Tommaso Scarlatti

Tommaso Scarlatti was an Italian tenor, brother of the composer Alessandro Scarlatti, and a significant figure in the early years of Neapolitan opera buffa. He was born around 1669–1672, probably in Palermo, although the date and place of his birth are somewhat uncertain; he died in Naples on 1 August 1760.

He moved to Naples while still a very young child, so he retained little memory of his Sicilian childhood. He is said to have trained at the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio. In his marriage certificate, dated 30 May 1701, he declared that he had never left Naples, a statement that contrasts with his presence in Crema at the beginning of that same year, where he was listed as a virtuoso of the Duke of San Pietro and sang the leading role in Il furio Camillo and L'innocenza giustificata. In 1703 he took part in Giustino, by his nephew Domenico, performed in Naples.

Early in his career he sang serious roles, but he later specialised in comic tenor parts. According to some accounts, he played a key role in the first season of Neapolitan opera buffa: he performed a deformed, dim-witted servant in Li vecchie cofiejate, an elderly gardener in Le fenzejune abbentorate (1710), and again an old woman in La Cianna (1711). It has also been suggested that Nicola Orilia and Michele Falco may have written the role of Ciccuzza in Lo Lollo Pisciaportelle for him.

His documented appearances continue in 1736, 1737 and 1740, and from 1722 he was employed in the royal chapel. It has been proposed that the singer Rosa Scarlatti, active in Venice in 1747 and later in Vienna, was his daughter, and that the composer Giuseppe Scarlatti may have been his son, although neither relationship can be confirmed. His importance lies above all in having shaped the Neapolitan comic tradition from the perspective of singing.