Caldara was born in
Venice (exact date unknown), the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at
St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probably under the instruction of
Giovanni Legrenzi. In 1699 he relocated to
Mantua, where he became
maestro di cappella to the inept
Charles IV, Duke of Mantua, a pensionary of France with a French wife, who took the French side in the
War of the Spanish Succession. Caldara removed from Mantua in 1707, after the French were expelled from Italy, then moved on to
Barcelona as chamber composer to
Charles III, the pretender to the Spanish throne (following the death of
Charles II of Spain in 1700 without any direct heir) and who kept a royal court at Barcelona. There, he wrote some operas that are the first Italian operas performed in Spain. He moved on to
Rome, becoming
maestro di cappella to
Francesco Maria Marescotti Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Cerveteri. While there he wrote in 1710 ''La costanza in amor vince l'inganno
(Faithfulness in Love Defeats Treachery'') for the public theatre at
Macerata. With the unexpected death of
Emperor Joseph I from
smallpox at the age of 32 in April 1711, Caldara deemed it prudent to renew his connections with Charles III – soon to become Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI – as he travelled from Spain to
Vienna via northern Italy. Caldara visited Vienna in 1712, but found
Marc'Antonio Ziani and
Johann Joseph Fux firmly ensconced in the two highest musical posts. He stopped at the
Salzburg court on his return journey to Rome, where he was well received (and to which he subsequently sent one new opera annually from 1716 to 1727). In 1716, following the death the previous year of Ziani and the promotion of Fux to
Hofkapellmeister, Caldara was appointed '''' to the Imperial Court in Vienna, and there he remained until his death. Caldara composed more than 70
operas, more than 30
oratorios, and other works including
motets and
sonatas. Several of his compositions have
libretti by
Pietro Metastasio, the court poet at Vienna from 1729. ==Noted works==