Domènec Terradellas (baptized 13 February 1713, Barcelona – 20 May 1751, Rome) was a Spanish opera composer. The birthdate is sometimes incorrectly given as 1711. Carreras i Bulbena did extensive research in contemporary documents, such as baptismal records, and found that the correct date was 1713. All his works are thoroughly Italian in style.
Career
Born in Barcelona, the son of a day laborer, his early musical training is unknown. It has been said that Terradellas studied with the composer Francisco Valls in Barcelona, but Carreras i Bulbena's research in Barcelona uncovered no evidence of this. On 23 May 1732, he entered in Naples as a student in the . He studied composition with the famous Neapolitan composer, Francesco Durante.
Terradellas was one of a group of foreign-born composers who studied in Italy and adopted the Italian style. The reason for this is that Italian opera was by far the dominant genre of opera at this time, attracting composers from all across Europe: (George Frideric Handel, Johann Adolph Hasse, Johann Christian Bach (all Germans), Thomas Arne (an Englishman), Josef Mysliveček (a Czech), and Vicente Martín y Soler (a Spaniard).
Italy
His first work, an oratorio, Giuseppe Riconosciuto, with text by Metastasio was first performed in Naples in 1736. The musicologist Felipe Pedrell reported seeing the manuscript in the library of San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli in Rome in 1898. The library was catalogued shortly after his visit, but when he returned in 1902, the score was missing and was not listed in the catalogue. This was probably a student work, because a note in the archives, dated May 1736, states that "" [Terradellas is still (a student) at the conservatory]. Terradellas's first opera, Astarto, was performed at Rome in 1739 during the Carnival season. He may have collaborated with Gaetano Latilla on an opera Romolo, performed in Naples during the same year, but the libretto names only Latilla as the composer.
A serenata, La Cerere, was performed in Rome in 1740, probably privately for a group of clergymen, and the three-act comic opera Gl'intrichi delle cantarine was performed in Naples during the same season. Carreras does not mention Cerere, but the libretto in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., attests to Terradellas's authorship and the date of performance. Carreras also mentions operas for which no documentation has been found. The operas are Artemesia, said to have been performed in Rome in 1739, and Issipile, supposedly performed in Florence in 1742.
San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli is a church established for Spanish residents in Rome. This church was already quite old in 1743, because Spaniards had been coming to Rome for centuries. Terradellas was approved as maestro di cappella by the congregation of that church on 1 May 1743 with a salary of 10 scudi per month. During his tenure, he composed at least four masses, a half dozen motets, as well as other short works for the service. Later, trouble developed between Terradellas and one of his subordinates, and Terradellas was dismissed in August 1745 after two years and three months.
His opera, La Merope, was performed during the Carnival of 1743. Alfred Loewenberg, in the Annals of Opera, lists three other performances of this opera, but provides no documentation. The dates given are Florence, Carnival of 1743 and revived there 26 December 1749; Livorno during the Carnival of 1744; and Ancona during the Carnival of 1746. Since there are two extant manuscripts of this opera, it seems possible that there was at least one other performance. A libretto in the library of Santa Cecilia names Terradellas as the composer of a Merope, performed in Florence in 1750, but the attribution is only written in pencil on the flyleaf facing the title page. Comparison of this libretto with that of 1743 casts serious doubt on its authenticity. The 1750 libretto has 22 arias, only five of which have the same text as the arias in the 1743 libretto.
During the Carnival of 1744, his Artaserse was performed in Venice. Loewenberg states that this opera was given on several other Italian stages, but no documentation has been found. The manuscript in Venice is dated 1744.
Terradellas's most productive years were during his tenure at San Giacomo, as evidenced by the two operas and the impressive list of religious works. These two operas, while very different in several stylistic features, are very representative works. Certainly, two finer works than these would be difficult to find.