1748. =William Shield= (Durham). Composer to Covent Garden Theatre; wrote operas both serious and comic. He appears to have possessed great melodic gifts, and his many works are notable for their vigour and their tunefulness. He died in 1829. 1749. =The Abbé Vogler= (Würzburg), 1749-1814. Was a man of many parts; he wrote upon theatrical matters, and composed music for the organ, for instruments, for the church, and for the stage. His operatic music is perhaps of the least importance, although his stage productions number some sixteen pieces. 1749. =Domenico Cimarosa= (Aversa). Was in his day a most popular composer of opera, sixty-six fine works standing to his credit. He made his mark more especially in his comic operas, of which _Il matrimonio segreto_ (1792) is the best known. 1749. =Gertrude Elizabeth Mara= (Cassel). A fine singer, made little impression upon Mozart, but still appears to have been a great artist. She had a beautiful voice and great facility; she was one of Handel’s best singers in England. 1750. =Antonio Salieri= (Legnano). Wrote thirty-seven operas and a Singspiel. His works were modelled upon those of Gluck, and present no special features of interest. 1752. =J. F. Reichardt= (Königsberg). Wrote some moderately successful operas, and some important specimens of Singspiel, mostly for Berlin. 1752. =N. A. Zingarelli= (Naples). Was a prolific operatic composer, who penned some thirty operas, besides much sacred music. His style was recommended by Napoleon to Cherubini, much to the disgust of the last-named composer. 1754. =Peter Winter= (Mannheim), 1754-1825. Wrote a very large number of tuneful and melodious operas. His works have not survived to the present day, being structurally weak, but they were very successful during the composer’s life and for a few years afterwards. 1756. =Vincenzo Righini= (Bologna). Was operatic singer, composer, and conductor. His twenty operas were many of them produced at Berlin, where he was for some years conductor of the Italian Opera. 1756. =Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart= (Salzburg), 1756-91. The long list of Mozart’s operas (many of them written in youth) includes _Idomeneo_ (1781), _Die Entführung aus dem Serail_ (1782), _Le Nozze di Figaro_ (1786), _Don Giovanni_ (1787), _Cosi fan tutte_ (1790), _La Clemenza di Tito_ (1791), _Die Zauberflöte_ (1791).