Filippo Acciaiuoli (1637 – 8 February 1700) was an Italian composer,

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 ...

, theater manager, machine designer, and

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 wri ...

. Acciaiuoli spent much of his youth and early adulthood traveling throughout Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa. After returning to Rome in his early twenties, he initially studied mathematics at a seminary in Rome but ultimately became interested in theater. He is best known for his work as a librettist for operas such as

Jacopo Melani Jacopo Melani (6 July 1623 – 18 August 1676) was an Italian musical composition, composer and violinist of the Baroque era. He was born and died in Pistoia, and was the brother of composer Alessandro Melani and singer Atto Melani. Works *165 ...

's '' Girello'', which premiered in Rome in 1668, and as the inventor of numerous sophisticated machines that were used in theatrical productions of the day. He also composed one opera, ''Chi è cagion del suo mal pianga se stesso'', which premiered in Rome in 1682. Acciaiuoli was the first business manager of the Teatro Tordinona in Rome and later the manager of the

Teatro Capranica The Teatro Capranica is a theatre situated at 101 Piazza Capranica in the Colonna district of Rome. Originally constructed in 1679 by the Capranica family and housed in the early Renaissance Palazzo Capranica, it was the second public theatre to o ...

. He was also a member of ''l'Academia degli Immobili'' when Ferdinando Tacca developed its Teatro della Pergola. He had a close association with the court of

Médicis The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

. In 1689, Ferdinando II hired him to create theatrical machinery for the opera ''Greco in Troia''. Contracts for other theatrical productions followed. Acciaiuoli would also occasionally perform in operas as a dancer. He was a dancer in the interludes of the original 1658 production of Francesco Cavalli's ''

Hipermestra ''Hipermestra'' is an opera in a prologue and 3 acts by Francesco Cavalli - more specifically, it is a '' festa teatrale''. The opera was set to a libretto by G. A. Moniglia, and was first performed at Florence on 12 June 1658. The plot is based ...

'', among other productions. He also exerted his talents within puppet theatres, designing machinery and occasionally working as a manipulator of

marionettes A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...

. It is speculated that he coordinated the various aspects of the production of ''L'Empio Punito''.

Opera librettos

*''Il Girello'' a burlesque opera by composer

(

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

1668) *'' L'empio punito'', drama per musica by

Alessandro Melani Alessandro Melani (4 February 1639 – 3 October 1703) was an Italian composer and the brother of composer Jacopo Melani, and castrato singer Atto Melani. Along with Bernardo Pasquini and Alessandro Scarlatti, he was one of the leading composers ...

(

, Carnival 1669) The libretto is based on the well known persona of Giovanni Tenorio who was also the basis for Mozart's '' Don Giovanni''. *''Damira placata'',

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 libr ...

, libretto written with

Aurelio Aureli Aurelio Aureli (Venice, before 1652 – id. after 1708) was an Italian librettist. Life Little is known about Aureli's life. He began his operatic career in 1652 with ''L'Erginda''. Until 1687, he worked as a librettist mainly in Venice, excep ...

and composer Marc'Antonio Ziani (

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, 1680)

Sources

*The '' New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', edited by Stanley Sadie (1992), 5,448 pages, and *''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages,

References

1637 births 1700 deaths 17th-century Italian composers Italian male classical composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers Italian opera librettists Italian male dramatists and playwrights 17th-century male musicians {{Opera-bio-stub