Post submitted by Ella, one of our Student Experience Ambassadors
Antonio Salieri was an Italian composer, who was born in 1750 in Venice and died at age 74 in 1825. His operas became acclaimed throughout Europe in the late 18th century.
At the age of 16, Salieri was taken to Vienna and introduced to Emperor Joseph II. In 1774, the emperor made him the court composer, and in 1788 he became Hofkapellmeister (musical director of a court orchestra), a position which he held for 36 years.
During his career as a composer, he composed operas for theatres in Austria, France and Italy. His best-known work was the French opera Tarare (1787), translated by Da Ponte into Italian as Axur, re d’Ormus. After his last opera was performed in 1804, he devoted himself to composing sacred music and taught several students, one of which was Beethoven.