Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio

Volume 2 of Burney's 1796 account of the colourful life of Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782), covers his success in Vienna.

This biography, first published in 1796, recounts the life of Italian poet and librettist Pietro Trapassi (1698–1782). Alternating biographical narrative with translations of the poet's correspondence, it provides a faithful account of Metastasio's complex life and affairs. Volume 2 covers Metastasio's successful career in Vienna from 1751 to 1770.This three-volume biography, first published in 1796, recounts the colourful life of the popular Italian poet and librettist Pietro Trapassi (1698–1782), better known by his pseudonym Metastasio. Charles Burney (1726–1814), a British composer and the author of a celebrated four-volume History of Music published between 1776 and 1789, interweaves his own accounts of the poet's life with Metastasio's original letters translated into English. Metastasio's posthumously published correspondence with his friends and patrons provides the essential thread to understanding his complex life and affairs. The son of a shopkeeper, Metastasio was adopted as a young boy by the director of the Arcadian Academy, Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, who was charmed by the child's extraordinary talent for improvising poetry. Volume 2 covers Metastasio's successful Viennese career from 1751 to 1770, and includes the bulk of his correspondence with his friend the famous castrato Farinelli.