Abstract

Set to music by the Venetian Antonio Caldara, Metastasio's "Passion" was first performed in Vienna on 4 April 1730. From that date onwards this work would dominate oratorio composition for more than a century, with well- and lesser-known composers throughout Italy and in a large part of Europe engaging in what might be considered a veritable competition of reinterpretation. Investigating the use of the famous text in the world of Venetian music in the first half of the eighteenth century, I have encountered such lesser-known composers as Niccolò Conti, Domenico Valentini and Zuanne Cornaro tackling the Passion. Some biographical notes on each are provided. Composed some ten years apart yet both performed in 1749 at the Fava, the Passions by Conti and Jommelli are briefly compared; the unknown score by the Neapolitan Conti is particularly interesting, revealing the talented composer to have been ahead of his time.