PORPORA, NICCOLA [or NiccoLo] ANTONIO 1767), Italian operatic composer and teacher of singing, was born in Naples on Aug. 19, 1686. His first opera, Basilio, was pro duced at Naples; his second, Berenice, at Rome. Both were suc cessful, and he followed them up by innumerable compositions of like character; but his fame rests chiefly upon his unequalled power of teaching singing. At the Conservatorio di Sant' Onofrio and the Poveri di Gesu Cristo he trained Farinelli, Caffarelli, Mingotti, Salimbeni, and other celebrated vocalists. Unfortunately no written account of his method exists; all that remains is the tradition as handed down by his pupils. In 1725 Porpora visited Vienna, but the Emperor Charles VI. disliked his florid style, especially his constant use of the trillo. He then settled in Venice, teaching regularly in the schools of La Pieta, and the Incurabili. In 1729 he was invited to London as a rival to Handel; but his visit was unfortunate. Little less disastrous was his second visit to England in 1734, when even the presence of his pupil, the great Farinelli, failed to save from ruin the dramatic company of Lincoln's Inn Fields theatre, set up in opposition to that directed by Handel. The sequence of dates and visits in Porpora's life are
variously stated by different biographers. The electoral prince of Saxony and king of Poland had invited him to Dresden to become the singing master of the electoral princess, Maria Antonia, and in 1748 he is supposed to have been made Kapellmeister to the prince. Difficult relations, however, with Hasse and his wife re sulted in his departure, of which the date is not known. From Dresden he is said to have gone to Vienna, where he gave lessons to Joseph Haydn (q.v.), and then to have returned some time between 1755 and 1760 to Naples. From this time Porpora's career was a series of misfortunes. His last opera, Camilla, failed; and he became so poor that the expenses of his funeral were paid by subscription.