Attilio Ariosti

<p>Born in Bologna on November 5, 1666, Attilio Ariosti entered the Dominican Order in 1689, taking the name Frate Ottavio, but his overwhelming passion for secular opera and instrumental composition soon led him across the courts of Europe. After serving as organist at Santa Maria dei Servi in Bologna, he was appointed court composer to Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua and later to Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia in Berlin from 1697 to 1703.</p><p>Ariosti was an extraordinary virtuoso on the viola d'amore, a multi-stringed bowed instrument renowned for its sympathetic resonance and ethereal sweetness. Between 1703 and 1711, he served Emperor Joseph I in Vienna as both court composer and diplomatic envoy. In 1716, he arrived in London, where his dazzling viola d'amore performance during the intermission of Handel's opera <em>Amadigi di Gaula</em> captivated British high society.</p><p>In 1719, Ariosti was chosen alongside George Frideric Handel and Giovanni Bononcini as one of the three principal directors and resident composers of the newly founded Royal Academy of Music in London. He contributed successful operas including <em>Coriolano</em> (1723), <em>Vespasiano</em> (1724), and <em>Artaserse</em>, and published his influential <em>Collection of Cantatas and Lessons for the Viola d'Amore</em> (1724), leaving an indelible mark on high Baroque vocal and instrumental music.</p>