New findings on Giovanni Alberto Ristori (1692-1753) and his family

Abstract

This essay has the results of a research on the origins and formative years of Giovanni Alberto Ristori (1692-1753), a major figure in the Dresden and Warsaw music scene during the Polish-Saxon Union. New info includes Ristori’s rediscovered birth certificate in Vienna, documents of his presence in Parma in 1715, homonymy problems on some Bologna Philharmonic Academy documents, and his unclear ties with that city. Also, the authorship is fixed of the opera, Euristeo, attributed to him elsewhere, and some neglected arias are discussed, that Ristori wrote for a Hasse opera. The first part of the essay has hitherto unknown data on relatives, namely, birth, travels, and death of famous chief comedian, Tommaso Ristori (father) and the birth of actor and playwright Antonio (uncle).