Antonio Salieri

Italian-born Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) was once considered one of Vienna's leading composers of opera from the time he moved to the capital as a young man in the employ of the Hapsburg monarchy until his retirement in 1804. Despite their contemporary popularity, Salieri's compositions, among them the masterpiece Axur, re d'Ormus (whose popularity eclipsed that of The Marriage of Figaro until well into the 19th century), are almost entirely forgotten outside of academia, and practically never performed today.

Salieri is today best known for his well-documented rivalry with Mozart, which was popularized (not to mention grossly exaggerated) in the play and 1984 film Amadeus. He also is notable for tutoring the young Beethoven in Italian text-declamation in the late 1790s.