Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/372

360 never perish. To him. we owe the discovery of a new path, in which no later genius has ever disdained to walk; and, as long as that path leads to new beauties, he will maintain a continual claim upon our gratitude, notwithstanding the innumerable beauties of another kind which he trod under foot in laying it open to us. [ W. S. R. ]

MONTICELLI,, was born at Milan about 1710. He first appeared in opera at Rome in 1730, and, having a beautiful face and figure, began in that city, where no women were then allowed upon the stage, by representing female characters. His voice was clear and sweet, and singularly free from defects. 'He was,' says Burney, 'a chaste performer, and … a good actor.' In 1731 and 32 he appeared at Venice with Carestini, Bernacchi, and Faustina. He came to London in the autumn of 1741, and made his début here in the pasticcio 'Alessandro in Persia.' In the beginning of 1742, after other attempts, another opera was brought out by Pergolese, called 'Meraspe, o L'Olimpiade,' the first air of which, 'Tremende, oscuri, atroci,' in Monticelli's part, was sung for ten years after the end of the run of this opera; and 'the whole scene, in which "Se ceroa se dice" occurs, was rendered so interesting by the manner in which it was acted as well as sung by Monticelli that the union of poetry and music, expression and gesture, have seldom had a more powerful effect on an English audience' (Burney).

He continued to perform in London through 1743; and in 1744 he sang, in 'Alfonso,' songs of more bravura execution than he had previously attempted. During 1745 and 1746 Monticelli still belonged to our Opera; and in the latter year he sang in Gluck's 'Caduta de' Giganti,' and described one of his songs as an 'aria Tedesca' from the richness of the accompaniment. The 'Antigono' of Galuppi (produced May 13) was the first opera in which Monticelli appeared on our stage. He sang at Naples with la Mingotti in the same year, and afterwards at Vienna. In 1756 Hasse engaged him for the Dresden Theatre; and in that city he died in 1764.

A capital mezzotint portrait of Monticelli was scraped by Faber after Casali. [ J. M. ]

MONTIGNY-RÉMAURY,, born at Pamiers (Ariége) Jan. 21, 1843. Her elder sister and godmother, Elvire Rémaury, now Mme. Ambroise Thomas, an excellent pianist, first taught her music, but anxious to secure her every advantage, entered her in 1854 at the Conservatoire, in the pianoforte class of Professeur Le Couppey. In 58 she gained the first prize for piano; in 59 a prize for solfeggio: and in 62 the first prize for harmony. Shortly after this Mme. C. Rémaury played Mendelssohn's Concerto in G minor at one of the concerts of the Conservatoire, and her animated and vigorous interpretation of this favourite work, at once placed her in the first rank of French pianists. In 1866 she married Léon Montigny, a political writer on the staff of the 'Temps,' but was left a widow in 72. She has constantly mixed in society of the best kind, and is as much appreciated for her ready wit and attractive originality as for her musical talent. She has not yet published any composition, declining to print the 'transcriptions' which she occasionally plays to her intimate friends. She is now at the head of the pianoforte virtuosi of France, and her recent visits to England and tours on the Continent are extending her reputation over Europe. Her repertoire is large; her playing is free from affectation; her tone powerful, her style at once vigorous, tasteful and refined; and she interprets with fidelity the spirit of each master whose works she produces. The impression she leaves is that of a true musician, gifted with an extraordinary memory and with intellectual powers above the average. [ G. C. ]

MOONLIGHT SONATA. An absurd title which for years has been attached both in Germany and England to the Sonata quasi una fantasia in C♯ minor, the second of the two which form together Beethoven's op. 27. It is dedicated to the 'Damigella Contessa Giulietta Guicciardi.' The title is said to have been derived from an expression of Rellstab the critic comparing the first movement to a boat wandering by moonlight on the Lake of Lucerne. In Vienna it is sometimes known as the Laubensonate, from a tradition that the first movement was composed in the leafy-alley (Laubengang) of a garden.

Op. 27 was published—'for the harpsichord or pianoforte'—in March 1802. Its dedication, on which so much gratuitous romance has been built, appears from the statement of the countess herself to have been a mere accident. [See vol. i. 181a.] Beethoven, perhaps in joke, laughed at its popularity, and professed to prefer the Sonata in F♯ minor (op. 78). [See vol. i. 188a.]

MOORE,. There have been many biographies of this 'poet of all circles'; but it is as a composer and singer, and thus as 'the idol of his own,' that our pages must exhibit him. Moore, who was born of Catholic parents, in Dublin, May 28, 1779, seems to have been from early youth susceptible of musical impressions, and has recorded his childish delight at being permitted to astonish the company at the house of a certain Miss Dodd, by grinding out music from a little barrel-organ, whilst concealed under a table. We next find him brought forward as a show-reciter of his own rhymes at the school of Samuel Whyte of Dublin, who also educated Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The Dublin University in 1793 having opened its portals to the once proscribed Catholics, Moore entered as a student in 1795: being on a visit to the family of a fellow-student, he tells us of his pleasure at hearing Haydn's Sonata:—

