Giovanni Antonio Rigatti (* about 1613; † October 24, 1648 in Venice) was an Italian composer and choral master of the early baroque.
Giovanni Antonio Rigatti received his musical education from 1621 as a choirboy at ''St. Mark's Basilica'' and in one of Venice's conservatories as well as training as a priest. From September 1635 to March 1637 he was choirmaster at ''Udine Cathedral''. From 1639 he was "maestro d'organo e musica alle figliole" at the conservatory of the ''Ospedale dei Mendicanti' in Venice. Rigatti also taught at the ''Ospedale dei Incurabili'' without the permission of his superiors whereupon he was dismissed by a specially appointed commission. Francesco Lucio was one of his pupils at the ''Ospedale degl'Incurabili''. In 1642 Rigatti became chaplain of Gianfrancesco Morosini who was elected Patriarch of Venice in 1645. In 1637 he was appointed canon at ''St. Mark's Cathedral''.[1]
Rigatti published nine volumes of sacred music (five single and concertante motets, four psalms and three masses) and two books of secular music (concertato monodies and madrigals). His music contains enchanting melodies and yet is powerful, imaginative in structure and characterized by dramatic word paintings. The ''Messa e Salmi'' dedicated to Emperor Ferdinand III in 1640 is Rigatti's most impressive collection with a consistently high level of musical ingenuity similar to that of Claudio Monteverdi's ''Selva morale e spirituale'' published during the same period.
