(b Pistoia, 22 Oct 1737; d St Petersburg, 16 Aug 1799). Italian theorist and composer, son of F. O. Manfredini. He served at St Petersburg, and in 1762-5 directed the court opera company, composing several operas, ballets, cantatas and other works. He returned to Bologna in 1769, where he was engaged in theoretical controversies on singing (with Mancini) and opera reform (with Arteaga). When his former pupil became tsar, he returned to St Petersburg, in 1798. His output includes harpsichord sonatas, string quartets and symphonies.
The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.