Pucitta, Vincenzo

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Pucitta, Vincenzo

Pucitta, Vincenzo , Italian composer; b. Civitavecchia, near Rome, 1778; d. Milan, Dec. 20, 1861. He studied at the Cons. della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples. After composing various operas for Milan and Venice, he served as music director of the Italian Opera in Amsterdam, and then at the King’s Theatre in London from 1809 to 1814, where he wrote several operas for and acted as accompanist to Catalani. During Catalani’s directorship of the Théâtre-Italien in Paris, he served as her house composer (1814–17). In 1819 Pucitta toured Austria and Germany with his pupil Elizabeth Ferron, but soon after he abandoned his career as a composer for the stage. In all, he wrote some 35 operas.

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire