A stipend from the Duke allowed him to take a study trip to Italy.
Benda had particular success with a form of musical stage entertainment, the melodrama, which influenced Mozart. The melodrama Ariadne auf Naxos is generally considered his best work. At its debut in 1775, the opera received enthusiastic reviews in Germany and afterwards, in the whole of Europe, with music critics calling attention to its originality, sweetness and ingenious execution. Besides that he wrote many instrumental pieces including a few sonatinas.
Benda died in Köstritz, Gotha at the age of 73, leaving his son, Friedrich Ludwig Benda (1752?1796), who briefly carried on the family musical tradition, serving as a music director in Hamburg and later in Mecklenburg, before finally becoming the Concertmaster in Königsberg. He died less than a year after his father. (Hide extended text)...(Read all) Source : Wikipedia