Francesco Sacrati

Francesco Sacrati was among the most successful composers of Venice's first public opera houses, in constant collaboration with the scenographer Giacomo Torelli; he was later active around Bologna, and became maestro di cappella of Modena Cathedral in 1649. His La finta pazza (1641), taken to Paris by Torelli in 1645, was the first Italian opera performed publicly in France. He worked alongside Monteverdi in the older composer's final Venetian years, and part of the score long attributed to Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, most notably its closing duet, is now widely thought to be Sacrati's own; the attribution remains contested.