Spyridon Xyndas

Spyridon Xyndas or Spiridone Xinda (; June 8, 1812 – November 25, 1896) was a Greek composer and virtuoso guitarist. His last name has also been transliterated as “Xinta”, “Xinda”, “Xindas” and “Xyntas”. Biography Xyndas was born in Corfu in 1812. In 1823, he was a student of Nikolaos Mantzaros in music theory. After the completion of his studies in Corfu, he continued them in Naples and Milan under various teachers including Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. This was the first full-scale opera based on a libretto in Greek and the only one of Xyndas’ operas that exists today. The libretto was written by Ioannis Rinopulos (with contributions by Nikolaos Makris and Xyndas himself) and it was performed at the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù. Its seemingly comic plot is a severe criticism regarding the living conditions of the Ionian Islands’ rural society, against the morality of the indigenous politicians, both during the period under British occupation (1815–1864) and after it. Xyndas also composed other operatic works, the most notable of which was Anna Winter (based on Dumas’ The Three Musketeers), which is the earliest use of a Dumas work in the modern Greek theatre. The 1888, th