Giuseppe Lillo

Giuseppe Lillo (26 February 1814 - 4 February 1863) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his operas which followed in the same vein of Gioachino Rossini. He also produced works for solo piano, a small amount of sacred music, and some chamber music.

Born in Galatina in the Province of Lecce, Lillo was the son of conductor Giosuè Lillo. He received his earliest musical training from his father before entering the Naples Conservatory where he studied harmony and counterpoint with Giovanni Furno, piano with Francesco Lanza, and composition with Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. His first composition, a mass for four voices and orchestra, premiered to a warm reception in 1834.

As a composer Lillo primarily composed music for the stage. His first opera, La moglie per 24 ore, ossia L’ammalato di buona salute, premiered successfully at the Real Collegio di Musica during Carnival of 1834. He quickly gained a great deal of popularity with the Naples public with opera serias like Il gioiello (1835), Odda di Bernaver (1837), and Il conte di Chalais (1839). The pinnacle of his success came with his only opera comica, L’osteria di Andujar, which premiered in Fondo on 30 September 1840. After 1840, Lillo composed several more operas up through 1853, most of which were received with poor or mediocre responses. He was never able to re-obtain the popularity that he had enjoyed earlier in his career.

Around 1840 Lillo was appointed joint music director of the Teatro di San Carlo with Giacomo Cordella. He also began teaching piano in the early 1840s. He joined the faculty of the Naples Conservatory sometime around 1850, eventually being appointed professor of harmony in 1859; a position he held until his death in Naples four year later.