Domenico Cimarosa

Born in December 1749, Cimarosa emerged from the Neapolitan School and built his career across Italy's opera houses — Rome, Venice, Florence — turning out comic works at a prolific clip. Catherine the Great brought him to Russia in 1787 as court composer and conductor; he stayed until 1791. Back in Naples in his final years, he backed the failed attempt to overthrow the monarchy, was imprisoned, then exiled. He died in Venice in January 1801 at fifty-one, leaving behind instrumental works, church music, and a catalog of opera that outlasted the politics.