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Hasse

Johann Adolph Hasse (1699–1783) was a German composer who studied in Italy, married the celebrated soprano Faustina Bordoni in 1730, and became Kapellmeister at the Dresden court, where he was known across Europe as il caro Sassone, the dear Saxon. In his lifetime he was arguably the most successful opera composer in Europe, setting virtually every libretto by Metastasio and producing more than sixty operas that drew audiences from across the continent. His Dresden home was destroyed in the Prussian bombardment of 1760 during the Seven Years War. He died in Venice in 1783, largely forgotten, his reputation having evaporated with extraordinary speed after a career of almost unparalleled celebrity.

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