Lorenzo Da Ponte facts for kids
Lorenzo Da Ponte (born Emanuele Conegliano; March 10, 1749 – August 17, 1838) was an Italian writer who later became an American citizen. He was a Roman Catholic priest, a poet, and most famously, an opera librettist. A librettist writes the words for operas. Da Ponte wrote the words for 28 operas by 11 different composers. Among these were three of Mozart's most famous operas: The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790). He also became the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University in the United States.
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Early Life and Career
Lorenzo Da Ponte was born Emanuele Conegliano in 1749 in Ceneda, which was then part of the Republic of Venice in Italy. He was born into a Jewish family and was the oldest of three sons. In 1764, his father, Geronimo Conegliano, converted himself and his family to Roman Catholicism. This was so his father could marry a Catholic woman. Emanuele then took the name Lorenzo Da Ponte from the bishop of Ceneda who baptized him.
Thanks to the bishop, Lorenzo and his two brothers studied at the Ceneda seminary. A seminary is a school for training priests. The bishop died in 1768. After this, Lorenzo moved to another seminary in Portogruaro. There, he became a Professor of Literature in 1770. He was ordained as a priest in 1773. Around this time, he started writing poetry in Italian and Latin.
In 1773, Da Ponte moved to Venice. He worked there as a teacher of Latin, Italian, and French. Even though he was a Catholic priest, he got into trouble. He was found guilty of certain actions and was banished from Venice for fifteen years. This meant he was not allowed to return to the city.
Life in Vienna and London
After being banished, Da Ponte moved to Gorizia, which was then part of Austria. He worked as a writer and connected with important noblemen and cultural supporters. In 1781, he thought he had an invitation to work in Dresden. He traveled there, but found out the invitation was false. However, his friend Caterino Mazzolà, a poet, offered him work translating opera libretti. Mazzolà also suggested he develop his writing skills and gave him an introduction to the composer Antonio Salieri.
With Salieri's help, Da Ponte got a job as a librettist for the Italian Theatre in Vienna. A librettist writes the words for operas. In Vienna, he found a supporter in the banker Raimund Wetzlar von Plankenstern, who also helped Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. As the court poet and librettist in Vienna, Da Ponte worked with Mozart, Salieri, and Vicente Martín y Soler.
Da Ponte wrote the words for Mozart's most famous Italian operas. These include The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790). He also wrote for Soler's Una cosa rara. Most of Da Ponte's works were based on existing stories, which was common at the time. However, he made them much better with his writing.
In 1790, Austrian Emperor Joseph II died. Da Ponte lost his main supporter. He was officially dismissed from his job in 1791 because of secret plots against him. The new Emperor, Leopold, did not support him. Since he was still banished from Venice, he had to travel elsewhere.
In Trieste, he met Nancy Grahl, who became his companion, and they had children together. In August 1792, he planned to go to Paris. However, he learned about the difficult political situation in France. So, he decided to go to London instead, with Nancy Grahl and their two children. Life in England was difficult at first. He worked as a grocer and an Italian teacher. In 1803, he became a librettist at the King's Theatre in London. He stayed in London, working in theater and publishing, until 1805. Because of debt, he had to leave for the United States with Grahl and their children.
American Career
In the United States, Da Ponte first settled in New York City. Then he moved to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, where he briefly ran a grocery store. He also gave private Italian lessons and did some business in Philadelphia. He later returned to New York to open a bookstore.
He became friends with Clement Clarke Moore. Through this friendship, he received an unpaid position as the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia College. He was the first Roman Catholic priest to be a professor there. He was also the first professor who had been raised Jewish.
In New York, Da Ponte helped introduce opera to the country. In 1825, he produced the first full performance of Don Giovanni in the United States. He also brought Gioachino Rossini's music to the U.S. through a concert tour with his niece, Giulia Da Ponte.
In 1807, he began writing his Memoirs, which were published in 1823. These memoirs tell his life story as an adventure.
In 1828, at 79 years old, Da Ponte officially became a naturalized U.S. citizen. In 1833, at 84, he founded the first building specifically made for opera in the United States. This was the Italian Opera House in New York City. It was much better than any theater the city had seen before. However, Da Ponte was not good at business. The opera house only lasted two seasons before it had to close to pay its debts. The building later became the National Theater. It burned down in 1839 but was quickly rebuilt. It burned down again in 1841. Despite its short life, Da Ponte's opera house was a very important step for opera in New York. It was a predecessor to the New York Academy of Music and the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Da Ponte died in 1838 in New York. A very large funeral was held at New York's old St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. He was originally buried in a Catholic Cemetery. Later, the remains from that cemetery were moved to Calvary Cemetery in 1909. The exact spot of his grave is not known, but there is a stone marker (a memorial stone) for him there.
In 2009, the Spanish director Carlos Saura released an Italian film called Io, Don Giovanni. This movie tells a somewhat fictionalized story of Da Ponte's life. It tries to connect his life experiences with the words he wrote for the opera Don Giovanni.
Da Ponte's Opera Words
Many people have discussed how important Da Ponte's writing was for opera. He was especially good at creating clear characters and funny or satirical scenes. He worked very closely with composers to make their music shine.
Richard Taruskin noted that Mozart wanted to work with Da Ponte very much. Mozart was worried that other Italian composers in Vienna were trying to keep Da Ponte for themselves. Mozart specifically wanted to create a funny opera (a buffa) that also included a serious female part (a seria) for contrast. Taruskin suggests that Da Ponte was especially skilled at combining these different styles into a lively and dramatic story.
David Cairns looked at how Da Ponte rewrote the story for Don Giovanni. He found that Da Ponte's version was "wittier, more stylish, more concise and more effective." Da Ponte also changed the structure of the story. This gave Mozart better chances to create amazing musical parts.
Works
- Opera libretti (words for operas):
- La Scuola de' gelosi (1783) – composer Antonio Salieri
- Il ricco d'un giorno (1784) – composer Antonio Salieri
- Il burbero di buon cuore (1786) – composer Vicente Martín y Soler
- Il Demogorgone ovvero Il filosofo confuso (1786) – composer Vincenzo Righini
- Il finto cieco (1786) – composer Giuseppe Gazzaniga
- Le nozze di Figaro (1785/86) – composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Una cosa rara (1786) – composer Vicente Martín y Soler
- Gli equivoci (1786) – composer Stephen Storace
- L'arbore di Diana (1787) – composer Vicente Martín y Soler
- Il dissoluto punito o sia Il Don Giovanni (1787) – composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Axur, re d'Ormus (1787/88) – composer Antonio Salieri
- Il Talismano (1788) – composer Antonio Salieri
- Il Bertoldo (1788) – composer Antonio Brunetti
- L'Ape musicale (1789) – a mix of works by different composers
- Il Pastor fido (1789) – composer Antonio Salieri
- La cifra (1789) – composer Antonio Salieri
- Così fan tutte (1789/90) – composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- La Caffettiera bizzarra (1790) – composer Joseph Weigl
- La Capricciosa corretta (1795) – composer Vicente Martín y Soler
- Antigona (1796) – composer Francesco Bianchi
- Il consiglio imprudente (1796) – composer Giuseppe Francesco Bianchi
- Merope (1797) – composer Giuseppe Francesco Bianchi
- Cinna (1798) – composer Giuseppe Francesco Bianchi
- Armida (1802) – composer Giuseppe Francesco Bianchi
- La grotta di Calipso (1803) – composer Peter Winter
- Il trionfo dell'amor fraterno (1804) – composer Peter Winter
- Il ratto di Proserpina (1804) – composer Peter Winter
- Cantatas and oratorios (musical pieces for voices and instruments):
- Per la ricuperata salute di Ofelia (1785) – composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri and "Cornetti"
- Il Davidde (1791) – a mix of works by different composers
- Hymn to America – composer Antonio Bagioli
- Poetry:
- A letter of complaint in blank verse to Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
- 18 sonnets (poems) written to remember his wife (1832)
- Other works:
- Translations from English into Italian
- Several books for learning the Italian language
- Memorie (his autobiography, or life story)
- History of the Florentine Republic and the Medici (2 volumes, 1833)
See also
In Spanish: Lorenzo da Ponte para niños
- Teresa Bagioli Sickles
