Jacopo Ferretti
Jacopo Ferretti (16 July 1784 – 7 March 1852) was an Italian writer, poet and opera librettist. His name is sometimes written as Giacomo Ferretti.
He is most famous for having supplied the libretti for two operas composed by Rossini and for five operas composed by Donizetti.
Life
Introduced by his father to literature while very young, in addition to his native Italian, Ferretti mastered not only Latin and Ancient Greek but also French and English, and began writing verse early. Even though he worked in the tobacco industry from the age of about 30 until he was over 60, he was extremely prolific, writing "everything from love letter to odes and welcoming speeches",[1] and numerous opera libretti, all but the few listed below being generally forgotten.
His first big success was La Cenerentola, written at great speed for Rossini over Christmas in 1816. Ferretti wrote afterwards how he had agreed to write a libretto on a subject which the censor vetoed, so he met the composer and the theatre manager to discuss alternatives. He struggled to find a new subject that appealed, but about two dozen were rejected for one reason or another. At last, yawning wearily, Ferretti said "La Cenerentola" ("Cinderella") and at last Rossini decided he liked it, so Ferretti went home and began at once, worked night and day on it, and gave sections to Rossini on Christmas Day. Early on during the production there were problems, but Rossini predicted (correctly) that it would be a great success in the long term.[1]
Ferretti married the singer Teresa Terziani in 1820, and their house was continually visited by musicians and poets, including Donizetti who had been given a letter of introduction to Ferretti by Johann Simon Mayr. They became good friends after he arriving in Rome in October 1821 for the preparation of the production of his Zoraida di Granata, which became his first major success. Ferretti worked on revising Bartolomeo Merelli's libretto for the opera.[2]
Librettos by Ferretti
Altogether, Ferretti wrote about 70 librettos, the majority of which were for operas presented in Rome.[3]
| Title | Genre | Subdivisions | Music | Première | Place, theatre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ingannoL'inganno dura poco, ossia Le nozze di don Madrigale | burletta | 2 acts | JannoniCesare Jannoni | 1807/09/099 September 1807 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| principessaLa principessa per ripiego | dramma giocoso | 2 acts | MorlacchiFrancesco Morlacchi | 1809/04/1515 April 1809 | Rome, Teatro Valle | Probably after La villanella ingentilita by Francesco Saverio Zini |
| didoneLa Didone | dramma serio | 3 acts | FioravantiValentino Fioravanti | 1810/06/099 June 1810 | Rome, Teatro Valle | After Didone abbandonata by Pietro Metastasio |
| Baldovino | dramma serio | ZingarelliNiccolò Antonio Zingarelli | 1811/00/001811 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | ||
| belloIl bello piace a tutti | melodramma giocoso | 1 act | FioravantiValentino Fioravanti | 1811/00/001811 | ||
| Berenice regina d'Armenia | dramma per musica | 3 acts | ZingarelliNiccolò Antonio Zingarelli | 1811/11/1212 November 1811 | Rome, Teatro Valle | After Lucio Vero by Apostolo Zeno. As Berenice in Armenia: music by Carlo Evasio Soliva, March 1817, Turin, Teatro Regio |
| Tito in Langres | dramma serio | 2 acts | del fanteAntonio del Fante | 1813/01/044 January 1813 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| Amore assottiglia l'ingegno | dramma buffo | 2 acts | guglielmiPietro Carlo Guglielmi | 1814/12/2626 December 1814 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Rinaldo d'Asti | dramma buffo | 2 acts | cocciaCarlo Coccia | 1816/02/1717 February 1816 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| cenerentolaLa Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo | dramma giocoso | 2 acts | rossiniGioachino Rossini | 1817/01/2525 January 1817 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Polissena | dramma giocoso | 3 acts | rutiniFerdinando Rutini | 1817/02/1111 February 1817 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| Bartolommeo colla Cavalla | melodramma buffo | 2 acts | pauselliAntonio Pauselli | 1817/10/00Autumn 1817 | Florence, Teatro della Pergola | 1827: Carlo Conti (as L'innocente in periglio); 1836: Paolo Lami; 1838: Massimiliano Quilici |
| Pulcinella impresario | rutiniFerdinando Rutini | 1817/12/311817 | Rome | |||
| Scipione in Cartagine | melodramma serio | 2 acts | mercadanteSaverio Mercadante | 1820/12/2626 December 1820 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| festaLa festa della riconoscenza o sia Il pellegrino bianco | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | grazioliFilippo Grazioli | 1821/01/2525 January 1821 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| Matilde di Shabran, o sia Bellezza, e cuor di ferro | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | rossiniGioachino Rossini | 1821/02/2424 February 1821 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| capricciosaLa capricciosa ed il soldato | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | carafaMichele Carafa | 1821/12/2626 December 1821 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| Cesare in Egitto | melodramma eroico | 2 acts | paciniGiovanni Pacini | 1821/12/2626 December 1821 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| Zoraida di Granata | melodramma eroico | 2 acts | donizettiGaetano Donizetti | 1822/01/2828 January 1822 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | Contributed. After Bartolomeo Merelli |
| Amalia e Palmer | melodramma | 2 acts | celliFilippo Celli | 1822/09/1414 September 1822 | Teatro Argentina | |
| Eufemio di Messina | melodramma eroico | 2 acts | carafaMichele Carafa | 1822/12/2626 December 1822 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| corsaroIl corsaro, ovvero Un maestro di cappella al Marocco | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | celliFilippo Celli | 1822/12/2626 December 1822 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Amori ed armi | 2 acts | cianciarelliFrancesco Cianciarelli | 1823/02/00Carnival 1823 | Rome, Teatro Valle | ||
| ajoL'ajo nell'imbarazzo, o Don Gregorio | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | donizettiGaetano Donizetti | 1824/02/044 February 1824 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| amiciGli amici di Siracusa | melodramma eroico | 3 acts | mercadanteSaverio Mercadante | 1824/02/077 February 1824 | Rome, Teatro Argentina | |
| audaciaL'audacia fortunata | dramma giocoso per musica | sapienzaAntonio Sapienza | 1824/07/00Summer 1824 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo | 1827: Carlo Conti | |
| Riccardo l'intrepido | melodramma | 2 acts | balducciGiuseppe Balducci | 1824/09/099 September 1824 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| comunitàLa comunità di Castel Formicolone ovvero Le gelosie villane | dramma giocoso | 2 acts | trentoVittorio Trento | 1824/12/311824 | ||
| civetteLe civette in apparenza o sia una Lezione ai maldicenti | melodramma | 1 act | gambaleLuigi Gambale | 1826/06/033 June 1826 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| fedeltàLa fedeltà fra i boschi o sia Il taglialegna di Dombar | grazioliFilippo Grazioli | 1826/09/00September 1826 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |||
| Olivo e Pasquale | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | donizettiGaetano Donizetti | 1827/01/077 January 1827 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| sposaLa sposa persiana | gambaleLuigi Gambale | 1827/12/311827 | ||||
| scioccaLa sciocca per astuzia | gambaleLuigi Gambale | 1828/02/077 February 1828 | Rome | |||
| orfanellaL'orfanella di Ginevra | melodramma semiserio | 2 acts | riccilLuigi Ricci | 1829/09/099 September 1829 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| eroinaL'eroina del Messico | melodramma serio | 2 acts | riccilLuigi Ricci | 1830/02/099 February 1830 | Rome, Teatro di Tordinona | |
| corsaroIl corsaro | melodramma romantico | 3 acts | paciniGiovanni Pacini | 1831/01/1515 January 1831 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| nuovoIl nuovo Figaro | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | riccilLuigi Ricci | 1832/02/1515 February 1832 | Parma, Nuovo Teatro Ducale | |
| furiosoIl furioso all'isola di San Domingo | melodramma | 2 acts | donizettiGaetano Donizetti | 1833/01/022 January 1833 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| Torquato Tasso | melodramma | 3 acts | donizettiGaetano Donizetti | 1833/09/099 September 1833 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| cidIl Cid | melodramma serio | 2 acts | savjLuigi Savj | 1834/01/2222 January 1834 | Parma, Nuovo Teatro Ducale | |
| dueI due incogniti | melodramma semiserio | bornacciniFrancesco Bornacini | 1834/02/055 February 1834 | Rome, Teatro Valle | ||
| Eran due or son tre | melodramma buffo | 2 acts | riccilLuigi Ricci | 1834/05/1010 May 1834 | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | |
| casaLa casa disabitata | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | rossiLauro Rossi | 1834/08/1616 Augusst 1834 | Milan, Teatro alla Scala | |
| Chi dura vince | melodramma eroicomico | 2 acts | ricciLuigi Ricci | 1834/12/2626 December 1834 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| pazzaLa pazza per amore | melodramma semiserio | 2 acts | coppolaPietro Antonio Coppola | 1835/02/1414 February 1835 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| colonnelloIl colonnello | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | riccilLuigi Ricci and Federico Ricci | 1835/03/1414 March 1835 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo | |
| Monsieur de Chalumeaux | melodramma comico | 2 acts | riccifFederico Ricci | 1835/06/1414 June 1835 | Venice, Teatro San Benedetto | |
| Giulietta ossia La fanciulla abbandonata | melodramma | 2 acts | guglielmoPasquale Guglielmo | 1835/12/311835 | ||
| disertoreIl disertore per amore | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | riccilLuigi Ricci and Federico Ricci | 1836/02/1313 February 1836 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo | |
| festaLa festa della rosa | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | coppolaPietro Antonio Coppola | 1836/06/2929 June 1836 | Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor | |
| Salvini e Adelson | melodramma semiserio | 2 acts | saviLuigi Savi | 1839/01/011839 | ||
| sognoIl sogno punitore | melodramma | 3 acts | gerliGiuseppe Gerli | 1839/01/011839 | ||
| Furio Camillo | melodramma tragico | 3 acts | paciniGiovanni Pacini | 1839/12/2626 December 1839 | Rome, Teatro Apollo | |
| Contraddizione e puntiglio | melodramma giocoso | simeoniMichele Simeoni | 1842/01/011842 | |||
| Paolo e Virginia | melodramma semiserio | 3 acts | aspaMario Aspa | 1843/04/2929 April 1843 | Rome, Teatro Metastasio | As Gli isolani: Davide Dugnani, 1857 |
| follettoIl folletto | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | coppolaPietro Antonio Coppola | 1843/06/1818 June 1843 | Rome, Teatro Valle | |
| puntigliosoIl puntiglioso | brancaccioAntonio Brancaccio | 1846/01/011846 | ||||
| Gismonda di Mendrisio | tragedia lirica | 3 acts | badiaLuigi Badia | 1846/02/1010 February 1846 | Bologna, Teatro Comunale | |
| figliaLa figlia di Figaro | melodramma giocoso | 3 acts | rossiLauro Rossi | 1846/04/1717 April 1846 | Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor | |
| cavaliereIl cavaliere di San Giorgio, ossia Il mulatto | melodramma semiserio | 2 acts | lilloGiuseppe Lillo | 1846/10/00Autumn 1846 | Turin, Teatro Carignano |
References
Notes
- 1 2 Opera Talent entry for Jacopo Ferretti
- ↑ Allit 1991, pp. 26—27
- ↑ Black 1998, p. 167
Other sources
- Allitt, John Stewart (1991), Donizetti: in the light of Romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr, Shaftesbury: Element Books, Ltd (UK); Rockport, MA: Element, Inc.(USA)
- Bini, Analisa (1996), Jacopo Ferretti e la cultura del suo tempo ("Jacopo Ferretti and the culture of his time"), Skira. ISBN 88-8118-599-7
- Black, John (1998), "Ferretti, Jacopo", in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Two, pp. 167–168. London: MacMillan Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5
- Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-140-29312-4
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