Ignazio Pollice (fl.

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1684–1705) was a Sicilian

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 composer of the Baroque

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

 era, from Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

. He is most famous for his L'innocenza pentita: o vero la Santa Rosalia, which opened the just-built Teatro Santa Cecilia in Palermo in 1693.

Few biographical details of Pollice's life are available, but some of his performance history is known. He was a representative of the Neapolitan School, and wrote during a period dominated by Alessandro Scarlatti

Alessandro Scarlatti

Alessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.-Life:Scarlatti was born in...

, who was also from Palermo. In Palermo, opera came late, and principally from Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

; many opera houses and other musical institutions were founded in the city during the closing decades of the 17th century. Pollice wrote both sacred and secular music, including the oratorio La vita rediviva nell'inventione di Santa Croce (1705), the dialogues Assalone ribelle and Scalae Jacob (1684 and 1700, respectively), and the opera Isabella ovvero il Principe ermafrodito (1685). The sacred drama L'innocenza pentita" o vero la Santa Rosalia opened on 28 October 1693 at the new Teatro Santa Cecilia; the libretto was by Vincenzo Giattino; and the new theatre was built by the Unione dei Musici.