Jean-Baptiste Stuck, also known as Baptistin (c.1680-1755) was born in Livourne. He travelled through Italy, and moved to Paris around 1700 to enter the service of the future Regent, the Duc d'Orléans, a great enthusiast of Italian composers and the Italian style. Stuck was a virtuoso harpsichordist and accomplished composer. His four collections of French cantatas made his name, as did his Te Deum (now lost) and operas performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (Méléagre et Manto la Fée in 1709 and ten years later Polydore). His works reflect a desire to fuse the French and Italian styles, as advocated at the time by François Couperin ("les goûts réunis").
