Antonio Denzio Italian opera singer-tenor, impresario and librettist. Date of Birth: 23.09.1689 Country: Italy

1. Antonio Dencio: An Italian Opera Singer and Impresario
2. Early Career and Collaboration with Antonio Maria Peruzzi
3. Success in Prague and Partnership with Count Franz Anton von Sporck
4. The Versatile Career and Later Life of Antonio Dencio

Antonio Dencio: An Italian Opera Singer and Impresario

Antonio Dencio was an Italian operatic tenor, impresario, and librettist. He was born on September 23, 1689, in Venice, into a musical family where nearly everyone either played in orchestras or sang in operas. It was no surprise that a young Antonio also chose a career in singing.

Early Career and Collaboration with Antonio Maria Peruzzi

Dencio began his career as a singer and continued performing until 1724 when he embarked on a journey to Bohemia with the opera troupe of Antonio Maria Peruzzi, who was likely his uncle. Peruzzi aimed to introduce the art of Italian opera to the people of Central Europe and planned performances in Prague, Dresden, and Leipzig.

Success in Prague and Partnership with Count Franz Anton von Sporck

Initially, Peruzzi's troupe performed in Bohemia under the patronage of Count Franz Anton von Sporck. They gave performances at his palace in Kuks, located in the northwest of the Czech Republic, during the summer of 1724. The shows were incredibly successful, and the count allowed the artists to perform for free in his palace in Prague.

After disagreements with Peruzzi, Antonio Dencio replaced him as the impresario before the end of 1724 and continued to present performances at Count Sporck's palace until 1735. His troupe became the foundation for Prague's first permanent opera theater, and their productions were highly popular among the Czech nobility until around 1729 when Dencio's financial situation worsened.

Unfortunately, Count Sporck provided limited financial support to the troupe, only offering them free use of his theater, which ultimately led to their bankruptcy. Dencio found himself in debt and was forced to go to a debtor's prison. However, during the troupe's prime, Dencio successfully persuaded at least one of the leading Italian opera stars to collaborate and perform in Prague each season. The most famous of these stars was Margherita Gualandi, who likely had to leave Italy due to her poor behavior causing other entrepreneurs to refuse to work with her.

Dencio sought the help of composer Antonio Vivaldi to assist in engaging singers for his troupe, and Vivaldi sent him new music. In the early 1730s, Vivaldi himself visited Prague. Recently, part of the music Vivaldi wrote for one of his Prague operas, 'Argippo,' premiered in 1730, was discovered.

The Versatile Career and Later Life of Antonio Dencio

As Dencio was far from his opera base in Venice, he had to become a jack-of-all-trades in the theater. Besides organizing and directing performances, he also sang in his theater's productions and acted as a poet, writing several full-scale librettos. The most significant one was the pastiche opera 'La pravità castigata' ('The Punished Vice,' 1730), which was the earliest opera based on the story of Don Juan, featuring original characters and settings.

In 1735, Dencio briefly returned to Venice and attempted to conquer northern Europe with his theater troupe, performing in Brussels and Augsburg. Unfortunately, all his endeavors ended in failure. The last mention of Antonio Dencio was found in newspaper advertisements for upcoming performances printed in Moscow newspapers in 1763.