Luigi Legnani - Duetto et Caprice, Finale de l'Opera l'Italienne à Alger du Rossini, Op. 5 (c.1814)

Luigi Rinaldo Legnani (7 November 1790 – 5 August 1877) was an Italian virtuoso guitarist, singer, composer and luthier.

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Duetto et Caprice. Finale de l'Opera l'Italienne à Alger du célèbre Rossini (c. 1814)
Dedication: au Comte Bernardino Beretta

Giulio Tampalini, guitar

There was no date of composition to be found, but composers like Legnani were quick to capitalize on contemporary popular works and the Opera L’italiana in Algeri (premiered in 1813) was one of those.

The two-act dramma giocoso premiered on 22 May 1813 at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice, when Rossini was just 21 years old. He completed the score in either 18 or 27 days, depending on the source, and the work quickly became one of his most celebrated early operas, blending elements of opera seria and opera buffa.

Born in Ravenna, Legnani was trained as a string player while very young but dedicated himself to guitar and voice. His debut as an operatic tenor was in Ravenna in 1807; his singing career spanned 17 years. His career as a guitarist began with a concert in Milan in 1819 and continued with the 1822 concerts in Vienna and return visits in 1833 and 1839. He tried to continue the guitar tradition established there by Mauro Giuliani.

Legnani is perhaps best known for his 36 Caprices op. 20 for the guitar, which cover all the major and minor keys, and which were probably inspired by Paganini's 24 Caprices for the violin. He and Paganini were friends from the 1830s; while it was once thought that he and Paganini performed together in public (Powroźniak mentions a concert in Northern Italy in 1837), there is no evidence to support this claim. After the 1850s Legnani retired from active performance and became an instrument maker, concentrating on guitars and violins. The "Legnani model" guitar was popular in Central Europe through the middle of the nineteenth century.

Legnani composed some 250 works, which were published in his lifetime throughout many of the major publishing houses in Europe. He died in Ravenna.

As a regular visitor to Vienna, Legnani cooperated with Johann Georg Stauffer and his son Anton to make guitars according to Legnani's design, to be followed by a number of other luthiers.