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{{short description|Italian opera composer (1690–1730)}}
{{distinguish|Leonardo da Vinci}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox composer|image=Leonardo Vinci.jpg|caption=Portrait of Vinci, perhaps a late 18th/early 19th-century copy{{refn|See note 51 in {{harvtxt|Markstrom|2007|pp=341–342}} for discussion on the uncertainty surrounding the portrait.|group=n}}|birth_name=Leonardo Vinci|occupations=Composer|birth_place=[[Strongoli]], [[Kingdom of Sicily]]|birth_date=1690|death_date={{Death date and age|1730|5|27|1690|df=yes}}|death_place=[[Naples]]}}

'''Leonardo Vinci''' (1690 &ndash; 27 May 1730) was an Italian Baroque [[composer]] known chiefly for his 40 or so [[opera]]s; comparatively little of his work in other genres survives.{{sfn|Markstrom|2001|loc="2. Works"}} A central proponent of the [[Neapolitan School]] of opera,{{sfn|''Britannica''|2021|loc="Introduction"}} his influence on subsequent opera composers such as [[Johann Adolph Hasse]] and [[Giovanni Battista Pergolesi]] was considerable.{{sfn|Markstrom|2001|loc="Introduction"}}

==Life and career==
[[File:Leonardo Vinci - La Rosmira fedele, or Partenope. (BL Add MS 14232 f. 10r).jpg|thumb|Vinci's manuscript of [[Partenope (Vinci)|''Partenope'']]]]
He was born at [[Strongoli]] and educated at [[Naples]] under [[Gaetano Greco]] in the [[Music Conservatories of Naples|Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo]].{{sfn|Markstrom|2001|loc="1. Life"}} He first became known for his ''[[opera buffa|opere buffe]]'' (comic operas) in the [[Neapolitan language]] in 1719; he also composed many ''[[opera seria|opere serie]]'' (dramatic operas). He was received into the Congregation of the Rosary, a lay religious and burial fraternity, at Formiello in 1728.{{sfn|Markstrom|2007|pp=233–235}} He died in May 1730.{{sfn|Markstrom|2007|p=330}}  Vinci is rumoured to have been [[poison]]ed by a jealous husband in the wake of an ill-advised affair, a story which is given by several reliable authorities without evident contradictions.{{sfn|Markstrom|2007|p=344}}{{refn|{{harvtxt|Markstrom|2007|p=344}} noted that "..causes, such as poison. Although the story of Vinci's poisoning cannot be proven, it cannot be disproved, as is the case of similar stories connected with the deaths of Pergolesi and Mozart. Because we have this story from several reliable authorities without any obvious contradictions, one must let the story stand as is, within the realm of possibility."|group=n}}

==Music==
Vinci's ''opere buffe,'' of which ''[[Li zite 'ngalera]]'' (1722) is generally regarded as the best, are full of life and spirit; his ''opere serie,'' of which ''Didone Abbandonata'' (Rome, 1726) and ''[[Artaserse (Vinci)|Artaserse]]'' (Rome, 1730) are the most notable, have an incisive vigour and directness of dramatic expression praised by music historian [[Charles Burney]]. According to Burney, 
{{blockquote|"Vinci seems to have been the first opera composer who, without degrading his art, rendered it the friend, though not the slave to poetry, by simplifying and polishing melody and calling the audience's attention to the voice part by liberating it from fugue, complication, and labored contrivance ".|source=[[Charles Burney]], ''A General History of Music'' (1789){{sfn|Markstrom|2007|loc="''passim''"}}}}

The well-known aria "Vo solcando," from ''[[Artaserse (Vinci)|Artaserse]]'', is a good example of his style.{{sfn|Markstrom|2001|loc="2. Works"}}

==Works==
===Operas===
{{Div col|colwidth=20em|rules=yes}}
*''Le doje lettere'' (1719)
*''Lo cecato fauzo'' (1719)
*''Lo scagno'' (1720)
*''Lo scassone'' (1720)
*''Lo Barone di Trocchia'' (1721)
*''Don Ciccio'' (1721)
*''[[Li zite 'ngalera]]'' (1722)
*''La festa di Bacco'' (1722)
*''Publio Cornelio Scipione'' (1722)
*''Lo castiello sacchiato'' (1722)
*''Lo labberinto'' (1723)
*''Semiramide'' (1723)
*''Silla dittatore'' (1723)
*''[[L'Eraclea]]'' (1724)
*''Farnace'' (1724)
*''La mogliera fedele'' (1724)
*''Turno Aricino'' (1724)
*''[[Ifigenia in Tauride (Vinci)|Ifigenia in Tauride]]'' (1725)
*''La Rosmira fedele'' (1725) also known as [[Partenope (Vinci)|''Partenope'']] (1725)
*''Il trionfo di Camilla'' (1725)
*''Elpidia'' (1725)
*''L'Astianatte'' (1725)
*''Didone abbandonata'' (1726)
*''[[Siroe (Metastasio)|Siroe, Re di Persia]]'' (1726)
*''L'asteria'' (1726)
*''Ernelinda'' (1726)
*''[[Gismondo, Re di Polonia|Gismondo, Rè di Polonia]]'' (1727)
*''La caduta dei Decemviri'' (1727)
* ''Il Medo'' (1728)
*''[[Catone in Utica (Vinci)|Catone in Utica]]'' (1728)
*''Flavio Anicio Olibrio'' (1728)
*''[[Alessandro nell'Indie (Metastasio)|Alessandro nell'Indie]]'' (1729)
*''Farnace'' (1729)
*''La Contesa dei Numi'' (1729)
*''Massimiano'' (1729)
*''[[Artaserse (Vinci)|Artaserse]]'' (1730)
{{Div col end}}

===Other works===
In addition to operas, Vinci wrote a few [[cantata]]s, sonatas, a [[serenata]], and two [[oratorio]]s (''Oratorio di Maria dolorata'' ca. 1723 and ''Oratorio per la Santissima Vergine del Rosario'' ca. 1730). His sonata in D major for flute and basso continuo is still played today. He composed two sonatas for the recorder in addition to a recorder concerto in A minor.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

==Selected recordings==
* ''Fileno'' – Soprano Cantatas ''Mesta Oh Dio, tra queste selve. Mi costa tante lacrime. Amor di Citerea. Parto, ma con qual core.'' Emanuela Galli & Francesca Cassinari, Stile Galante, Stefano Aresi. With work wrongly attributed to Vinci by [[Alessandro Scarlatti]] ''Fille, tu parti? Oh Dio!'' [[Pan Classics]] 2011.
* In 2015 Decca released a Parnassus Arts Productions recording of his 3-act ''opera seria'', ''Catone in Utica'' (Rome, 1728).<ref>{{cite web |title=Vinci, Leonardo: Catone in Utica |website=Presto Music |url=https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8061283--vinci-leonardo-catone-in-utica |access-date=1 September 2021 }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n|colwidth=30em}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Markstrom |first=Kurt |year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Vinci, Leonardo |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.29423 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000029423 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite book |last=Markstrom |first=Kurt Sven |year=2007 |title=The Operas of Leonardo Vinci, Napoletano |publisher=Pendragon Press |location=Hillsdale |isbn=978-1-57647-094-7  }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |date=1 January 2021 |title=Leonardo Vinci &#124; Italian composer |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |location=Chicago |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-Vinci |ref={{sfnRef|''Britannica''|2021}} }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Vinci, Leonardo}}
* {{MutopiaComposer|VinciL}}
* [https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/110627-003-A/alessandro-nell-indie-von-leonardo-vinci/ Arte TV broadcast of the 2022 Bayreuth production of ''Alessandro nel Indie'']

{{Leonardo Vinci}}
{{Neapolitan School}}
{{Baroque music}}
{{portal bar|Classical music|Opera|Italy|Biography|Music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinci, Leonardo}}
[[Category:1690 births]]
[[Category:1730 deaths]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Sicily people]]
[[Category:Immigrants to the Kingdom of Naples]]
[[Category:Musicians from the Kingdom of Naples]]
[[Category:Neapolitan School composers]]
[[Category:18th-century Italian composers]]
[[Category:18th-century Italian male composers]]
[[Category:Italian Baroque composers]]
[[Category:Italian opera composers]]
[[Category:Italian male opera composers]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Crotone]]