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{{short description|Italian librettist and composer (1842–1918)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
[[File:Arrigo Boito (before 1918) - Archivio Storico Ricordi FOTO002997.jpg|thumb|Arrigo Boito]]
'''Arrigo Boito''' ({{IPA|it|arˈriːɡo ˈbɔito|lang}}; born '''Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito''';<ref>{{Britannica|71889}}</ref> 24 February 1842{{spaced ndash}} 10 June 1918) was an Italian [[librettist]], composer, [[poet]] and critic whose only completed opera was ''[[Mefistofele]]''. Among the operas for which he wrote the [[libretto|libretti]] are [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s monumental last two operas ''[[Otello]]'' and ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'' as well as [[Amilcare Ponchielli]]'s ''[[La Gioconda (opera)|La Gioconda]]''.

Along with [[Emilio Praga]] and his brother [[Camillo Boito]], he is regarded as one of the prominent representatives of the [[Scapigliatura]] (Italian bohemian) artistic movement. He wrote essays under the anagrammatic [[pseudonym]] of Tobia Gorrio.<ref>Ashbrook 1998, in Sadie, p. 528</ref>

==Biography==
[[File:Arrigo Boito photo.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Boito at age 44]]
[[file:Arrigo Boito - Birthplace in Padua.jpg|thumb|Birthplace in Padua]]
Boito was born in [[Padua]]. He was the son of [[:it:Silvestro Boito|Silvestro Boito]], a painter of miniatures, who was not of noble birth but passed himself off as a nobleman, and his wife, a [[Polish people|Polish]] countess, Józefina Radolińska. His older brother, [[Camillo Boito]], was an Italian architect and engineer as well as a noted art critic, art historian and novelist.

Boito studied music at the [[Milan Conservatory]] with [[Alberto Mazzucato]] until 1861, where he was a contemporary of [[Albert Visetti]] and [[Amintore Galli]]. In 1866, with Galli, [[Franco Faccio]], and [[Emilio Praga]],<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Di Cesare |first=Maria Carmela |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/amintore-galli_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |title=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani |year=1998 |volume=51 |language=it-IT |trans-title=Biographical Dictionary of Italians |chapter=Galli, Amintore |access-date=5 January 2024}}</ref> Boito fought under [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] in the [[Austro-Prussian War|Seven Weeks' War]] in which the [[Kingdom of Italy]] and [[Prussia]] fought against [[Austria]], after which [[Venice]] was ceded to [[Italy]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Between 1887 and 1894, he had an affair with the celebrated actress [[Eleonora Duse]]. Their relationship was carried out in a highly clandestine manner, presumably because of Boito's many aristocratic friends and acquaintances. Despite this, their voluminous correspondence over the years survives. The two remained on good terms until his death.

Towards the end of his musical career, Boito succeeded [[Giovanni Bottesini]] as director of the [[Parma Conservatory]] after the latter's death in 1889 and held the post until 1897. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Music from the [[University of Cambridge]] in 1893, and on his death in Milan, he was interred there in the [[Cimitero Monumentale di Milano|Cimitero Monumentale]]. He was an atheist.<ref>Businelli, p. 51</ref>

A memorial concert was given in his honour at La Scala in 1948. The orchestra was conducted by [[Arturo Toscanini]]. Recorded in very primitive sound, the concert has been issued on [[CD]].

==Career in music==
Boito wrote very little music, but completed (and later destroyed) the opera ''[[Ero e Leandro (Boito)|Ero e Leandro]]'' and left incomplete a further opera, ''[[Nerone (Boito)|Nerone]]'', which he had been working at, on and off, between 1877 and 1915. Excluding its last act, for which Boito left only a few sketches, ''Nerone'' was finished after his death by [[Arturo Toscanini]] and [[Vincenzo Tommasini]] and premiered at La Scala in 1924. He also left a Symphony in A minor in manuscript.<ref>{{cite web|last=Boito |first=Arrigo |editor=Przeslica, Agnieszka |title=Publication of Boito's A minor Symphony |url=http://boccacciniespada.com/shop/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=42&products_id=159 |publisher=Boccaccini E Spada |access-date=11 November 2008 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

'''''Mefistofele'''''

His only completed opera, ''[[Mefistofele]]'', based on [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]'', was given its first performance on 5 March 1868, at [[La Scala]], [[Milan]]. The premiere, which he conducted himself, was badly received, provoking riots and duels over its supposed "[[Richard Wagner|Wagnerism]]", and it was closed by the police after two performances. Verdi commented, "He aspires to originality but succeeds only at being strange."{{citation needed|date=September 2013}} Boito withdrew the opera from further performances to rework it, and it had a more successful second premiere, in [[Bologna]] on 10 April 1875. This revised and drastically cut version also changed Faust from a baritone to a tenor. ''Mefistofele'' is the only work of his performed with any regularity today, and [[Enrico Caruso]] included its two tenor arias in his first recording session.<ref>{{author}}, ''The Independent Review'', 4 August 2003, p. 15.</ref> The prologue to the opera, set in Heaven, is a favourite concert excerpt.

'''Libretti'''

Boito's literary powers never waned. As well as writing the libretti for his own operas, he wrote them for greater operas by two other composers. As "Tobia Gorrio" (an [[anagram]] of his name), he provided the libretto for [[Amilcare Ponchielli]]'s ''[[La Gioconda (opera)|La Gioconda]]''.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

'''Collaboration with Verdi'''

Shortly after he had collaborated with Verdi on ''[[Inno delle nazioni]]'' ("Anthem of the Nations", London, 1862), Boito offended him in a toast to his long-time friend, the composer (and later conductor) [[Franco Faccio]]. The ''rapprochement'' was effected by the music publisher [[Giulio Ricordi]], whose long-term aim was to persuade Verdi to write another opera. Verdi agreed that Boito should revise the libretto of the original 1857 ''[[Simon Boccanegra]]''. [[Musicologist]] [[Roger Parker]] speculates that this was based on a desire to "test the possibility" of working with Boito, before possibly embarking on a larger project. The revised ''Boccanegra'' premiered to great acclaim in 1881. With that, their mutual friendship and respect blossomed, and that larger project became ''[[Otello]]''.<ref>Parker, p. 382</ref> Although Verdi's aim to write the music for an opera based on Shakespeare's ''[[King Lear]]'' never came to fruition (despite the existence of a libretto), Boito provided subtle and resonant libretti not just for ''[[Otello]]'' (based on Shakespeare's play ''[[Othello]]'') but also for ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'' (which was based on two other Shakespeare plays, ''[[The Merry Wives of Windsor]]'' and parts of ''[[Henry IV, part 1|Henry IV]]'').  After those many years of close association, when Verdi died in 1901, Boito was at his bedside.

==Libretti by Boito==
The years given are those of the premieres. Boito also provided the text to Verdi's cantata ''Inno delle Nazioni'' which was first given on 24 May 1862 at [[Her Majesty's Theatre]], London.
{{Div col begin|rules=yes}}
* ''[[Amleto]]'' ([[Franco Faccio]]; 1865)
* ''[[Mefistofele]]'' (1868, his own music; 1875, his own music)
* ''Un tramonto'' ([[Gaetano Coronaro]]; 1873)
* ''La falce'' ([[Alfredo Catalani]]; 1875)
* ''[[La Gioconda (opera)|La Gioconda]]'' ([[Amilcare Ponchielli]]; 1876)
* ''Semira'' (L. San Germano; never perf.)
* ''Ero e Leandro'' ([[Giovanni Bottesini]]; 1879 – [[Luigi Mancinelli]]; 1897)
* ''[[Simon Boccanegra]]'' (Giuseppe Verdi; 1881 [revised version of the 1857 original])
* ''Basi e bote'' ([[Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli]]; 1927)
* ''[[Otello]]'' (Verdi; 1887)
* ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'' (Verdi; 1893)
* ''[[Nerone (Boito)|Nerone]]'' (Boito, unfinished, lacking act V; 1924)
{{Div col end}}

==Recordings==
Recordings of two operas exist:
* ''[[Mefistofele#Recordings|Mefistofele]]''<ref name=OPDIS>{{cite web|url=http://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/CLBONERO.HTM|title=CLBONERO.HTM}}</ref>
* ''[http://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/CLBONERO.HTM  Nerone]''<ref name=OPDIS/>

==Depictions in media==
* The play ''[[After Aida]]'' — a 1985 play-with-music by [[Julian Mitchell]] — depicts the struggle of [[Giulio Ricordi]] and [[Franco Faccio]] to get the retired Verdi to collaborate with young Boito on a project, which resulted in ''[[Otello]]''.
* In November 2001, ''Tell Giulio the Chocolate is Ready'', a radio play by Murray Dahm, was produced and broadcast by Radio New Zealand. The play is based on the letters of the Verdi-Boito correspondence and explores the genesis and production of Verdi and Boito's opera ''[[Otello]]''. The play and broadcast included those sections of the opera as they appeared in the correspondence (such as Iago's ''[[Credo]]'').{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

==See also==
* [[Scapigliatura]]
* [[Lombard line]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Sources'''
* [[William Ashbrook|Ashbrook, William]] (1998), "Boito, Arrigo",  in [[Stanley Sadie]], (Ed.), ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'', Vol. One, pp.&nbsp;527–529. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. 1998  {{ISBN|0-333-73432-7}}  {{ISBN|1-56159-228-5}}
* [http://opera.stanford.edu/Boito/main.html "Arrigo Enrico Boïto"], ''Opera Glass'' Composer Index, (Stanford University) on opera.stanford.edu.  Retrieved 17 January 2014
* [[Julian Budden|Budden, Julian]] (1984), ''The Operas of Verdi, Volume 2:  From Il Trovatore to La Forza del Destino''. London: Cassell. {{ISBN|978-0-19-520068-3}} (hardcover)  {{ISBN|978-0-19-520450-6}} (paperback).
* [[Julian Budden|Budden, Julian]] (1984), ''The Operas of Verdi, Volume 3:  From Don Carlos to Falstaff''.  London: Cassell. {{ISBN|0-304-30740-8}}
* Businelli, Mariella; Giampiero Tintori (1986), ''Arrigo Boito, Musicista e Letteratto'', Nuove Edizioni
* D'Angelo, Emanuele (2007), "Arrigo Boito", in ''Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies'', edited by Gaetana Marrone. New York: Routledge. Vol. 1, pp.&nbsp;271–274.
* D'Angelo, Emanuele (2010), ''Arrigo Boito drammaturgo per musica: Idee, visioni, forma e battaglie'', Venezia, Marsilio.
* De Van, Gilles (trans. Gilda Roberts) (1998), ''Verdi's Theater: Creating Drama Through Music''. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.  {{ISBN|0-226-14369-4}} (hardback), {{ISBN|0-226-14370-8}}
* Kimball, David (2001), in [[Amanda Holden (writer)|Holden, Amanda]] (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. {{ISBN|0-14-029312-4}}
* Maeder, Costantino, ''Il real fu dolore e l'ideal sogno. Arrigo Boito e i limiti dell'arte'', Cesati: Firenze, 2002.
* [[Roger Parker|Parker, Roger]] (1998), "''Simon Boccanegra"'', in [[Stanley Sadie]], (Ed.), ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'', Vol. Four. London: Macmillan Publishers. {{ISBN|0-333-73432-7}} {{ISBN|1-56159-228-5}}
* Viagrande, Riccardo (2008), ''Arrigo Boito "Un caduto chèrubo", poeta e musicista'', Palermo, L'Epos.
* Viagrande, Riccardo (2013), ''Verdi e Boito. "All'arte dell'avvenire". Storia di un'amicizia e di una collaborazione artistica'', Monza, Casa Musicale Eco.
* Walker, Frank (1982), "Boito and Verdi" in  ''The Man Verdi'', New York: Knopf, 1962, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.  {{ISBN|0-226-87132-0}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Arrigo Boito}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=25664| name=Arrigo Boito}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Arrigo Boito}}
* Arrigo Boito article in [https://picclick.co.uk/Old-Sporting-Dramatic-News-1880-Arrigo-Boito-Composer-144726824165.html The Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News] July 17, 1880

{{Arrigo Boito|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boito}}
[[Category:1842 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian classical composers]]
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[[Category:20th-century Italian male musicians]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Parma Conservatory]]
[[Category:Burials at the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano]]
[[Category:Giuseppe Verdi]]
[[Category:Italian male classical composers]]
[[Category:Italian male writers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Padua]]
[[Category:Italian opera composers]]
[[Category:Italian opera librettists]]
[[Category:Italian people of Polish descent]]
[[Category:Italian Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Italian male opera composers]]
[[Category:Milan Conservatory alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Padua]]
[[Category:People of the Austro-Prussian War]]
[[Category:Scapigliatura Movement]]
[[Category:People from the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]]