Metastasio (1698–1782)

Italian poet and librettist. In 1730 he became court poet to Charles VI in Vienna. Acknowledged as the leading librettist of his day, he created 18th-century Italian opera seria (serious opera). His chief dramatic works are Didone abbandonata, Catone in Utica, Olimpiade, and La clemenza di Tito. Among the composers who used his work were Scarlatti, Handel, J C Bach, Mozart, and Gluck. He also wrote some beautiful canzonette.

Born in Rome, the son of poor parents, he was adopted by the scholar Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina (1664–1718), from whom he acquired his knowledge of Latin and the classics.