Italian composer. Attended the Conservatorio S. Maria di Loreto, Naples, 1714-27; served as organist at Conza (Avellino), 1728-31; after perhaps turning out comic operas in Naples the preceding seven years, he presented his opera Il Quinto Fabio in Rome in 1738; he later taught at the Ospedale dei figliuoli dispersi, Palermo. He was the most important figure in Neapolitan comic opera between the death of Leo and the ascent of Piccinni, though earlier assertions of his role as creator of comic opera or of the ensemble finale have been discounted. In addition to his serious and comic operas (Il governatore is the only example of the latter that survives intact), he wrote a small amount of church music.