(b Naples, 17 Nov 1787; d Paris, 26 July 1872). Italian composer. A nobleman, he trained for a military career but also studied music, in Naples and then with Cherubini. From 1814 he became one of the most prolific opera composers of his day. Gabriella di Vergy (1816), produced in Naples where he began a lifelong friendship with Rossini, was his first big success; it was followed by even more successful works at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, Le solitaire (1822), Le valet de chambre (1823) and above all Masaniello (1827). He became a French citizen (1834) and professor at the Conservatoire (1840). Competent but too often derivative and lacking in melodic sparkle, his music lost its popularity.
