Pietro Andrea Ziani (* December 21, 1616 in Venice; † February 12, 1684 in Naples) was an Italian organist.
In the 1660s and 1670s he was regarded as one of the most important composers of Venetian opera.
Pietro Andrea Ziani was the uncle of the composer Marc'Antonio Ziani. He received his comprehensive musical education in the "Order of the Canons of San Salvadore" in Candia which he joined in June 1632.
His first positions as organist were in Treviso in 1636, Candia in 1637 and Brescia in 1638,
and then from 1639 to 1654 at the church of ''S. Salvatore'' in Venice where he was consecrated as a deacon in 1639.
Already in 1637 and 1639 his order permitted him to publish the prints of the "Canone regulario, Organista" (Op. 2, 1640) and his ''Il primo libro de Canzonette...'' (Op. 3, 1641). His titles "Don" or "Padre" are to be found in the early librettis. In 1668, for health reasons he was released from all ecclesiastical obligations.
In 1654 his first opera ''La guerriera spartana'' was premiered at the ''Teatro Sant'Apollinare''
From this point on a long collaboration began with the librettist and opera impresario Giovanni Faustini which lasted for many years.
From May 1657 to June 1659 Ziani was the successor of Maurizio Cazzati due to illness.
Conductor (Kapellmeister) of the ''Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore'' in Bergamo. From 1660 he established contact with the House of Habsburg.
He dedicated his ''Fiori musicali Opus 6'' to Archduke Ferdinand Karl (Austria-Tyrol). Ziani lived
from 1661 approximately two years in Innsbruck. At the end of 1663 he travelled to Vienna where he was Kapellmeister of the court chapel of the Empress's widow Eleonore until 1667.
Numerous oratorios and operas were written during his time in Vienna which were destined for both Vienna and Venice.
Between December 1666 and January 1667, on the occasion of the wedding of Johann Georg III. (Saxony) and Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark and Norway, he directed a performance of the opera ''Theseo'' in Dresden which he didn't compose. In the course of 1668 he left Vienna with a letter of recommendation from the Empress's widow.
From 1669 to 1677 Ziani, as successor of Francesco Cavalli was the first organist at ''St Mark's Basilica'' in Venice.
During this period he also wrote several operas and operatic acts for ''Pasticcios'' which were performed in Venice and many other Italian cities. After Natale Monferrato had taken up the position as first Kapellmeister at St. Mark's which Ziani had sought, he travelled to Naples where he was employed at the ''Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio'' in the Porta Capuana district and was paid as honorary organist from the court treasury.
In 1680 he became assistant chapel director of the court chapel. During this time, he also wrote other operas which were intended for Venice, Naples and Palermo. After the death of Ziani, Alessandro Scarlatti took over his position.
With his particularly inventive opera productions, Ziani was extremely successful and was known as the most important opera composer after Francesco Cavalli. He attempted numerous musical experimentation and avoided of repetition. His instrumental music was also well known.
Johann Philipp Krieger performed chamber music works by Ziani in Weißenfels, Saxony.
Source:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Andrea_Ziani
Note: Translated from the German version of Wikipedia into English.
