Giovanni Punto

His father was a serf bonded to the estate of Count Joseph Johann Thun und Hohenstein, but Stich was taught singing, violin and finally the horn.

On arriving in Italy, Stich changed his name to Giovanni Punto (an approximate Italianisation of his name) and went to work in the orchestra of Josef Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.

Charles Burney heard him play in Koblenz in 1772, describing Punto as "the celebrated French horn from Bohemia, whose taste and astonishing execution were lately so applauded in London".

Punto was to play the horn part in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds K297b but at the last minute this was dropped from the programme and subsequently lost.

Punto sought a permanent position in which he could conduct as well as compose and play, and in 1781 he entered the service of Franz Ludwig von Erthal, the Prince-bishop of Würzburg, later moving to become the Konzertmeister (with a pension) for the Comte d’Artois (later to become Charles X of France) in Paris.

A reviewer commented that Punto "received enthusiastic applause for his concertos because of his unparalleled mastery, and respected musicians said that they had never before heard horn playing like it".