Antonio Buzzolla

Antonio Buzzolla was born on 2 March 1815. A native of Adria, he studied in Venice from 1832, and he joined the orchestra of La Fenice. His first opera, Il Ferramondo, was performed at Teatro San Benedetto. He later completed his studies under Gaetano Donizetti and Saverio Mercadante at the Naples Conservatory from 1837 to 1839. He returned to Venice in 1839 and had two more operas performed there. He left for Berlin in 1843 and was a conductor at the Italian Opera. After touring Poland and Russia, he went to Paris in 1847 and was a conductor at Théâtre Italien. He returned to Venice the following year and performed two more operas, Amleto and Elisabetta di Valois. Buzzolla was better known in his lifetime for ariettas and canzonettas in the Venetian dialect. Beginning in 1855, he served as the '''' of the Cappella Marciana at St Mark's Basilica in Venice. Buzzolla was one of the composers invited by Giuseppe Verdi to contribute to the Messa per Rossini; he composed the opening movement, the Requiem e Kyrie. He died in Venice on 20 March 1871, and was interred at the San Michele cemetery on the Isola di San Michele in Venice. == Compositions ==