Piccinni, Niccolò

Piccinni, Niccolò

Piccinni or Piccini, Niccolò (both: nēk–kōlô` pēchēn`nē, pēchē`nē), 1728–1800, Italian composer of more than 100 operas. His early works were very successful in Italy, and La buona figliuola, also known as Cecchina maritata (1760), an opera buffa, established his reputation. In 1776 he went to Paris, where the opponents of Gluck made him their unwilling champion in the quarrel over Italian operatic tradition versus Gluck's new realism. When the French Revolution began, Piccinni returned to Italy, but shortly before his death he was recalled to France to receive a position at the Paris Conservatory.