What is Nicola Porpora?
{{Infobox person | name = Nicola Porpora | image = Nicola Antonio Porpora.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1686|08|17}} | birth_place = [[Naples]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1768|03|3|1686|08|17}} | death_place = Naples | nationality = [[Italy|Italian]] | occupation = [[Composer]] and singing teacher }} '''Nicola (Antonio) Porpora''' (or '''Niccolò Porpora''') (17 August 1686 – 3 March 1768) was a [[composer]] and a very famous singing teacher from [[Italy]]. He composed more than 40 [[opera]]s. He also composed [[cantata]]s, [[oratorio]]s, [[sonata]]s for [[violin]], and [[church music]]. Some of the famous people who studied singing and music with Porpora were the poet [[Pietro Metastasio]], the composer [[Joseph Haydn]], Princess Maria Antonia of [[Bavaria]], and the [[castrato]] singers, [[Farinelli]] and [[Caffarelli]]. ==Life== Porpora was born in [[Naples]]. His father, Carlo Porpora, owned a book shop. When he was ten years old, Porpora began to study music at a famous music school in Naples called the {{lang|it|Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo}}. He studied there for ten years. He composed his first opera, ''Agrippina'', when he was 22 years old. It was about [[Agrippina the Younger]], the mother of the [[Roman Empire|Roman Emperor]], [[Nero]]. ''Agrippina'' was first performed in 1708 at the [[Palace|Royal Palace]] in Naples. At first, Porpora worked mostly in Naples, composing music and teaching singing. In 1726 he went to live in [[Venice]] where he taught singing and composed many operas. He lived in Venice for many years. During his life he also worked in [[Vienna]], [[Dresden]], and [[London]]. He went back to Naples to work two or three times. The last time was in 1758. He stayed in Naples for the rest of his life. He was a teacher at two music schools there, the {{lang|it|Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto}} and the {{lang|it|Conservatorio di San Onofrio}}. He wrote his last opera in 1760. It was called {{lang|it|Il trion