Gaetano Rossi (; 18 May 1774 – 25 January 1855) was an Italian

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 ...

for several of the well-known ''

bel canto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

''-era composers including

Gioachino 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 ...

Gaetano 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 ...

, and

Saverio Mercadante Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 179517 December 1870) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond ...

in Italy and Giacomo Meyerbeer in one of his early Italian successes. Other composers with whom he worked included

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 ...

, a composer and Donizetti's teacher, as well as the prolific Giovanni Pacini.

Biography

Born in Verona, Rossi was writing religious verse by the time that he was 13 years old. He wrote libretti for about 60 years, beginning in 1797 with mostly

farsa Farsa (Italian, literally: ''farce'', plural: ''farse'') is a genre of opera, associated with Venice in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is also sometimes called ''farsetta''. Farse were normally one-act operas, sometimes performed to ...

s. Rossi wrote the texts for some significant operas by the well-known composers of the era. These included ''

Tancredi ''Tancredi'' is a ''melodramma eroico'' ('' opera seria'' or heroic opera) in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi (who was also to write ''Semiramide'' ten years later), based on Voltaire's play ''Tancrède'' (176 ...

'' and ''

Semiramide ''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Feni ...

'' for Rossini and '' Il crociato in Egitto'' for Meyerbeer, as well as later operas for Donizetti such as ''

Maria Padilla ''Maria Padilla'' is a ''melodramma'', or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Gaetano Rossi and the composer wrote the Italian libretto after François Ancelot's play. It premiered on 26 December 1841 at La Scala, Milan. The plot is l ...

'' (as co-author) and ''

Linda di Chamounix ''Linda di Chamounix'' is an operatic ''melodramma semiserio'' in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on 19 May 1842. Performance history '' ...

''. In addition to his writing, he also worked for a time as the

stage director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

for the

Teatro Filarmonico The Teatro Filarmonico is the main opera theater in Verona, Italy, and is one of the leading opera houses in Europe. The Teatro Filarmonico is property of the Accademia Filarmonica di Verona. Having been built in 1716, and later rebuilt after a ...

in Verona.

Musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

John Black regards him as producing crude versification, "but nevertheless he had an eye for dramatic situations and his texts, if long-winded, were effective." His success was twofold: in finding mostly foreign sources to utilize as well as introducing "strongly romantic plots to the Italian stage".Black 1998, p. 52 sq.

Works

Legend: Autumn = Autumn season (Autunno); Carnival = Carnival season (i. e. from 26 December to Easter); Spring = Spring season (Primavera)

References

Notes Sources *Black, John (1998), "Gaetano Rossi", 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. Four, pp. 52–53. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Gaetano 1774 births 1855 deaths Writers from Verona Italian opera librettists 19th-century Italian writers 18th-century Italian writers 18th-century Italian male writers 19th-century Italian male writers