Adriano Morselli was a Venetian

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

active between 1679 and 1691. His libretti have been set to music by composers like

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

Alessandro Scarlatti Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera. ...

Giacomo Antonio Perti Giacomo Antonio Perti (6 June 1661 – 10 April 1756) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. He was mainly active at Bologna, where he was ''Maestro di Cappella'' for sixty years. He was the teacher of Giuseppe Torelli and Giovanni Bat ...

Bernardo Sabadini Bernardo Sabadini (also known as Sabatini) (died November 26, 1718) was an Italian opera composer. He may have been a native of Venice. A number of his operas appear to have been revisions of works by other composers to an unknown extent. He die ...

Carlo Francesco Pollarolo Carlo Francesco Pollarolo (ca. 1653 – 7 February 1723) was an Italian composer, organist, and music director. Known chiefly for his operas, he wrote a total of 85 of them as well as 13 oratorios. His compositional style was initially indebted t ...

and

Domenico Gabrielli Domenico Gabrielli (15 April 1651 or 19 October 1659 – 10 July 1690) was an Italian Baroque composer and one of the earliest known virtuoso cello players, as well as a pioneer of cello music writing. Born in Bologna, he worked in the orchestra of ...

. His most popular works were '' L'incoronazione di Dario'' from 1684 and ''Tullo Ostilio'' from 1685, and the unfinished ''La pace fra Seleuco e Tolomeo'' from 1691.

Published and performed works

*1679: ''Candaule re di Lidia'' (reprinted 1680); performed in 1679 with music by

Pietro Andrea Ziani Pietro Andrea Ziani (1616 in Venice 1684 in Naples) was an Italian organist and composer.Rappresentazione sacra: geistliches Musikdrama am Wiener Kaiserhof Richard Bletschacher - 1985 PIETRO ANDREA ZIANI Wurde am 21. 12. 1616 in Venedig getauft. ...

, and in 1706 with music by Domenico Natale Sarro *1682: ''Temistocle in bando'', with music by

Antonio Giannettini Antonio Gianettini (also Giannettini, Zanettini, Zannettini; 1648 – 12 July 1721) was an Italian organist, concertmaster and composer. Biography Born in Fano, almost nothing is known about Gianettini's musical training; in 1662, sources place ...

(reprinted 1698) *1683: ''Falaride, tiranno d'Agrigento'', music by

Giovanni Battista Bassani Giovanni Battista Bassani (c. 1650 – 1 October 1716) was an Italian composer, violinist, and organist. Biography Bassani was born in Padua. It is thought that he studied in Venice under Daniele Castrovillari and in Ferrara under Giovanni L ...

*1683: ''Apio Claudio''; performed in 1693 with music by Giovanni Marco Martini *1683: ''L'innocenza risorta, ovvero L'etio'' (reprinted 1686, 1693); performed with music by

*1684: '' L'incoronazione di Dario'': 1684 performance with music by

Domenico Freschi Giovanni Domenico Freschi (26 March 1634 – 2 July 1710) was an Italian composer and Roman Catholic priest. From the age of 22 until his death he worked as a church musician and composer in Vincenza. He was also active as an opera composer from ...

, 1686 performance with

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, 1705 performance with music by

Giuseppe Antonio Vincenzo Aldrovandini Giuseppe Antonio Vincenzo Aldrovandini (also Gioseffo, Giuseppe Maria, Aldovrandini, Aldrovandin, Aldrovandon, Altrobrandino, 8 June 1671 – 9 February 1707) was an Italian Baroque composer. Aldovrandini was born and died in Bologna. He is cr ...

, and 1717 performance in Venice with music by

*1685: ''Tullo Ostilio'' (reprinted 1694, 1702: reprinted 1695 as ''Alba soggiogata da Romani''; reprinted in Vienna in 1740 as ''I tre difensori della patria''); music by Marc'Antonio Ziani in 1685, by

Giovanni Bononcini Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers. Biography E ...

in 1694, by Giuseppe Vignola in 1707, and by

Giovanni Battista Pescetti Giovanni Battista Pescetti (c. 170420 March 1766) was an organist, harpsichordist, and composer known primarily for his operas and keyboard sonatas. Musicologist and University of California, Santa Barbara professor John E. Gillespie wrote that Pes ...

in 1729 *1686: ''La Teodora Augusta'' (reprinted 1687, 1693): performed with music by

in 1692 and by Giuseppe Vignola in 1709 *1686: ''Il Mauritio'' (reprinted 1687, 1692; reprinted 1694 as ''Tiberio in Bisanzio''): music by

(1686) and Francesco Maria Mannucci (1707) *1688: ''Il Gordiano'' (reprinted 1700): music by

*1688: ''Carlo il grande'', with music by

*1689: ''Augurio di felice prole'' *1689: ''Amulio, e Numitore'': performed with music by Giuseppe Felice Tosi *1690: ''Il Pirro e Demetrio'', with music by Giuseppe Felice Tosi in 1690 and by

in 1694; translated in English as ''

Pyrrhus and Demetrius ''Pyrrhus and Demetrius'' was a 1708 adaptation for the London stage of the 1694 opera ''Il Pirro e Demetrio'' by Alessandro Scarlatti with a libretto by Adriano Morselli, first performed at the :it:Teatro San Bartolomeo. ''Pyrrhus and Demet ...

'' by

Owen Swiny Owen Swiny (Also spelled McSwiny, Swiney, MacSwiny or MacSwinny) (1676, near Enniscorthy, Ireland – 2 October 1754) was an Irish theatre impresario and art dealer active in London known for his work in popularising Italian opera in London ...

(1709, reprinted 1716) *1690: '' L'incoronazione di Serse'', with music by Giuseppe Felice Tosi *1691: ''La pace fra Seleuco e Tolomeo'', music by

with additional texts by

Aurelio Aureli Aurelio Aureli (Venice, before 1652 – id. after 1708) was an Italian librettist. Life Little is known about Aureli's life. He began his operatic career in 1652 with ''L'Erginda''. Until 1687, he worked as a librettist mainly in Venice, excep ...

; another 1691 performance with music by

and additional text by

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...

; 1720 performance with music by

Francesco Gasparini Francesco Gasparini (19 March 1661 – 22 March 1727) was an Italian Baroque composer and teacher whose works were performed throughout Italy, and also on occasion in Germany and England. Biography Born in Camaiore, near Lucca, he studied in ...

, additional texts by Andrea Trabucco *1692: ''L'Ibraim sultano'', music by

, additional text by

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morselli, Adriano Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Italian opera librettists