Antonio Caldara

He was born in Venice, died in Vienna and played an important role in the development of Italian vocal music and in the direction of German music in the 18th century. The Italian composer Antonio Caldara was born around 1670 or 71. As a child, he was a prominent boy soprano at St Mark's Cathedral, and thanks to his probable teachers, his violinist father Giovanni Legrenzini and the cello virtuoso Domenico Gabrielli, he was also an excellent player on violin, cello and keyboard instruments. His operas quickly captured attention and in 1699 he became maestro di cappella of the opera-fan Duke of Mantua. His operas from that time haven’t survived. From 1708 in Rome, in the service of Cardinal Ottoboni he composed works such as the Serenata Chi s'arma di virtù. In 1717 he moved to Vienna to work as deputy Kapellmeister to Charles VI (or King Charles III of Hungary), composing operas, oratorios and other pieces. The operas Dafne and Sancio Panza, or the Missa Laetare and the Missa in spei Resurrectionis were composed at this time. Although many of his manuscripts have been lost, his oeuvre still contains nearly 3500 works: more than 90 operas, oratorios, cantatas, madrigals and instrumental works. His death in 1736 may have been hastened by exhaustion from his work in Vienna.