Piticchio, Francesco

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Piticchio, Francesco

Piticchio, Francesco , Italian composer who flourished in the second half of the 17th century. He was active as maestro di cappella in Palermo about 1760. From 1781 he was maestro al cembalo with an Italian opera troupe in Germany. After a sojourn in Vienna (1786–91), he returned to Italy and was in the service of the royal family in Naples. He wrote the operas Il marchese di Verd’ antico (Rome, Jan. 1778; in collaboration with Gazzaniga), Didone abbandonata (Palermo, Carnival 1780), Il militare amante (Rome, Carnival 1781), Gli amanti alla prova or Die Liebhaber auf der Probe (Dresden, Jan. 4, 1785), Bertoldo (Vienna, June 22, 1787), and La vendetta di Medea (Naples, Aug. 13, 1798). Among his other works were a Sym., chamber music, oratorios, cantatas, and songs.

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire