1736-1745 - Lincoln’s Inn Fields (Camden)
Organist and composer Giovanni Battista Pescetti was born around 1704 in Venice, where he studied under Antonio Lotti. Having spent some time writing operas in and around Venice, he left for London in 1736, becoming director of the Opera of the Nobility which had been set up in 1733 at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in opposition to Handel’s company. He left the capital in 1745 at a time of growing hostility towards Catholic Italians who dominated the musical scene in Britain. He returned to Venice where he became organist at St Mark’s Basilica. He died in Venice in March 1766. Apart from operatic works, he wrote compositions for harpsichord, including his Six Sonatas, composed around 1756 which today are generally performed on a modern piano.
