Pietro Metastasio

Born Pietro Trapassi in Rome in 1698, he became known as Metastasio and rose to fame very young for his gift as a poet and improviser. He studied law for a time, but writing soon took over, and his librettos quickly made him one of the best-known literary figures in Italy.

Metastasio is remembered above all for shaping the language and style of opera seria. His texts, including Didone abbandonata, Artaserse, La clemenza di Tito, and Adriano in Siria, were set again and again by major 18th-century composers, which helped spread his work across Europe.

Later he moved to Vienna, where he served at the imperial court and spent much of the rest of his life. He died there in 1782, leaving behind a body of work that linked poetry, theater, and music so powerfully that his name remained central to opera history for generations.