PAISIELLO, GIOVANNI. - Musician, b. at Taranto
on 9 May 1740, d. at Napoli on 5 June 1816. He pursued his first studies in his native city and later completed them at the Conservatory of S. Onofrio in Napoli.
His first compositions were several masses, psalms, and motets, notable for their originality of form; these were followed by several operas that met with great success not only in Napoli but also in other cities of Italy and Europe. Summoned to Pietroburgo by Caterina II, he remained there for eight years
(1776-84), having Il barbiere di Siviglia performed there. In 1784, on his return journey, he stopped at Varsavia and Vienna, where he was received with enthusiasm. In Napoli he obtained the post of court chapel master, and in 1802 he was summoned to Parigi by Napoleone; after a year, however, he returned to Napoli as court chapel master, a position he held until his death.
A composer of incomparable brilliance, the creator of opera semiseria, P. wrote the oratorio La Passione di Cristo (Varsavia 1784), several sacred cantatas, about thirty-five masses, a Miserere, a Te Deum, sonatas, symphonies, concertos, chamber arias, etc., in which the harmony is always original and the instrumentation expressive and full of lively naturalness.