacini's desire to go in a new direction. ''[[Arabi nelle Gallie]]'' (Milan, 1827) reached many of the world's most important stages and was the first Pacini opera to be given in the United States. It was staged frequently in Italy, and it was not until 1830 that Bellini's first success, ''[[Il pirata]]'' (also Milan, 1827) passed ''Gli arabi nelle Gallie'' in number of performances at the Teatro alla Scala. While this is not generally recognized, it was Pacini, rather than Donizetti, Mercadante or Bellini, who gave Rossini the stiffest competition in Italy during the 1820s.

Many operas followed that are almost completely forgotten. However, one of these, ''[[Il corsaro (Pacini)|Il corsaro]]'' (Rome, 1831) was revived 173 years later, in 2004, albeit only with piano accompaniment. This work is different in many ways from Verdi's later opera by the same name. The title role, Corrado, is a [[musico]] role for an alto, and the villainous Seid is a tenor.

However, first Bellini and then Donizetti outstripped Pacini in fame. Many of his later operas, such as ''[[Carlo di Borgogna]]'' of 1835, were failures, but this is one of the few Pacini operas currently available on CD, and it has received many warm reviews.  Pacini himself was the first to recognize his apparent defeat noted in memoirs: "I began to realize that I must withdraw from the field. Bellini, the divine Bellini, has surpassed me."<ref name=Pacini/> Some years later, he resumed composing, and, after one more setback, enjoyed his greatest triumph with ''[[Saffo (opera)|Saffo]]'' (Naples, 1840).

After ''Saffo'', Pacini entered into another period of prominence. Donizetti had departed for Paris, Bellini had died, and Mercadante's major successes were behind him, thus Verdi offered the only important competition.  Pacini's successes during this time period include ''[[La fidanzata corsa]]'' (Naples, 1842), ''[[Maria, regina d'Inghilterra]]'' (Palermo, 1843), ''[[Medea (Pacini)|Medea]]'' (Palermo, 1843 with several later revisions, the last of which was in Naples in 1853), ''[[Lorenzino de' Medici (opera)|Lorenzino de' Medici]]'' (Venice, 1845), ''[[Bondelmonte]]'' (Florence, 1845), ''[[Stella di Napoli]]'' (Naples,1845) and ''[[La regina di Cipro]]'' (Turin, 1846). ''Allan Cameron'' (Venice, 1848) is noteworthy because it deals with the youth of King [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], before he was crowned King of England.  In contrast—by 1844—Verdi had written ''[[Nabucco]]'', ''[[I Lombardi alla prima crociata|I Lombardi]]'', and ''[[Ernani]]'', thus outstripping Pacini.

This period of accomplishments was followed by a long but slow  decline, marked only by the moderate successes of ''[[La punizione]]'' (Venice, 1854), ''[[Il saltimbanco]]'' (Rome, 1858), and ''[[Niccolò de' Lapi]]'' (Florence, 1873).

Pacini died in [[Pescia]], [[Tuscany]] in 1867. During his lifetime, he produced much music of high caliber. His output of more than 70 stage works is staggering even compared to Rossini (41 operas) and [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] (43&nbsp;operas), and he will always be remembered, with Donizetti, as one of the most prolific composers in the history of opera.