Antonio Buzzolla (March 2, 1815 – March 20, 1871) was an Italian composer, conductor, and violinist. He was born in Adria, in the province of Rovigo, and studied music at the Conservatory of Venice and subsequently at the Conservatory of Naples, where he had the opportunity to perfect himself with Donizetti and Mercadante. In 1836 he made his operatic debut with the opera Il Ferramondo (Venice, Teatro San Benedetto, December 3, 1836), followed by other operas, including Mastino I° della Scala (Venice, Gran Teatro La Fenice, May 31, 1841), Gli Avventurieri (Venice, Gran Teatro La Fenice, May 14, 1842), Amleto (Venice, Gran Teatro La Fenice, February 24, 1848), and Elisabetta di Valois (Venice, Gran Teatro La Fenice, February 16, 1850).
In 1843 Buzzolla moved to Berlin, becoming the court tutor for the children of King Frederick William IV of Prussia. He then went to Dresden, the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony, then to Poland, Russia, and France, in 1846, as director of the Théâtre de la comédie italienne in Paris, where he became the conductor of the Teatro dell’Opera Italiana. In 1847 Buzzolla returned to Venice, where he had the opportunity to conduct his Requiem at San Marco and his Amleto and Elisabetta di Valois on the stage of the Teatro La Fenice. In 1855 Buzzolla was appointed maestro di cappella of the Basilica di San
Marco in Venice. Buzzolla died in Venice on March 20, 1871. He was a prolific and versatile composer, who left an important musical legacy, especially with regard to a large number of ariette in Venetian language, including the collection Serate a Rialto and the collection Il Gondoliere, as well as many others that are now published by the publishing house Armelin in eight volumes. In 1867, together with Giuseppe Contin da Castelseprio, he was one of the founders of the“Liceo Benedetto Marcello”.