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German composer Johann Simon Mayr underwent his school years in the Weltenburg monastery as well as the Jesuit secondary school in Ingolstadt. He continued his training at the university in that city, studying theology, law and medicine. His career as a musician, however, began in Italy, where he would end up spending the longest part of his life. He settled in Bergamo in 1802, and died there in 1845. Composers such as his pupils Bellini and Donizetti, as well as Rossini and Verdi honored Mayr as the father of Italian opera. He wrote circa 60 works for the theater. Towards the end of his life, Mayr dedicated himself almost exclusively to composing sacred works. One of his last operas is Fedra, composed in 1820 and premiered at La Scala in Milan. Fedra was published by Ricordi in 2008 as the first volume of the new edition of Mayr’s operatic works.