Paisiello, Giovanni Giovanni Paisiello was Italian and studied music at the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples. While in Naples he wrote a series of successful operas and a substantial body of church music. He lived for a time in Russia and France, where despite being a favourite of Napoleon, he failed to gain a popular following. He returned to Italy. Paisiello composed at least 94 operas and over 50 other compositions.