Giacomo Panizza

Giacomo Panizza (27 March 1804 – 1 May 1860) was a conductor at La Scala, Milan for 13 years, during which time he composed two operas and thirteen ballets.

Panizza's Ballabile con Variazioni was one such solo from the ballet, Ettore Fieramosca or The Challenge of Barletta.

At fifteen he began to study the piano with the organist of San Martino.

Having moved to Milan in 1823, unable to enroll at the Conservatory, the following year he began to take lessons from the maestro Vincenzo Lavigna, concertmaster at the Teatro alla Scala.

In 1857 he began to suffer from a heart disease that greatly limited his activity as a director.