Pietro Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was born in Rome, where his father, Felice Trapassi, a native of Assisi, had taken service in the Corsican regiment of the papal forces, and was later a pork-butcher. Felice married a Bolognese woman, Francesca Galasti.
Metastasio was placed in the shop of a goldsmith to learn his craft. Pietro, while still a child, is said to have attracted crowds by reciting impromptu verses on a given subject. In 18th century Italy, "improvvisatori" could be found in every city, reciting poetry in a style similar to the street rappers of today.
On one such occasion 1709, two men of distinction stopped to listen: Gian Vincenzo Gravina, famous for legal and literary erudition as well as his dictatorship of the Arcadian Academy, and Lorenzini, a critic of some note.
Gravina was attracted by the boy's poetic talent and personal charm, fell in love with him and made Pietro his protégé; in the course of a few weeks he adopted him. Felice Trapassi was glad enough to give his son the chance of a good education and introduction into society.
Gravina hellenized the boy's name Trapassi into Metastasio, and intended his adopted son to be a jurist like himself. He therefore made the boy learn Latin and begin the study of law. At the same time he cultivated his literary gifts, and displayed the youthful prodigy both at his own house and in the Roman coteries. At his death in 1718 he left to his protégé a considerable sum of money.
Metastasio was now twenty. During the last four years he had worn the costume of abbé, having taken the minor orders without which it was then useless to expect advancement in Rome. His romantic history, personal beauty, charming manners and distinguished talents made him fashionable. Within two years he had spent his money and increased his reputation. He now decided to apply himself seriously to the work of his profession. In Naples, he entered the office of an eminent lawyer, who exercised severe control over his time and energies.
While slaving at the law, Metastasio in 1721 composed an epithalamium, and probably also his first musical serenade, Endimione. In 1722, the birthday of the empress had to be celebrated, and the viceroy applied to Metastasio to compose a serenata for the occasion. He accepted this invitation, but it was arranged that his authorship should be kept secret. Under these conditions Metastasio produced Gli orti esperidi. Set to music by Nicola Porpora, and sung by Porpora's pupil, the castrato Farinelli, whom he called his "twin brother", making a spectacular debut, it won the most extraordinary applause.
The leading part therein was played by the famous actress, la Romanina (Marianna Benti-Bulgarelli). She at once became attached to the young poet, commissioned him to write a new play, the Didone abbandonata, had him taught music by a noted teacher, and took him to Rome and Venice with her on her professional tours.
At Vienna the Italian melodramatist, Apostolo Zeno, was about to relinquish his post as imperial poet, and in 1730 he recommended that Metastasio be appointed his successor. With this recommendation and with the aid of the Countess of Althann, who remained his patroness during her lifetime, he obtained the appointment. In the early summer of 1730 Metastasio settled at Vienna in the house of a Spanish Neapolitan, Niccolò Martinez, where he resided until his death.
Thereafter, and especially during the decade between 1730 and 1740, Metastasio was engaged in the composition of his many melodramas (over seventy in number), his oratorios, cantate, canzonette, etc. His melodramas announce the coming opera. The Attilio Regolo is regarded as his masterpiece. All the pieces of Metastasio took the popular fancy, chiefly because he sedulously avoided all unhappy dénouements, and, enlivening his efficacious dialogue with common sense aphorisms, he combined them with arias and ariettas that appealed to the many.
As time advanced, the life which Metastasio led at Vienna, together with the climate, told on his health and spirits. From about the year 1745 onward he wrote little, though the cantatas which belong to this period, and the canzonetta Ecco quel fiero istante, which he sent to his friend Farinelli, rank among the most popular of his productions.
Metastasio was reduced to the society which gathered round him in the bourgeois house of the Martinez. He sank rapidly into the habits of old age; and, though he lived till the year 1782, he was very inactive. He bequeathed his whole fortune of some 130,000 florins to the five children of his lifelong companion Niccolò Martinez.
In 1988, Metastasio's Olimpiade was performed at the Olympic Games.
