Marcos
Portugal

Marcos António da Fonseca Portugal (1762-1830) was born in Lisbon. He studied music at the Patriarchal Seminary in Lisbon where, as a 14-year-old student, he wrote his first work, a Miserere. He lived in Italy from late 1792 to 1800, possibly funded by the Prince Regent D. João, the later King John VI of Portugal. He wrote 21 operas for various Italian theatres. His version of The Marriage of Figaro, titled La pazza giornata, ovvero Il matrimonio di Figaro, to a libretto by Gaetano Rossi, premiered in Venice in 1799. He became maestro at the São Carlos National Theatre in Lisbon and was appointed music master at the Patriarchal Seminary in Lisbon. He continued to write operas and a large number of religious works until the Prince Regent summoned him to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in 1811. Upon arriving, Portugal was appointed music master to the sons and daughters of the Prince Regent and became the official Royal Composer. He remained in Rio de Janeiro when the Portuguese Court returned to Portugal in 1821. He died as a Brazilian citizen in Rio de Janeiro in 1830. He authored the first official national anthems of Portugal and Brazil.