A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. Rodney bolts the librettist of venice tells the tale of lorenzo da ponte. The work was first performed on 7 february 1786 in vienna, following a. An important question to ask when selecting a history of opera to be purchased is, how am i intending to read it. Its librettist, lorenzo da ponte, adapted a highly controversial french comedy by pierre augustin. Da ponte wrote the libretti for mozarts most popular italian operas the marriage of figaro 1786, don giovanni. He is also called a phoenix, rising from each demise. If you enjoy both the world of operas and historical mysteries, the figaro. That is, will it primarily sit on a shelf and be consulted before some performances i. The remarkable life of lorenzo da ponte, mozarts poet, casanovas friend, and italian operas impresario in america, by rodney bolt. Contributor names mozart, wolfgang amadeus 17561791 composer da ponte. Sources and style in moores irish melodies by una hunt. The operatic life of the librettist for don giovanni and the marriage of figaro. Wolfgang amadeus mozarts operas comprise 22 musical dramas in a variety of genres.
A traditional cozy mystery featuring lorenzo da ponte, mozarts librettist for his most famous operas. Deceptive cadence if you want to deepen your opera experience, perhaps even head toward opera geekdom, these five books are your answer. The remarkable life of lorenzo da pontemozarts poet, casanovas friend, and italian operas impre kindle edition by bolt, rodney. Issued and continuously paged with lisola incantata giacomo cordella s2235. He was an italian poet, courtier, and opera librettist at the end of the renaissance and beginning of the baroque eras. The magic flute is a celebrated opera composed in 1791 by wolfgang amadeus mozart. Text of an opera, means little book must be concise. At the same time, he led a campaign to construct a permanent home for opera in new york, and in 1833 the italian opera house, the first purposebuilt opera theatre in the united states, opened, at. The beggars opera 1948 english libretto billy budd 1953 english libretto spanish translation the turn of the screw 1954 english libretto spanish translation. This exalted position doesnt mean hes particularly well paid, or even out of reach of the endless intrigues of the opera world. The marriage of figaro, comic opera in four acts by austrian composer wolfgang amadeus mozart italian libretto by lorenzo da ponte, which premiered in vienna at the burgtheater on may 1, 1786. The earliest operas, beginning in 1597 with ottavio rinuccini s dafne, set to music by jacopo peri, were court entertainments, and as a commemoration the words were printed in a small book, or libretto. W11 opera regularly draws on the talents of many of britains best known librettists.
Buonavogliaopera composers and their works mellen opera. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while. After the applause, salieris opera, a work full of funny and humiliating jibes directed at mozarts favourite librettist da ponte after all, this opera. The remarkable life of lorenzo da ponte, mozarts poet, casanovas friend, and italian operas impresario in america bolt, rodney on. The term libretto is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the mass, requiem and sacred cantata, or the story line of a ballet. Mozarts poet, casanovas friend, and italian operas impresario in america, da ponte seemed at a single touch to turn gold to dust. It is also used, less commonly, for a musical work not intended for the stage. April 28 leopold mozart writes to his daughter, maria anna mozart, predicting failure for his sons latest opera, the marriage of figaro. From playwright to librettist a contemporary opera new. Only librettists with their own articles in wikipedia are listed. It premiered at the burgtheater in vienna on 1 may 1786. Person who writes the text of an opera, usually not the composer.
Musical theatre has a composer writing the music, a lyricist writing the song words and a librettist writing the spoken dialogue and directing the. If you are interested in writing a libretto alongside a commissioned w11 composer please consult the commission. Librettist definition of librettist by the free dictionary. It is about the character better known as don juan. Sometimes otherlanguage equivalents are used for libretti in that language, livret for french works and textbuch for german. As the first of the three mozartda ponte operas, figaro exploited the talents of. In january 1786, when the opera succeeded, joseph, who was seen. Lorenzo da ponte, mozarts librettist and friend of the. In this period, mozart was no longer attracting sufficient numbers of subscribers to his public concerts, in part because of an expensive war with. Title page and each titles with coloured ornaments, tailpieces throughout. In the 1630s venetian opera became a public spectacle, and audiences used printed librettos to follow the drama.
This exalted position doesnt mean hes particularly well paid. In 1786 vienna, lorenzo da ponte is the court librettist for the. Le nozze di figaro in the vienna of 1786, according to andrew step toe. It took a lot of adaptation from the subversive french original to make the marriage of figaro acceptable to austrian emperor joseph ii, but the result looks like a crowd pleaser. List of operas by wolfgang amadeus mozart wikipedia. Don giovanni simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Le nozze di figaro 1786 by da ponte and mozart 2 romantic operas rigoletto 1851 by piave and verdi. Manuscript collection of opera and singspiel arias and duets. But this librettists own life was scandalous enough to make an opera in its.
Reformed opera seria break all the rules of metastasian opera seria dramatic, andor musical characteristics of the. The librettist of venice and millions of other books are available for amazon. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. David cairns, in his new book, mozart and his operas, praises da ponte lavishly and deplores. Libretto, from italian, is the diminutive of the word libro. They range from the smallscale, derivative works of his youth to the fullfledged operas of his maturity. This is an incomplete list of authors who have written libretti for operas.