Francesco Antonio Bonporti

Francesco Antonio Bonporti (11 June 1672 – 19 December 1749) was an Italian priest and amateur composer.

Born in Trento, he was admitted in 1691 to the Collegium Germanicum in Rome, where he studied theology. While in Rome, he also studied composition under the guidance of Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni and possibly (since this is unconfirmed) violin with Arcangelo Corelli.

Moving back to Trento, he was ordained in 1695.

Bonporti's musical work consists of twelve opera, published between 1696 and 1736. He influenced Johann Sebastian Bach in the development of the invention, and several of his works were mistakenly included in a set of Bach's inventions. In reality, Bach had transcribed for harpsichord four violin pieces from Bonporti's op. X (1712).

He lived in Padua from 1740 until his death in 1749.

This is a listing of his twelve opera, first the Italian original, generally by Giuseppe Sala in Venice, then the French edition as published by Estienne Roger in Amsterdam, and finally the English edition, by John Walsh in London. Not every opus seem to have survived in all three languages, as listed in an article published by Studi Trentini in 1973 by Clemente Lunelli. His sources on European editions are François Lesure's Bibliographie des éditions musicales publiées par Estienne Roger..., Paris, 1969, and William C. Smith's A bibliography of the musical works published by John Walsh..., London, 1968.

Antonio Carlini, Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Gentilhuomo di Trento – La vita e l'opera con catalogo tematico, Edizioni de I Solisti Veneti, Padova, 2000, ISBN