Coppola, Pietro Antonio (Pierantonio)

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Coppola, Pietro Antonio (Pierantonio)

Coppola, Pietro Antonio (Pierantonio) , Italian composer; b. Castrogiovanni, Sicily, Dec. 11, 1793;d. Catania, Nov. 13, 1877. For a short time he studied at the Naples Cons. He then began to compose operas, which obtained sufficient success to enable his friends and admirers to present him as a rival to Rossini. From the time he was 19, he produced one opera after another, but without much success until he composed La Pazza per amore (Rome, Feb. 14, 1835). This was his fourth opera and it became popular all over Europe (presented in Paris under the title Eva). From 1839 to 1843, and again from 1850 to 1871, he was conductor of the Lisbon Royal Opera. His other operas were Gli Illinesi (Turin, Dec. 26, 1835), Enrichietta di Baienfeld (Vienna, June 29, 1836), La bella Celeste degli Spadari (Milan, June 14, 1837), Giovanna prima di Napoli (Lisbon, Oct. 11, 1840), and II Folletto (Rome, June 18, 1843). He also wrote church music, notably a Salve Regina, which was highly regarded.

Bibliography

U. Coppola, P.A. C. (Catania, 1898).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire