Arrigo Boito (; born Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) was an Italian

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 ...

, composer,

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and critic whose only completed opera was ''

Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was lib ...

''. Among the operas for which he wrote the libretti are

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

's monumental last two operas ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...

'' and ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'' as well as

Amilcare Ponchielli Amilcare Ponchielli (, ; 31 August 1834 – 16 January 1886) was an Italian opera composer, best known for his opera La Gioconda (opera), ''La Gioconda''. He was married to the soprano Teresina Brambilla. Life and work Born in Paderno Fasolaro ( ...

's '' La Gioconda''. Along with Emilio Praga and his brother

Camillo Boito Camillo Boito (; 30 October 1836 – 28 June 1914) was an Italian architect and engineer, and a noted art critic, art historian and novelist. He was the brother of Arrigo Boito, the friend and librettist of the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. ...

, he is regarded as one of the prominent representatives of the

Scapigliatura ''Scapigliatura'' () is the name of an artistic movement that developed in Italy after the Risorgimento period (1815–71). The movement included poets, writers, musicians, painters and sculptors. The term Scapigliatura is the Italian equivalent ...

(Italian bohemian) artistic movement. He wrote essays under the anagrammatic

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

of Tobia Gorrio.

Biography

Birthplace in Padua Boito was born in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. He was the son of Silvestro Boito, a painter of miniatures, who was not of noble birth but passed himself off as a nobleman, and his wife, a Polish countess, Józefina Radolińska. His older brother,

, was an Italian architect and engineer as well as a noted art critic, art historian and novelist. Boito studied music at the

Milan Conservatory The Milan Conservatory, also known as the Conservatorio di Milano and the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, is a Music school, college of music in Milan, Italy. History The conservatory was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital ...

with Alberto Mazzucato until 1861, where he was a contemporary of Albert Visetti and Amintore Galli. In 1866, with Galli, Franco Faccio, and Emilio Praga, Boito fought under

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

in the Seven Weeks' War in which the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

and

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

fought against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, after which

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

was ceded to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Between 1887 and 1894, he had an affair with the celebrated actress

Eleonora Duse Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse ( , ; 3 October 185821 April 1924), often known simply as Duse, was an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. She performed in many countries, notably in the plays of Gabriele D'Annunzio and Henr ...

. Their relationship was carried out in a highly clandestine manner, presumably because of Boito's many aristocratic friends and acquaintances. Despite this, their voluminous correspondence over the years survives. The two remained on good terms until his death. Towards the end of his musical career, Boito succeeded Giovanni Bottesini as director of the

Parma Conservatory The Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Boito, better known in English as the Parma Conservatory, is a music conservatory in Parma, Italy. It was originally established as the Regia Scuola di Canto, a school for singing in 1819 by Marie Louise, Duches ...

after the latter's death in 1889 and held the post until 1897. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Music from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1893, and on his death in Milan, he was interred there in the Cimitero Monumentale. He was an atheist. A memorial concert was given in his honour at La Scala in 1948. The orchestra was conducted by

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

. Recorded in very primitive sound, the concert has been issued on CD.

Career in music

Boito wrote very little music, but completed (and later destroyed) the opera '' Ero e Leandro'' and left incomplete a further opera, '' Nerone'', which he had been working at, on and off, between 1877 and 1915. Excluding its last act, for which Boito left only a few sketches, ''Nerone'' was finished after his death by

and Vincenzo Tommasini and premiered at La Scala in 1924. He also left a Symphony in A minor in manuscript. ''Mefistofele'' His only completed opera, ''

'', based on

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

's ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'', was given its first performance on 5 March 1868, at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. The premiere, which he conducted himself, was badly received, provoking riots and duels over its supposed " Wagnerism", and it was closed by the police after two performances. Verdi commented, "He aspires to originality but succeeds only at being strange." Boito withdrew the opera from further performances to rework it, and it had a more successful second premiere, in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

on 10 April 1875. This revised and drastically cut version also changed Faust from a baritone to a tenor. ''Mefistofele'' is the only work of his performed with any regularity today, and

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

included its two tenor arias in his first recording session. The prologue to the opera, set in Heaven, is a favourite concert excerpt. Libretti Boito's literary powers never waned. As well as writing the libretti for his own operas, he wrote them for greater operas by two other composers. As "Tobia Gorrio" (an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

of his name), he provided the libretto for

's '' La Gioconda''. Collaboration with Verdi Shortly after he had collaborated with Verdi on '' Inno delle nazioni'' ("Anthem of the Nations", London, 1862), Boito offended him in a toast to his long-time friend, the composer (and later conductor) Franco Faccio. The ''rapprochement'' was effected by the music publisher

Giulio Ricordi Giulio Ricordi (19 December 1840 – 6 June 1912) was an Italian editor and musician who joined the family firm, the Casa Ricordi music publishing house, in 1863, then run by his father, Tito, the son of the company's founder Giovanni Ricordi. ...

, whose long-term aim was to persuade Verdi to write another opera. Verdi agreed that Boito should revise the libretto of the original 1857 '' Simon Boccanegra''.

Musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

Roger Parker speculates that this was based on a desire to "test the possibility" of working with Boito, before possibly embarking on a larger project. The revised ''Boccanegra'' premiered to great acclaim in 1881. With that, their mutual friendship and respect blossomed, and that larger project became ''

''.Parker, p. 382 Although Verdi's aim to write the music for an opera based on Shakespeare's ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' never came to fruition (despite the existence of a libretto), Boito provided subtle and resonant libretti not just for ''

'' (based on Shakespeare's play ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'') but also for ''

'' (which was based on two other Shakespeare plays, ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' and parts of '' Henry IV''). After those many years of close association, when Verdi died in 1901, Boito was at his bedside.

Libretti by Boito

The years given are those of the premieres. Boito also provided the text to Verdi's cantata ''Inno delle Nazioni'' which was first given on 24 May 1862 at

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

, London. * '' Amleto'' ( Franco Faccio; 1865) * ''

'' (1868, his own music; 1875, his own music) * ''Un tramonto'' ( Gaetano Coronaro; 1873) * ''La falce'' ( Alfredo Catalani; 1875) * '' La Gioconda'' (

; 1876) * ''Semira'' (L. San Germano; never perf.) * ''Ero e Leandro'' ( Giovanni Bottesini; 1879 – Luigi Mancinelli; 1897) * '' Simon Boccanegra'' (Giuseppe Verdi; 1881 evised version of the 1857 original * ''Basi e bote'' (

Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli (July 10, 1882 – July 8, 1949) was an Italian composer and pianist of Czech birth. Life and career Born in Strakonice, South Bohemian Region, South Bohemia, on July 10, 1882, Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli moved with his ...

; 1927) * ''

'' (Verdi; 1887) * ''

'' (Verdi; 1893) * '' Nerone'' (Boito, unfinished, lacking act V; 1924)

Recordings

Recordings of two operas exist: * ''

'' *
Nerone
'

Depictions in media

* The play '' After Aida'' — a 1985 play-with-music by Julian Mitchell — depicts the struggle of

and Franco Faccio to get the retired Verdi to collaborate with young Boito on a project, which resulted in ''

''. * In November 2001, ''Tell Giulio the Chocolate is Ready'', a radio play by Murray Dahm, was produced and broadcast by Radio New Zealand. The play is based on the letters of the Verdi-Boito correspondence and explores the genesis and production of Verdi and Boito's opera ''

''. The play and broadcast included those sections of the opera as they appeared in the correspondence (such as Iago's ''

Credo In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the portion of the Mass where a creed is recited or sung. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed or the Apostles' Creed are the primary creeds used for this purpose. History After the ...

'').

References

Notes Sources * Ashbrook, William (1998), "Boito, Arrigo", in

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

, (Ed.), ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'', Vol. One, pp. 527–529. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. 1998
"Arrigo Enrico Boïto"
''Opera Glass'' Composer Index, (Stanford University) on opera.stanford.edu. Retrieved 17 January 2014 * Budden, Julian (1984), ''The Operas of Verdi, Volume 2: From Il Trovatore to La Forza del Destino''. London: Cassell. (hardcover) (paperback). * Budden, Julian (1984), ''The Operas of Verdi, Volume 3: From Don Carlos to Falstaff''. London: Cassell. * Businelli, Mariella; Giampiero Tintori (1986), ''Arrigo Boito, Musicista e Letteratto'', Nuove Edizioni * D'Angelo, Emanuele (2007), "Arrigo Boito", in ''Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies'', edited by Gaetana Marrone. New York: Routledge. Vol. 1, pp. 271–274. * D'Angelo, Emanuele (2010), ''Arrigo Boito drammaturgo per musica: Idee, visioni, forma e battaglie'', Venezia, Marsilio. * De Van, Gilles (trans. Gilda Roberts) (1998), ''Verdi's Theater: Creating Drama Through Music''. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press. (hardback), * Kimball, David (2001), in Holden, Amanda (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. * Maeder, Costantino, ''Il real fu dolore e l'ideal sogno. Arrigo Boito e i limiti dell'arte'', Cesati: Firenze, 2002. * Parker, Roger (1998), "''Simon Boccanegra"'', in