Antonio Draghi was a Baroque composer. He possibly was the brother of Giovanni Battista Draghi

Giovanni Battista Draghi (composer)

Giovanni Battista Draghi was an Italian composer and keyboard player. He may have been the brother of the composer Antonio Draghi....

.

Draghi was born at Rimini

Rimini

Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...

 in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and was one of the most prolific composers of his time. His contribution to the development of Italian opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 was particularly significant. He began his musical career as a choirboy at Padua

Padua

Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

, but by 1657 he was appearing on stage, in the opera La fortuna di Rodope e di Damira which was produced in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

. In 1666, his first solo effort, the opera La Mascherata, appeared.

In 1668, Draghi was appointed to the court of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...

, at Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, and he remained there until his death.

Selected works

• La Mascherata, 1666
• Gundeberga
  Gundeberga
  Gundeberga or Gundeperga, queen of the Lombards, was the daughter of Theodelinda and her first husband, the Lombard king Authari. She married Arioald, who was king of the Lombards from 626 until his death in 636....
  
  , 1672
• Turia Lucrezia, 1675
• Rodogone, 1677
• La magnanimità di Marco Fabrizio, 1695