Jacopo Ferretti (16 July 1784 – 7 March 1852) was an Italian writer,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

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 ...

. His name is sometimes written as Giacomo Ferretti. He is most famous for having supplied the libretti for two operas composed by

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

and for five operas composed by

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

Life

Introduced by his father to literature while very young, in addition to his native

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, Ferretti mastered not only

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

but also French and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, 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",Opera Talent entry for Jacopo Ferretti
/ref> and numerous opera libretti, all but the few listed below being generally forgotten. His first big success was ''

La Cenerentola ' (''Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera '' Cendrillon'' ...

'', written at great speed for

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

who had been given a letter of introduction to Ferretti by

Johann Simon Mayr Johann(es) Simon Mayr (also spelled Majer, Mayer, Maier), also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr (14 June 1763 – 2 December 1845), was a German composer. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the ...

. 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 ''Zoraida di Granata'' (also ''Zoraide di Granata'' or ''Zoraïda di Granata'') is a ''melodramma eroico'' (''opera seria'' or 'heroic' opera), in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto had been partly prepared by Bartolomeo Merelli ...

'', which became his first major success. Ferretti worked on revising

Bartolomeo Merelli Bartolomeo Merelli (19 May 1794 – 10 April 1879Warrack & West 1997, p. 463.) was an Italian impresario and librettist, best known as the manager of the La Scala Milan opera house between 1829 and 1850, and for his support for the young Giuseppe ...

's libretto for the opera.

Librettos by Ferretti

Altogether, Ferretti wrote about 70 librettos, the majority of which were for operas presented in Rome.Black 1998, p. 167

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. *Black, John (1998), "Ferretti, Jacopo", in

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

, (Ed.), ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', Vol. Two, pp. 167–168. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. * Holden, Amanda (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferretti, Jacopo 1784 births 1852 deaths Italian poets Italian opera librettists Italian male poets 19th-century Italian writers 19th-century Italian poets Italian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Italian male writers