Temistocle Solera (25 December 1815 – 21 April 1878) was an Italian opera composer and

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 ...

Life and career

He was born in

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

. He received his education at the Imperial College in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

. Throughout his life he actively participated in anti-Austrian resistance. At one point, he was incarcerated for his activities. He completed several literary works, including the novel ''Michelino'', his style influenced by

Alessandro Manzoni Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni (, , ; 7 March 1785 – 22 May 1873) was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher. He is famous for the novel '' The Betrothed'' (orig. it, I promessi sposi) (1827), generally ranked among the maste ...

. He then found work as a librettist; his collaboration with the composer

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

began in 1839 and lasted for a few years.O'Grady, Dierdre. ''The last troubadours: poetic drama in Italian opera 1597-1887''. (New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, 1991). 214. Solera then found work as the

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

for the Royal Theatre in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. He died in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 1878.

List of major works

Composer

* ''Ildegonda'' (1840) * ''Il contadino d'Agliate'' (1841; rev. as ''La fanciulla di Castelguelfo'' in 1842) * ''Genio e sventura'' (1843) * ''La hermana de Pelayo'' (1845)(Advert of performance at the Gran Teatro del Liceo, Barcelona, in

Diario de Barcelona The ''Diario de Barcelona'' (catalán: ''Diari de Barcelona'') (The Barcelona Journal) was a newspaper founded in 1792 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With a few interruptions it was published in paper form until 1994, and in digital form until ...

, 8 January 1853) ( Pelayo is a Spanish national hero, the leader of Christian resistance in the Cantabrian mountains against the Arab invasion in the early eighth century)

Librettist

*For

** '' Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio'' (1839) ** ''

Nabucco ''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, " Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, ...

'' (1842) ** ''

I Lombardi alla prima crociata ''I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata'' (''The Lombards on the First Crusade'') is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi, which was "very much a ...

'' (1843) ** ''

Giovanna d'Arco ''Giovanna d'Arco'' (''Joan of Arc'') is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, who had prepared the libretti for ''Nabucco'' and ''I Lombardi''. It is Verdi ...

'' (1845) ** ''

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...

'' (1846) *For other composers * ''

Galeotto Manfredi Galeotto Manfredi (1440 – May 31, 1488) was an Italian condottiero and lord of Faenza. Born in Faenza, Romagna, he was the son of Astorre II Manfredi. In 1477, after a failed attempt of military conquest, he succeeded as lord of Faenza to his b ...

'' (Carlo Hermann; 1842) * ''La conquista di Granata'' (

Emilio Arrieta Juan Pascual Antonio Arrieta Corera (20 October 1821 – 11 February 1894), also known as Emilio Arrieta, was a Spanish composer. Arrieta was born in Puente la Reina, Navarre. His Italian musical training led him, under the favour of Queen ...

, 1850) * ''La fanciulla delle Asturie'' (Benedetto Secchi; 1856) * ''Sordello''. Also produced as ''L'Indovina'' (Antonio Buzzi, 1856; Salvador Giner Vidal, 1870) * ''Pergolese'' (

Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti (1814–1882) was an Italian composer, music educator, and college administrator. Born in Asti, he joined the faculty of the Milan Conservatory in 1850 as a professor of counterpoint. He was appointed the school's direct ...

, 1857) * ''Vasconcello'' (Angelo Villanis; 1858) * ''Una notte di festa'' (Angelo Villanis; 1859) * ''L'espiazione'' (

Achille Peri Achille Peri (20 December 1812 – 28 March 1880) was an Italian composer and conductor. He is best known for his operas which were strongly influenced by the music of Giuseppe Verdi. Life and career Born in Reggio Emilia, Peri began his musica ...

, 1861) * ''Zilia'' (Gaspar Villate, 1877)

References

External links

OperaGlass
* Loreta de Stasio y José María Nadal. "Sobre el libreto de La conquista di Granata, de Temistocle Solera". Publicado en Mundoclasico.com () el 7 July 2006
Mundoclasico.com
1815 births 1878 deaths Burials at the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano Italian classical composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers Italian opera librettists Impresarios Opera managers Musicians from Ferrara 19th-century classical composers Italian male classical composers University of Pavia alumni Italian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Italian composers 19th-century Italian male writers 19th-century Italian male musicians {{Opera-bio-stub