Pietro Comes

Pietro Comes was an Italian composer active in Naples between 1739 and 1755, the period from which the surviving dates of his premieres derive. According to Eitner he was born in the vicinity of Naples, and Florimo mentions him as a singer, although there is no record that he ever performed on the Neapolitan stage. The libretti present him under various titles, such as "Maestro di Cappella Napoletano" and "Maestro di Cappella" to the Duke of Castropignano, which leaves his exact position uncertain.

His output, almost entirely devoted to Neapolitan comic opera, appears considerable at first glance. However, on examining the libretti the picture becomes more nuanced: his commissions, except for the last two operas, came from the least important and least successful theatre in the city, the Teatro della Pace. Everything suggests that he was a minor musician, called upon when a better and more expensive talent was not sought or was not available.

Among his works are La taverna di Mostacchio (1739), which reuses the text of La Rina with music by Pisano; Le fenziune abbentorate (1745), which according to Scherillo was a rewriting of Orefice's Lo finto Armenio; La vennegna (1747), written out of season and in haste, as its librettist acknowledged; Il nuovo Don Chisciotte (1748), a new version of Leo's Il fantastico; and Rosmonda (1755), for which he composed only one part in collaboration with Logroscino, Traetta and Cecere. To these are added Li despiette d'ammore (1744), Lo chiacchiarone (1748) and, perhaps, a sextet on Laboravi im gemito meo.

None of these scores survives, but the libretti are of historical interest, as they reflect the evolution of Neapolitan opera buffa in the 1740s: the abandonment of dialect for all characters, the incorporation of plots taken from the chivalric romance, the satire of character as opposed to domestic farce, and a greater elaboration of the musical numbers, judging by their smaller number.