Gaetano Martinelli (? – 1802) was an Italian

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 in the court theatres of

Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg Charles Eugene (German: ''Carl Eugen''; 11 February 1728 – 24 October 1793), Duke of Württemberg, was the eldest son, and successor, of Charles Alexander; his mother was Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis. Life Born in Brussels, he ...

from 1766 to 1769 and in Lisbon as the court poet to

Joseph I of Portugal Dom Joseph I ( pt, José Francisco António Inácio Norberto Agostinho, ; 6 June 1714 – 24 February 1777), known as the Reformer (Portuguese: ''o Reformador''), was King of Portugal from 31 July 1750 until his death in 1777. Among other activ ...

and his daughter

Maria I Dom (title), Dona Maria I (17 December 1734 – 20 March 1816) was Queen of Portugal from 24 February 1777 until her death in 1816. Known as Maria the Pious in Portugal and Maria the Mad in Brazil, she was the first undisputed queen regnant of Por ...

from 1769 until his death in 1802. He was one of a group of reforming Italian librettists which also included Calzabigi, Verazi, and Migliavacca, who moved away from the traditional Metastasian plot structures that had dominated opera during the first half of the 18th century. The majority of his early libretti were for comic (''

opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...

'') or semi-comic (''

dramma giocoso ''Dramma giocoso'' (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: ''drammi giocosi'') is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of ''dramma giocoso per musica'' and describes the opera's libretto (text). The ge ...

'') operas.Armellini, Mario (2008
"Martinelli, Gaetano"
''

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' ( en, Biographical Dictionary of the Italians) is a biographical dictionary published by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1925 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biograp ...

'', vol. 71.

Treccani The ''Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere e Arti'' (Italian for "Italian Encyclopedia of Science, Letters, and Arts"), best known as ''Treccani'' for its developer Giovanni Treccani or ''Enciclopedia Italiana'', is an Italian-language en ...

. Online version retrieved 10 December 2016 . Martinelli was described on his early libretti as "Romano" (Roman) but nothing is known of the exact date and place of his birth or of his parentage and early life. His first appearance as a librettist was at the

Teatro San Moisè The Teatro San Moisè was a theatre and opera house in Venice, active from 1620 to 1818. It was in a prominent location near the Palazzo Giustinian and the church of San Moisè at the entrance to the Grand Canal. History Built by the San Bernaba ...

in Venice, where between 1764 and 1766 he produced the libretti for four successful ''opere buffe''. The first three of these—''Li rivali placati'', '' Il ratto della sposa'', and '' Lo spirito di contradizione''—were composed by

Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (9 December 1728 – 19 November 1804) was an Italian opera composer of the classical period. Biography Guglielmi was born into the Guglielmi family of musicians in Massa. His father, Jacopo Guglielmi, was a comp ...

. The fourth, ''Le nozze disturbate'', was composed by the young

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born in T ...

. Martineli wrote the libretto to the opera ''Everardo II, re di Lituania'' (''Everardo II, King of Lithuania'') by the Portuguese composer

João de Sousa Carvalho João de Sousa Carvalho (22 February 1745c. 1798) was the foremost Portuguese composer of his generation. Born in Estremoz, he studied music from 1753 at the Colégio dos Santos Reis in Vila Viçosa, then from 1761 at the Conservatório di San ...

which had never been performed since its original premiere in 1782 until 2013 when it was newly discovered by Lithuanian-Spanish conductor

Alexis Soriano '' Alexis Soriano is a Spanish- Lithuanian orchestral conductor and composer. A pupil of Ilya Musin, and later of Valery Gergiev, he has been Principal Associate Conductor of The Hermitage Orchestra for ten years and is Artistic Director of the ...

at a royal archive in Spain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinelli, Gaetano 18th-century births 1802 deaths Italian opera librettists 18th-century Italian writers 18th-century Italian male writers