Giuseppe Arena

Giuseppe Arena (1707 or 1713 -1784) was an Italian composer and organist, best known for his operas.

Giuseppe Arena was born in Malta in 1707 or 1713. From 1725 on he studied at the Poveri di Gesù music conservatory, where his teachers included Gaetano Greco and his successor Francesco Durante. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi started studying at the same conservatory in 1725 as well.

He may have worked for the prince of Bisignano, and is also said to have been the organist at the San Filippo Neri church in Naples.

In 1738, his first opera, ''Achille in Sciro'', premiered in Rome, as did ''Il vello d'oro'' in 1740 and ''Farnace'' in 1742. Other works premiered in Turin, including ''La clemenza di Tito'' in December 1738 and ''Artaserse'' in 1741. That same year saw the premiere of ''Titus'' in Venice, while Naples was the first place were, in 1746, ''Il vecchio deluso'' was performed. Later in his career he mostly composed works for smaller groups. He also wrote a treatise, ''Principij di musica con intavolature di cembalo e partimenti''. Provided by Wikipedia