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★ Follow music ► Composer: Francisco António de Almeida () Work: Sinfonia 'Il trionfo d'amore' (1729) Performers: Os Músicos dο Tеjο; Marcos Mаgаlhаes (conductor) Painting: François Rousseau (1717-1804) - Maskenball im Bonner Hoftheater (1754) HD image: Further info: Listen free: --- Francisco António de Almeida ( - Lisboa, 1 November 1755) Portuguese organist and composer. He was sent to Rome on a stipend by Dom João V in 1722, where he studied musical composition, returning to Lisbon in 1726 to become organist at the Capella Reale and later music teacher to the royal family. His first success was a comic opera, La pazienzia di Socrate, in 1733, but followed thereafter by others, such as La Spinalba of 1739 that foreshadows the later Italian buffa. He perished in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. His surviving works include eight operas, about 20 sacred works, two oratorios, a Mass, a cantata, and several arias. The bulk of his music has been lost, however, including the presépios written for the Nativity. Although there are Baroque elements in his music, his use of ensemble clearly shows the emerging Italian operatic style. In 1724, the artist Pier Leone Ghezzi drew his caricature, describing Francisco António de Almeida as “a young but excellent composer of concertos and church music who sang with extreme taste“.
