Johann Adolph Hasse (born March 25, 1699, Bergedorf, near Hamburg—died Dec. 16, 1783, Venice) was an outstanding composer of operas in the Italian style that dominated lateBaroque opera.

Hasse began his career as a singer and made his debut as a composer in 1721 with the operaAntioco. He went toItaly, where he studied withNicola Porpora and withAlessandro Scarlatti and where hisopera seriaSesostrate (1726) established his reputation; in Italy he became known as “il Sassone” (“the Saxon”). After spending several years inVenice, where he married the celebrated mezzo-sopranoFaustina Bordoni (c. 1700–81), he becamemusic director of theDresden Opera (1731). He resided in Dresden from 1739 to 1763, when he retired and went toVienna. His last work for the stage wasRuggiero (1771), written for the wedding of the archduke Ferdinand at Milan.

Hasse’scompositions include more than 60 operas, many of them to librettos byPietro Metastasio, and nearly a dozen intermezzos, as well as oratorios, masses, and instrumental works. His music was enormously popular during his lifetime; its chief characteristics were melodic beauty and formal balance. His operatic overtures had considerable influence on the development of the symphony, especially in northernGermany.

Britannica Quiz

Composers & Their Music