Antonio Salieri

Antonio Salieri (18 August 1750 – 7 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy. Salieri was a pivotal figure in the development of late 18th-century opera. As a student of Florian Leopold Gassmann, and a protégé of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Salieri was a cosmopolitan composer who wrote operas in three languages. Salieri helped to develop and shape many of the features of operatic compositional vocabulary, and his music was a powerful influence on contemporary composers. Appointed the director of the Italian opera by the Habsburg court, a post he held from 1774 until 1792, Salieri dominated Italian-language opera in Vienna. During his career, he also spent time writing works for opera houses in Paris, Rome, and Venice, and his dramatic works were widely performed throughout Europe during his lifetime. As the Austrian imperial Kapellmeister from 1788 to 1824, he was responsible for music at the court chapel and attached school. Even as his works dropped from performance, and he wrote no new operas after 1804, he still remained one of the most important and sought-after teachers of his generation, and his influence was felt in every aspect of Vienna's musical life. Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Eberl, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart were among the most famous of his pupils. Salieri's music slowly disappeared from the repertoire between 1800 and 1868 and was rarely heard after that period until the revival of his fame in the late 20th century. This revival was partially due to the fictionalized depiction of Salieri in Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus (1979) and its 1984 film version. The death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791 at the age of 35 was followed by rumors that he and Salieri had been bitter rivals, and that Salieri had poisoned the younger composer; however, this has been disproved because the symptoms displayed by Mozart's illness did not indicate poisoning and it is likely that they were, at least, mutually respectful peers. Salieri was greatly affected by the widespread public belief that he had contributed to Mozart's death, which he vehemently denied and contributed to his nervous breakdowns in later life.

Operas in the OperaPedia Catalogue

The following 11 operas by Antonio Salieri are catalogued in OperaPedia, listed in chronological order of premiere. Click any title for the full editorial entry, including synopsis, premiere details, language, and notable arias.

• n/a Der Rauchfangkehrer Italian
• n/a Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamace Italian
• n/a Europa riconosciuta Italian
• n/a Falstaff Italian
• n/a Il ricco d'un giorno Italian
• n/a La cifra Italian
• n/a La fiera di Venezia Italian
• 1750 L'amore innocente, 1750 Italian
• 1771 Armida, 1771 Vienna Burgtheater Italian
• 1785 La grotta di Trofonio, 1785 Burgtheater Italian
• 1787 Axur, re d'Ormus, 1787 Italian

Stylistic Position & Reception

Antonio Salieri's position within the operatic canon has been shaped by performance tradition as much as by scholarly judgment. The works that survive in the active repertory of the major houses tend to be those that combine memorable vocal writing with dramatically effective situations · qualities that audiences continue to respond to from one generation to the next. Other works in the catalogue, less frequently performed, often reward closer study by singers, conductors, and dramaturges seeking to broaden the standard repertoire.

Modern scholarship on Antonio Salieri has been substantially enriched by the publication of critical editions of the major scores, by the rediscovery of forgotten works and revisions, and by the steady documentation of performance history through recordings, theatre archives, and contemporary criticism. The biographical sketch above and the catalogue of works are compiled from public-domain reference sources, including the structured Wikidata layer and the corresponding English Wikipedia article.

Editorial Note

OperaPedia maintains its composer entries as living documents, revised whenever new editorial work justifies a change. If you encounter a factual error in the biographical material above or in the linked opera entries, please write to the editors using the contact details on our about page.