Italian organist and composer. He studied in Brescia, near his birthplace, and during the 1740s in Bologna with Giovanni Battista Martini. His first opera, La vedova accorta (Venice, 1745), was a great success throughout Italy. During the next decade he composed opere serie, oratorios, and solo motets, all well received in Venice. In 1785 he was made maestro di cappella at St. Mark's (where he had already served as principal organist since 1752); he held this position until his retirement in 1808. His long association with the chapel was twice interrupted by leaves to London, where between 1778 and 1783 he created fourteen operas and pastiches for the King's Theatre. He composed approximately 70 stage works (including a setting of Orfeo ed Euridice in 1776), more than fifty oratorios (including David poenitens, 1775, more than 200 other sacred works, and chamber and orchestral works.