Arrieta, Don Juan Emilio

1823-1894

Spanish composer, best known as a writer of comic opera. Ildegonda was his first opera; his most ambitious work being Isabel la Catolica 6 sea la Conquista de Granada. He was born at Puente la Reina, in the Spanish province of Navarre, went to Italy for study, and was a pupil at the Milan Conservatory from 1842 to 1845. His first opera was produced in that city the latter year. In 1848 he returned to his native country, and there wrote a large number of zarzuelas and numerous operas. At the Madrid Conservatory he held the position of professor of composition, rising finally to the post of director of the Conservatory, a post that he occupied for many years. His most marked success was as a writer of the zarzuela, the distinctively Spanish type of operetta.