Jacopo Ferretti

File:Jacopo Ferretti.jpg

Jacopo Ferretti, Italian librettist and poet, 1784—1852

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", 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.

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 the young composer's arrival 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.

Librettos by Ferretti

Altogether, Ferretti wrote about 70 librettos, the majority of which were for operas presented in Rome.

Title	Genre	Subdivisions	Music	Première	Place, theatre	Notes
Template:HsL'inganno dura poco, ossia Le nozze di don Madrigale	burletta	2 acts	Template:HsCesare Jannoni	Template:Hs9 September 1807	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsLa principessa per ripiego	dramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsFrancesco Morlacchi	Template:Hs15 April 1809	Rome, Teatro Valle	Probably after La villanella ingentilita by Francesco Saverio Zini
Template:HsLa Didone	dramma serio	3 acts	Template:HsValentino Fioravanti	Template:Hs9 June 1810	Rome, Teatro Valle	After Didone abbandonata by Pietro Metastasio
Baldovino	dramma serio		Template:HsNiccolò Antonio Zingarelli	Template:Hs1811	Rome, Teatro Argentina
Template:HsIl bello piace a tutti	melodramma giocoso	1 act	Template:HsValentino Fioravanti	Template:Hs1811
Berenice regina d'Armenia	dramma per musica	3 acts	Template:HsNiccolò Antonio Zingarelli	Template:Hs12 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	Template:HsAntonio del Fante	Template:Hs4 January 1813	Rome, Teatro Argentina
Amore assottiglia l'ingegno	dramma buffo	2 acts	Template:HsPietro Carlo Guglielmi	Template:Hs26 December 1814	Rome, Teatro Valle
Rinaldo d'Asti	dramma buffo	2 acts	Template:HsCarlo Coccia	Template:Hs17 February 1816	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsLa Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo	dramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsGioachino Rossini	Template:Hs25 January 1817	Rome, Teatro Valle
Polissena	dramma giocoso	3 acts	Template:HsFerdinando Rutini	Template:Hs11 February 1817	Rome, Teatro Argentina
Bartolommeo colla Cavalla	melodramma buffo	2 acts	Template:HsAntonio Pauselli	Template:HsAutumn 1817	Florence, Teatro della Pergola	1827: Carlo Conti (as L'innocente in periglio); 1836: Paolo Lami; 1838: Massimiliano Quilici
Pulcinella impresario			Template:HsFerdinando Rutini	Template:Hs1817	Rome
Scipione in Cartagine	melodramma serio	2 acts	Template:HsSaverio Mercadante	Template:Hs26 December 1820	Rome, Teatro Argentina
Template:HsLa festa della riconoscenza o sia Il pellegrino bianco	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsFilippo Grazioli	Template:Hs25 January 1821	Rome, Teatro Apollo
Matilde di Shabran, o sia Bellezza, e cuor di ferro	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsGioachino Rossini	Template:Hs24 February 1821	Rome, Teatro Apollo
Template:HsLa capricciosa ed il soldato	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsMichele Carafa	Template:Hs26 December 1821	Rome, Teatro Apollo
Cesare in Egitto	melodramma eroico	2 acts	Template:HsGiovanni Pacini	Template:Hs26 December 1821	Rome, Teatro Argentina
Zoraida di Granata	melodramma eroico	2 acts	Template:HsGaetano Donizetti	Template:Hs28 January 1822	Rome, Teatro Argentina	Contributed. After Bartolomeo Merelli
Amalia e Palmer	melodramma	2 acts	Template:HsFilippo Celli	Template:Hs14 September 1822	Teatro Argentina
Eufemio di Messina	melodramma eroico	2 acts	Template:HsMichele Carafa	Template:Hs26 December 1822	Rome, Teatro Argentina
Template:HsIl corsaro, ovvero Un maestro di cappella al Marocco	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsFilippo Celli	Template:Hs26 December 1822	Rome, Teatro Valle
Amori ed armi		2 acts	Template:HsFrancesco Cianciarelli	Template:HsCarnival 1823	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsL'ajo nell'imbarazzo, o Don Gregorio	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsGaetano Donizetti	Template:Hs4 February 1824	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsGli amici di Siracusa	melodramma eroico	3 acts	Template:HsSaverio Mercadante	Template:Hs7 February 1824	Rome, Teatro Argentina
Template:HsL'audacia fortunata	dramma giocoso per musica		Template:HsAntonio Sapienza	Template:HsSummer 1824	Naples, Teatro del Fondo	1827: Carlo Conti
Riccardo l'intrepido	melodramma	2 acts	Template:HsGiuseppe Balducci	Template:Hs9 September 1824	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsLa comunità di Castel Formicolone ovvero Le gelosie villane	dramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsVittorio Trento	Template:Hs1824
Template:HsLe civette in apparenza o sia una Lezione ai maldicenti	melodramma	1 act	Template:HsLuigi Gambale	Template:Hs3 June 1826	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsLa fedeltà fra i boschi o sia Il taglialegna di Dombar			Template:HsFilippo Grazioli	Template:HsSeptember 1826	Rome, Teatro Valle
Olivo e Pasquale	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsGaetano Donizetti	Template:Hs7 January 1827	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsLa sposa persiana			Template:HsLuigi Gambale	Template:Hs1827
Template:HsLa sciocca per astuzia			Template:HsLuigi Gambale	Template:Hs7 February 1828	Rome
Template:HsL'orfanella di Ginevra	melodramma semiserio	2 acts	Template:HsLuigi Ricci	Template:Hs9 September 1829	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsL'eroina del Messico	melodramma serio	2 acts	Template:HsLuigi Ricci	Template:Hs9 February 1830	Rome, Teatro di Tordinona
Template:HsIl corsaro	melodramma romantico	3 acts	Template:HsGiovanni Pacini	Template:Hs15 January 1831	Rome, Teatro Apollo
Template:HsIl nuovo Figaro	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsLuigi Ricci	Template:Hs15 February 1832	Parma, Nuovo Teatro Ducale
Template:HsIl furioso all'isola di San Domingo	melodramma	2 acts	Template:HsGaetano Donizetti	Template:Hs2 January 1833	Rome, Teatro Valle
Torquato Tasso	melodramma	3 acts	Template:HsGaetano Donizetti	Template:Hs9 September 1833	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsIl Cid	melodramma serio	2 acts	Template:HsLuigi Savj	Template:Hs22 January 1834	Parma, Nuovo Teatro Ducale
Template:HsI due incogniti	melodramma semiserio		Template:HsFrancesco Bornacini	Template:Hs5 February 1834	Rome, Teatro Valle
Eran due or son tre	melodramma buffo	2 acts	Template:HsLuigi Ricci	Template:Hs10 May 1834	Venice, Teatro San Benedetto
Template:HsLa casa disabitata	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsLauro Rossi	Template:Hs16 August 1834	Milan, Teatro alla Scala
Chi dura vince	melodramma eroicomico	2 acts	Template:HsLuigi Ricci	Template:Hs26 December 1834	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsLa pazza per amore	melodramma semiserio	2 acts	Template:HsPietro Antonio Coppola	Template:Hs14 February 1835	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsIl colonnello	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsLuigi Ricci and Federico Ricci	Template:Hs14 March 1835	Naples, Teatro del Fondo
Monsieur de Chalumeaux	melodramma comico	2 acts	Template:HsFederico Ricci	Template:Hs14 June 1835	Venice, Teatro San Benedetto
Giulietta ossia La fanciulla abbandonata	melodramma	2 acts	Template:HsPasquale Guglielmo	Template:Hs1835
Template:HsIl disertore per amore	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsLuigi Ricci and Federico Ricci	Template:Hs13 February 1836	Naples, Teatro del Fondo
Template:HsLa festa della rosa	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsPietro Antonio Coppola	Template:Hs29 June 1836	Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor
Salvini e Adelson	melodramma semiserio	2 acts	Template:HsLuigi Savi	Template:Hs1839
Template:HsIl sogno punitore	melodramma	3 acts	Template:HsGiuseppe Gerli	Template:Hs1839
Furio Camillo	melodramma tragico	3 acts	Template:HsGiovanni Pacini	Template:Hs26 December 1839	Rome, Teatro Apollo
Contraddizione e puntiglio	melodramma giocoso		Template:HsMichele Simeoni	Template:Hs1842
Paolo e Virginia	melodramma semiserio	3 acts	Template:HsMario Aspa	Template:Hs29 April 1843	Rome, Teatro Metastasio	As Gli isolani: Davide Dugnani, 1857
Template:HsIl folletto	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Template:HsPietro Antonio Coppola	Template:Hs18 June 1843	Rome, Teatro Valle
Template:HsIl puntiglioso			Template:HsAntonio Brancaccio	Template:Hs1846
Gismonda di Mendrisio	tragedia lirica	3 acts	Template:HsLuigi Badia	Template:Hs10 February 1846	Bologna, Teatro Comunale
Template:HsLa figlia di Figaro	melodramma giocoso	3 acts	Template:HsLauro Rossi	Template:Hs17 April 1846	Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor
Template:HsIl cavaliere di San Giorgio, ossia Il mulatto	melodramma semiserio	2 acts	Template:HsGiuseppe Lillo	Template:HsAutumn 1846	Turin, Teatro Carignano

References

Notes

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. Template:ISBN
• Black, John (1998), "Ferretti, Jacopo", in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Two, pp. 167–168. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. Template:ISBN Template:ISBN
• Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. Template:ISBN