Viotti, Giovanni Battista [key], 1755–1824, Italian violinist, considered the greatest of his day. He made public appearances until 1783, and the next year he became court musician to Marie Antoinette. After the Revolution he went to London, where he resumed his concerts. He returned to Paris and directed the opera, 1819–22. Of his 29 violin concertos, No. 22 in A Minor is well known. In expanding the sonorities of violin and orchestra and in using the sonata form, he influenced the concertos of both Mozart and Beethoven.
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