The Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) excelled in comic opera, and his works in this genre had a profound influence on the course of operatic history.

Born in the small town of lesi near Ancona on Jan. 4, 1710, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi received instruction on the violin from the Marchese Gabriele Ripanti and other musical training from the two priests who directed the cathedral choir and gave public instruction in music. His obvious talent led to his enrollment in the famous Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo in Naples, under the patronage of the Marchese Cardolo Maria Pianetti of lesi. Pergolesi's studies there probably began in 1726, and one of his teachers was the composer Francesco Durante.

Pergolesi's career as a professional composer was launched with the opera Salustia at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples in 1732. His first truly successful works were written later that year: Lo frate...