Biography:
Antonio Caldara (1670 – 28 December 1736) was an Italian
Baroque composer.
Caldara was born in Venice (exact date unknown), the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at
St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probably under the instruction of
Giovanni Legrenzi. In 1699 he relocated to
Mantua, where he became
maestro di cappella to the inept
Charles IV, Duke of Mantua, a pensionary of France with a French wife, who took the French side in the
War of the Spanish Succession. Caldara removed from Mantua in 1707, after the French were expelled from Italy, then moved on to Barcelona as chamber composer to
Charles VI of Austria, the pretender to the Spanish throne who kept a royal court at Barcelona. There, he wrote some operas that are the first Italian operas performed in Spain. He moved on to Rome, becoming
maestro di cappella to
Francesco Maria Marescotti Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Cerveteri. While there he wrote in 1710
La costanza in amor vince l'inganno (
Faithfulness in Love Defeats Treachery) for the
public theatre at
Macerata. In 1716, he obtained a similar post in Vienna to serve the Imperial Court, and there he remained until his death.
Caldara is best known as a composer of
operas,
cantatas and
oratorios. Several of his works have
libretti by
Metastasio.