Antonio Sartorio

Antonio Sartorio (1630 – 30 December 1680) was a composer active mainly in the Republic of Venice and in the Principality of Calenberg. He was a leading composer of operas in his native Venice in the 1660s and 1670s and was also known for composing in other genres of vocal music. Between 1665 and 1675 he spent most of his time in Hanover, where he held the post of Kapellmeister to Duke Johann Friedrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg – returning frequently to Venice to compose operas for the Carnival. In 1676 he became vice maestro di capella at San Marco in Venice. Early work in Italy and work as Kapellmeister Sartorio was the brother of composer and organist Gasparo Sartorio and architect Girolamo Sartorio who also had connections with the theatre. Beyond birth records, the first known information about Sartorio relates to the mounting of his first opera, Gl’amori infruttuosi di Pirro, at the Teatro di San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice on 4 January 1661. His second opera, Seleuco, did not come until five years later when it was produced at the Teatro San Luca on 16 January 1666. The year before, he had been appointed to the position of Kapellmeister to Duke Johann Friedrich of Brunswick-Lü