Libretto (pronounced [libretto]; plural libretti [libretti]), from Italian, is the diminutive of the

word libro ("book"). Sometimes other language equivalents are used for libretti in that
language, livret for French works and Textbuch for German. A libretto is distinct from a
synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage
directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. Some ballet historians also use the
word libretto to refer to the 1540 page books which were on sale to 19th century ballet
audiences in Paris and contained a very detailed description of the ballet's story, scene by
scene.[1]
The relationship of the librettist (that is, the writer of a libretto) to the composer in the
creation of a musical work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources and the writing
techniques employed.
Libretti for operas, oratorios and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries generally were
written by someone other than the composer, often a well-known poet. Metastasio (1698
1782) (real name Pietro Trapassi) was one of the most highly regarded librettists in Europe.
His libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted 18th-century
librettist was Lorenzo da Ponte, who wrote the libretti for three of Mozart's greatest operas,
as well as for many other composers.
Eugne Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words
for works by Meyerbeer(with whom he had a lasting
collaboration), Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. The French writers' duo Henri
Meilhac and Ludovic Halvy wrote a large number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes
of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet and Georges Bizet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti
for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, also composed two operas of his
own.
The libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers, such as Mikhail
Glinka, Alexander Serov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Puccini and Mascagni wrote passages of music
without text and subsequently had the librettist add words to the vocal melody lines. (This
has often been the case with American popular song and musicals in the 20th century, as
with Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's collaboration, although with the later team
of Rodgers and Hammerstein thelyrics were generally written first.)
Some composers wrote their own libretti. Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this
regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his
operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for two of his best-known
works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Bergadapted Georg Bchner's
play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck.

Pages from an 1859 libretto for Ernani, with the original Italian lyrics, English translation and musical
notation for one of the arias.

Sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer; this can involve
adaptation, as was the case with Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist Bel'sky, or an entirely
original work. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics and the "book" (i.e., the spoken
dialogue and the stage directions) may each have their own author. Thus, a musical such
as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer (Jerry Bock), a lyricist (Sheldon Harnick) and the
writer of the "book" (Joseph Stein). In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the
dance arrangements - music, lyrics and libretto, as Lionel Bart did for Oliver!.
Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for
stage or screen. There are the preliminary steps of selecting or suggesting a subject and
developing a sketch of the action in the form of a scenario, as well as revisions that might
come about when the work is in production, as with out-of-town tryouts
for Broadwaymusicals, or changes made for a specific local audience. A famous case of the
latter is Wagner's 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his
opera Tannhuser for Paris.

Literary characteristics[edit]
The opera libretto from its inception (ca. 1600) was written in verse, and this continued well
into the 19th century, although genres of musical theatre with spoken dialogue have typically
alternated verse in the musical numbers with spoken prose. Since the late 19th century
some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. Much of
the recitative of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, for instance, is
merely DuBose and Dorothy Heyward's play Porgy set to music as written - in prose - with
the lyrics of the arias, duets, trios and choruses written in verse.
The libretto of a musical, on the other hand, is almost always written in prose (except for the
song lyrics). The libretto of a musical, if the musical is adapted from a play (or even a novel),
may even borrow their source's original dialogue liberally - much as Oklahoma! used

dialogue from Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs,Carousel used dialogue from Ferenc
Molnr's Liliom, My Fair Lady took most of its dialogue word-for-word from George Bernard
Shaw's Pygmalion, Man of La Mancha was adapted from the 1959 television play I, Don
Quixote, which supplied most of the dialogue, and the 1954 musical version of Peter
Pan used J. M. Barrie's dialogue. Even the musical Show Boat, which is greatly different
from the Edna Ferber novel from which it was adapted, uses some of Ferber's original
dialogue, notably during the miscegenation scene. And Lionel Bart's Oliver! uses chunks of
dialogue from Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist, although it bills itself as a "free
adaptation" of the novel.

Language and translation[edit]

Henry Purcell (16591695) whose operas were written to English libretti.

As the originating language of opera, Italian dominated that genre in Europe (except in
France) well through the 18th century, and even into the next century in Russia, for example,
when the Italian opera troupe in Saint Petersburg was challenged by the emerging native
Russian repertory. Significant exceptions before 1800 can be found in Purcell's works,
German opera of Hamburg during the Baroque,ballad opera and Singspiel of the 18th
century, etc.
Just as with literature and song, the libretto has its share of problems and challenges
with translation. In the past (and even today), foreign musical stage works with spoken
dialogue, especially comedies, were sometimes performed with the sung portions in the
original language and the spoken dialogue in the vernacular. The effects of leaving lyrics
untranslated depend on the piece.
Many musicals, such as the old Betty Grable - Don Ameche - Carmen Miranda vehicles, are
largely unaffected, but this practice is especially misleading in translations of musicals
like Show Boat, The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady or Carousel, in which the lyrics to the songs

and the spoken text are often or always closely integrated, and the lyrics serve to further the
plot.[citation needed] Availability of printed or projected translations today makes singing in the
original language more practical, although one cannot discount the desire to hear a sung
drama in one's own language.
The Spanish words libretista (playwright, script writer or screenwriter) and libreto (script or
screen play), which are used in the Hispanic TV and cinema industry, derived their meanings
from the original operatic sense.

Status of librettists and the libretto[edit]

A poster for La figlia di Iorio where the librettist, Gabriele D'Annunzio, is given top billing

Librettists have historically received less prominent credit than the composer. In some 17thcentury operas still being performed, the name of the librettist was not even recorded. As the
printing of libretti for sale at performances became more common, these records often
survive better than music left in manuscript. But even in late 18th century London, reviews
rarely mentioned the name of the librettist, as Lorenzo da Ponte lamented in his memoirs.
By the 20th century some librettists became recognised as part of famous collaborations, as
with Gilbert and Sullivan or Rodgers and Hammerstein. Today the composer (past or
present) of the musical score to an opera or operetta is usually given top billing for the
completed work, and the writer of the lyrics relegated to second place or a mere footnote, a
notable exception being Gertrude Stein, who received top billing for Four Saints in Three
Acts. Another exception was Alberto Franchetti's 1906 opera La figlia di Iorio which was a
close rendering of a highly successful play by its librettist, Gabriele D'Annunzio, a celebrated

Italian poet, novelist and dramatist of the day. In some cases, the operatic adaptation has
become more famous than the literary text on which it was based, as withClaude
Debussy's Pellas et Mlisande after a play by Maurice Maeterlinck.
On the other hand, the affiliation of a poor libretto to great music has sometimes given the
libretto's author a kind of accidental immortality. Certainly it is common for works of classical
music to be admired in spite of, rather than because of, their libretti. An example is Mozart's
inept librettist Varesco.
The question of which is more important in opera the music or the words has been
debated over time, and forms the basis of at least two operas, Richard
Strauss's Capriccio and Antonio Salieri's Prima la musica, poi le parole.

Publication of libretti[edit]
Libretti have been made available in several formats, some more nearly complete than
others. The text i.e., the spoken dialogue, song lyrics and stage directions, as applicable
is commonly published separately from the music (such a booklet is usually included with
sound recordings of most operas). Sometimes (particularly for operas in the public domain)
this format is supplemented with melodic excerpts of musical notation for important numbers.
Printed scores for operas naturally contain the entire libretto, although there can exist
significant differences between the score and the separately printed text. More often than
not, this involves the extra repetition of words or phrases from the libretto in the actual score.
For example, in the aria 'Nessun dorma' from Puccini'sTurandot, the final lines in the libretto
are "Tramontate, stelle! All'alba, vincer!" (Fade, you stars! At dawn, I will win!). However, in
the score they are sung as "Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba, vincer! Vincer!
Vincer!"
Because the modern musical tends to be published in two separate but intersecting formats
(i.e., the book and lyrics, with all the words, and the piano-vocal score, with all the musical
material, including some spoken cues), both are needed in order to make a thorough reading
of an entire show.

See also[edit]
UNDERSTANDING AN OPERAS LIBRETTO
Like a stage play or a movie, an opera starts with words thousands of words. An
operas words are called its libretto, whereas, in a stage play, the words are called the
script, and in a movie theyre called the screenplay.
Libretto means little book in Italian, and thats precisely what it is; your average
libretto is scarcely thicker than a TV Guide. But because singing a sentence takes about

three times longer than saying it, a little book, when set to music, becomes a full
evening in the theater.
In pop music, the writer of the lyrics is often forgotten. (Quick, who wrote the words to
Somewhere Over the Rainbow?) In fact, we often dont even know the composers
name but we sure do remember Judy Garland as the singer!
In opera, the librettist (the libretto writer) likewise gets ignored far too often; we still say
Mozart wrote The Magic Flute, when actually he wrote only the music. Granted,
Mozart could probably set the IRS Tax Form 1040EZ to music and create a masterpiece,
but hes the exception. Opera composers usually need something more substantial to
kindle their imagination, and providing that kindling is the librettists responsibility.
The plots of most librettos like most movies and plays feature larger-than-life
characters and situations. Everyone loves a good, juicy story, regardless of its plausibility
(see The Matrix or Spiderman, for example). Its fun (or cathartic, or moving) to
empathize with the nightmarish plight of an operatic protagonist for an evening.
An operas libretto has a huge impact on its music. The words influence the rhythm and
melody of a musical phrase; the emotion in the drama affects the mood of the music; and
the plot determines the overall structure of the opera.
WHERE LIBRETTOS COME FROM
Say that youre an opera composer looking for a libretto. Where will you find one? Well,
you might see a play and think, Holy smokes, I could do something with that! You
might get approached by a librettist who says, I think that we could make music
together. Or if youre very lucky, you might even receive a commission from a patron
who has a librettist in mind and money to burn.
But regardless of how you and the librettist discover one another, your relationship is a
collaboration, often a very intimate one. Like a marriage, this relationship could be
tempestuous after all, were talking about gigantic colliding egos here!
OPERAS MOST FAMOUS LIBRETTISTS
Opera history includes three truly legendary librettists: Lorenzo da Ponte (who
collaborated with Mozart), Arrigo Boito (who wrote two scripts for Verdi), and Hugo von
Hofmannsthal (Richard Strausss greatest collaborator).
Of these three, the most interestingwas Lorenzo da Ponte (17491838), partly because he
provided Mozart with the inspiration for Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, and
Cos fan tutte, and partly because of his colorful life. Its a long story, but suffice it to say
that da Ponte was a Venetian priest who fathered a child with a married woman, was run
out of town, moved to Vienna, forged a letter of introduction, passed himself off as a
librettist, worked with Mozart, had several affairs with leading divas, moved to London,
got heavily into debt, and fled to New York, where he started a grocery store and the

Italian department at Columbia University. Its safe to say that Lorenzo da Ponte is the
greatest librettist ever to be buried in Queens.
Arrigo Boito (18421918) was a composer in his own right (he had used his own libretto
for his opera Mefistofele). But his collaboration with Giuseppe Verdi, who was at the
height of his powers and the end of his brilliant career, produced two of the finest Italian
operas ever: Otello and Falstaff.
But when it comes to emotionally fraught, therapy-ready relationships, it would be hard
to beat that of Richard Strauss and his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Though they
worked together for 23 years, and often lived just an hour apart, they rarely met. Through
nearly three decades of correspondence, Strauss and Hofmannsthal never called each
other by their first names.
Both men were brilliant but touchy; time and again, one or the other would threaten to
pull out of the project, and the other would have to bully or mollify in response. For all
their bickering, their collaboration gave birth to some incredible operas including
Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, and Ariadne auf Naxos.

Language and translation issues[edit]

Since the days of Handel and Mozart, many composers have favored Italian as the language
for the libretto of their operas. From the Bel Canto era to Verdi, composers would sometimes
supervise versions of their operas in both Italian and French. Because of this, operas such
as Lucia di Lammermoor or Don Carlos are today deemed canonical in both their French
and Italian versions.[citation needed]
Till the mid 1950s, it was acceptable to produce operas in translations even if these had not
been authorized by the composer or the original librettists. For example, opera houses in
Italy routinely staged Wagner in Italian.[51] After WWII, opera scholarship improved, artists
refocused on the original versions, and translations fell out of favor. Knowledge of European
languages, especially Italian, French, and German, is today an important part of the training
for professional singers."The biggest chunk of operatic training is in linguistics and
musicianship," explains mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick. "[I have to understand] not only what
I'm singing, but what everyone else is singing. I sing Italian, Czech, Russian, French,
German, English."[52]
In the 1980s, supertitles (sometimes called surtitles) began to appear. Although supertitles
were first almost universally condemned as a distraction, [53] today many opera houses
provide either supertitles, generally projected above the theatre's proscenium arch, or
individual seat screens where spectators can choose from more than one language.

Subtitles in one or more languages have become standard in opera broadcasts, simulcasts,
and DVD editions.
Today, operas are only rarely performed in translation. Exceptions include the English
National Opera and the Opera Theater of St. Louis, which favor English translations.
[54]

Another exception are opera productions intended for a young audience, such as

Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel[55] and some productions of Mozart's The Magic Flute.[56]

Origins[edit]
Main article: Origins of opera

Claudio Monteverdi

The Italian word opera means "work", both in the sense of the labour done and the result
produced. The Italian word derives from the Latin opera, a singular noun meaning "work" and
also the plural of the noun opus. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Italian word
was first used in the sense "composition in which poetry, dance, and music are combined" in
1639; the first recorded English usage in this sense dates to 1648. [5]
Dafne by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. It
was written around 1597, largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of
literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the "Camerata de' Bardi".
Significantly, Dafne was an attempt to revive the classical Greek drama, part of the wider
revival of antiquity characteristic of the Renaissance. The members of the Camerata
considered that the "chorus" parts of Greek dramas were originally sung, and possibly even
the entire text of all roles; opera was thus conceived as a way of "restoring" this
situation. Dafne is unfortunately lost. A later work by Peri, Euridice, dating from 1600, is the
first opera score to have survived to the present day. The honour of being the first opera still
to be regularly performed, however, goes to Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, composed for the
court of Mantua in 1607.[6] The Mantua court of the Gonzagas, employers of Monteverdi,
played a significant role in the origin of opera employing not only court singers of

the concerto delle donne(till 1598), but also one of the first actual "opera singers"; Madama
Europa.[7]

Changing role of the orchestra[edit]

Before the 1700s, Italian operas used a small string orchestra, but it rarely played to
accompany the singers. Opera solos during this period were accompanied by the basso
continuo group, which consisted of the harpsichord, "plucked instruments" such as lute and a
bass instrument.[45] The string orchestra typically only played when the singer was not
singing, such as during a singer's "...entrances and exits, between vocal numbers, [or] for
[accompanying] dancing". Another role for the orchestra during this period was playing an
orchestral ritornello to mark the end of a singer's solo.[45] During the early 1700s, some
composers began to use the string orchestra to mark certain aria or recitatives "...as special";
by the 1720, most arias were accompanied by orchestra. Opera composers such
as Domenico Sarro, Leonardo Vinci, Giambattista Pergolesi, Leonardo Leo, and Johann
Adolf Hasse added new instruments to the opera orchestra and gave the instruments new
roles. They added wind instruments to the strings and used orchestral instruments to play
instrumental solos, as a way to mark certain arias as special. [45]

A German opera orchestra from the early 1950s

The orchestra has also provided an instrumental overture before the singers come onstage
since the 1600s. Peri's Euridiceopens with a brief instrumental ritornello,
and Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607) opens with a toccata, in this case a fanfare for
muted trumpets. The French overture as found in Jean-Baptiste Lully's operas[46] consist of a
slow introduction in a marked "dotted rhythm", followed by a lively movement in fugato style.
The overture was frequently followed by a series of dance tunes before the curtain rose. This
overture style was also used in English opera, most notably in Henry Purcell's Dido and
neas. Handel also uses the French overture form in some of his Italian operas such
as Giulio Cesare.[47]
In Italy, a distinct form called "overture" arose in the 1680s, and became established
particularly through the operas ofAlessandro Scarlatti, and spread throughout Europe,

supplanting the French form as the standard operatic overture by the mid-18th century.[48] It
uses three generally homophonic movements: fastslowfast. The opening movement was
normally in duple metre and in a major key; the slow movement in earlier examples was
short, and could be in a contrasting key; the concluding movement was dance-like, most
often with rhythms of the gigue or minuet, and returned to the key of the opening section. As
the form evolved, the first movement may incorporate fanfare-like elements and took on the
pattern of so-called "sonatina form" (sonata form without a development section), and the
slow section became more extended and lyrical.[48]
In Italian opera after about 1800, the "overture" became known as the sinfonia.[49] Fisher also
notes the term Sinfonia avanti l'opera (literally, the "symphony before the opera") was "an
early term for a sinfonia used to begin an opera, that is, as an overture as opposed to one
serving to begin a later section of the work".[49] In 19th-century opera, in some operas, the
overture, Vorspiel, Einleitung, Introduction, or whatever else it may be called, was the portion
of the music which takes place before the curtain rises; a specific, rigid form was no longer
required for the overture.
The role of the orchestra in accompanying the singers changed over the 19th century, as the
Classical style transitioned to the Romantic era. In general, orchestras got bigger, new
instruments were added, such as additional percussion instruments (e.g., bass drum,
cymbals, snare drum, etc.). The orchestration of orchestra parts also developed over the
19th century. In Wagnerian operas, the forefronting of the orchestra went beyond the
overture. In Wagnerian operas such as Tristan, the orchestra often played the recurrent
musical themes or leitmotifs, a role which gave a prominence to the orchestra which
"...elevated its status to that of a prima donna."[50] Wagner's operas were scored with
unprecedented scope and complexity, adding more brass instruments and huge ensemble
sizes: indeed, his score toDas Rheingold calls for six harps.
As the role of the orchestra and other instrumental ensembles changed over the history of
opera, so did the role of leading the musicians. In the Baroque era, the musicians were
usually directed by the harpsichord player, although the French composer Lully is known to
have conducted with a long staff. In the 1800s, during the Classical period, the first violinist,
also known as the concertmaster, would lead the orchestra while sitting. Over time, some
directors began to stand up and use hand and arm gestures to lead the performers.
Eventually this role of music director became termed the conductor, and a podium was used
to make it easier for all the musicians to see him or her. By the time Wagnerian operas were
introduced, the complexity of the works and the huge orchestras used to play them gave the
conductor an increasingly important role. Modern opera conductors have a challenging role:
they have to direct both the orchestra in the orchestra pit and the singers up on stage.

The Baroque era[edit]

George Frideric Handel, 1733

Private baroque theatre in esk Krumlov

Teatro Argentina (Panini, 1747,Muse du Louvre)

Opera did not remain confined to court audiences for long. In 1637, the idea of a "season"
(Carnival) of publicly attended operas supported by ticket sales emerged in Venice.
Monteverdi had moved to the city from Mantua and composed his last operas, Il ritorno
d'Ulisse in patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea, for the Venetian theatre in the 1640s. His
most important follower Francesco Cavalli helped spread opera throughout Italy. In these
early Baroque operas, broad comedy was blended with tragic elements in a mix that jarred

some educated sensibilities, sparking the first of opera's many reform movements,
sponsored by the Arcadian Academy, which came to be associated with the poet Metastasio,
whoselibretti helped crystallize the genre of opera seria, which became the leading form of
Italian opera until the end of the 18th century. Once the Metastasian ideal had been firmly
established, comedy in Baroque-era opera was reserved for what came to be called opera
buffa. Before such elements were forced out of opera seria, many libretti had featured a
separately unfolding comic plot as sort of an "opera-within-an-opera." One reason for this
was an attempt to attract members of the growing merchant class, newly wealthy, but still not
as cultured as the nobility, to the public opera houses. These separate plots were almost
immediately resurrected in a separately developing tradition that partly derived from
the commedia dell'arte, a long-flourishing improvisatory stage tradition of Italy. Just as
intermedi had once been performed in-between the acts of stage plays, operas in the new
comic genre of "intermezzi", which developed largely in Naples in the 1710s and '20s, were
initially staged during the intermissions of opera seria. They became so popular, however,
that they were soon being offered as separate productions.
Opera seria was elevated in tone and highly stylised in form, usually consisting
of secco recitative interspersed with long da capo arias. These afforded great opportunity for
virtuosic singing and during the golden age of opera seria the singer really became the star.
The role of the hero was usually written for the high-pitched male castrato voice,which was
produced bycastration of the singer before puberty, which prevented a boy's larynx from
being transformed at puberty. Castrati such as Farinelli and Senesino, as well as
femalesopranos such as Faustina Bordoni, became in great demand throughout Europe
as opera seria ruled the stage in every country except France. Farinelli was one of the most
famous singers of the 18th century. Italian opera set the Baroque standard. Italian libretti
were the norm, even when a German composer like Handel found himself composing the
likes of Rinaldo and Giulio Cesare for London audiences. Italian libretti remained dominant in
the classical period as well, for example in the operas of Mozart, who wrote in Vienna near
the century's close. Leading Italian-born composers of opera seria include Alessandro
Scarlatti, Vivaldi and Porpora.[8]
Reform: Gluck, the attack on the Metastasian ideal, and Mozart[edit]
Mozart K. 527
MENU
0:00

Overture to Don
Giovanni (1787), one of
Mozart's most well-known
pieces. (6:49 minutes)

Problems playing this file? See media

help.

Illustration for the score of the original Vienna version ofOrfeo ed Euridice

Opera seria had its weaknesses and critics. The taste for embellishment on behalf of the
superbly trained singers, and the use of spectacle as a replacement for dramatic purity and
unity drew attacks. Francesco Algarotti's Essay on the Opera (1755) proved to be an
inspiration for Christoph Willibald Gluck's reforms. He advocated that opera seria had to
return to basics and that all the various elementsmusic (both instrumental and vocal),
ballet, and stagingmust be subservient to the overriding drama. In 1765 Melchior
Grimm published "Pome lyrique", an influential article for the Encyclopdie onlyric and
opera librettos.[9][10][11][12][13] Several composers of the period, including Niccol
Jommelli and Tommaso Traetta, attempted to put these ideals into practice. The first to
succeed however, was Gluck. Gluck strove to achieve a "beautiful simplicity". This is evident
in his first reform opera, Orfeo ed Euridice, where his non-virtuosic vocal melodies are
supported by simple harmonies and a richer orchestra presence throughout.
Gluck's reforms have had resonance throughout operatic history. Weber, Mozart, and
Wagner, in particular, were influenced by his ideals. Mozart, in many ways Gluck's
successor, combined a superb sense of drama, harmony, melody, and counterpoint to write a
series of comedies, notably Cos fan tutte, The Marriage of Figaro, and Don Giovanni (in
collaboration with Lorenzo Da Ponte) which remain among the most-loved, popular and wellknown operas today. But Mozart's contribution to opera seria was more mixed; by his time it
was dying away, and in spite of such fine works as Idomeneo and La clemenza di Tito, he
would not succeed in bringing the art form back to life again. [14]