orig. Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni
born Feb. 14, 1602, Crema, Republic of Venice
died Jan. 14, 1676, Venice
Italian opera composer.
In his teens he was a singer under Claudio Monteverdi at St. Mark's Basilica , Venice. Also an organist, he would rise to the post of maestro di cappella there in 1668. He wrote some 30 operas for Venice's public opera houses. The most popular opera composer of the decades following Monteverdi's death, he was the latter's leading successor, his chief rival for that status being Antonio Cesti (1623–69). His most celebrated operas were Egisto (1643), Giasone (1649), Xerse (1654), and Erismena (1655).