Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was an Italian composer and teacher. He was born in Venice in 1876, the son of German painter August Wolf and Emilia Ferrari, from Venice. He added his mother's maiden-name, Ferrari, to his surname in 1895. Wolf-Ferrari is best known for his comic operas such as 'Il segreto di Susanna' (Susanna's Secret), an intermezzo in one act which he composed in 1909. The opera is not performed often anymore but the overture, however, is a comically short cheerful work that has conquered a place at the concert repertoire.