Domenico Cimarosa (17 December 1749, Aversa ? 11 January 1801, Venice) was an Italian opera composer. His parents were poor, but anxious to give their son a good education. After moving to Naples, they sent him to a free school connected with one of the monasteries in that city. The organist of the monastery, Padre Polcano, was struck by the boy's intellect, and voluntarily instructed him in the elements of music, and also in the ancient and modern literature of his country. Because of his influence, Cimarosa obtained a scholarship at the musical institute of Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples, where he remained for eleven years, chiefly studying the great masters of the old Italian school. Niccoló Piccinni, Antonio Maria Gaspare Sacchini, and other musicians of repute are mentioned among his teachers. Text source : Wikipedia (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)
