He was born and received his musical education in Naples and began to compose operas at the age of 20. His early operas were produced in the theatres of
Naples,
Florence,
Rome,
Milan, and
Venice. In 1735 he was invited to
St. Petersburg together with a big Italian opera troupe, and became the maestro di cappella (Kapellmeister) to
Empress Anne Ioanovna and later Empress
Elizaveta Petrovna.
His La forza dell'amore e dell'odio was the first Italian opera performed in Russia. It was staged in 1736 as Сила любви и ненависти (Sila lyubvi i nenavisti - The Power of Love and Hatred) with a supplement to the Russian translation by
Vasily Trediakovsky printed as a booklet. This was the first opera libretto printed in Russian.[2] This was followed by Semiramide (Il finto Nino, overo La Semiramide riconosciuta) in 1737, Artaserse in 1738, Seleuco with Russian translation by
Sumarokov, premiered in Moscow 1744, Scipione with Russian translation by
Adam Olsufiev, in
St. Petersburg 1745, Mitridate in 1747, and others.
The majority of the operas he wrote in Russia were to Italian libretti. However, in 1755 Araja composed Цефал и Прокрис (Tsefal i Prokris – Cephalus and
Prokris), an opera in three acts to the Russian libretto by
Alexander Sumarokov after the Metamorphoses by
Ovid. It was staged at
St. Petersburg on March 7,
OS February 27, 1755 with effective sets by
Giuseppe Valeriani. This was the first opera with Russian singers. This opera was a great success, and Araja received 100 half-imperials[3] and a luxurious sable coat valued at 500 rubles as a gift from Empress
Elizaveta Petrovna. The opera was re-staged at the
Mariinsky Theatre in
St. Petersburg on June 14, 2001.
His next two operas were premiered in different Russian towns: Amor prigioniero in
Oranienbaum in 1755, and Iphigenia in Tauride in
Moscow in 1758. In 1759 Araia returned to
Italy, but was recalled for the coronation of
TsarPeter III in 1762. He left soon after in the wake of Peter's overthrow by
Catherine the Great. His last compositions were the oratorio La Nativita di Gesu and the opera La Cimotea. He died in
Bologna sometime between 1762 and 1770.
Semiramide riconosciuta, opera seria, text by Pietro Metastasio (1731,
Naples)
La forza dell'amore e dell'odio, opera seria, text by
Francesco Prata (January 1734, Teatro Ducale,
Milan; 1736, as Сила любви и ненависти (Sila lyubvi i nenavisti - The Power of Love and Hatred) St. Petersburg)
Lucio Vero, opera seria, text by
Apostolo Zeno, (Carnival 1735, Teatro San Angelo,
Venice)
Il finto Nino, overo La Semiramide riconosciuta, opera seria, text by
Francesco Silvani (February 9, 1737 [OS January 28],
St. Petersburg)
Artaserse, opera seria, (February 9, 1738 [OS January 28],
St. Petersburg)
Also: Sinfonia in D Major for strings, Sonatas, etc.
Notes
^There is another arguable information that in 1751 Araja composed an opera Титово милосердие (La Clemenza di Tito) to the Russian libretto (probably translated from Italian) by famous Russian actor and later opera composer
Fyodor Volkov.
^Some sources provide an arguable information that this opera was actually performed in Russian by the Russian singers.
^Half-imperial was a coin equal to 5 rubles in gold.
Bibliography
Цефал и Прокрис. СПб., – Tsefal i Pokris,
St. Petersburg, 1755