Giuseppe Adami (before 1946) - Archivio storico Ricordi FOTO000540

Giuseppe Adami (4 February 187812 October 1946) was an Italian

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 ...

, playwright and music critic, he was best known for his collaboration with

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

on the

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 ...

s ''

La rondine ''La rondine'' (''The Swallow'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and . It was first performed at the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo (or the Thé� ...

'' (1917), ''

Il tabarro ''Il tabarro'' (''The Cloak'') is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on 's play ''La houppelande''. It is the first of the trio of operas known as '' Il trittico''. The first performance was giv ...

'' (1918) and ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is " Nessun dorma", ...

'' (1926).

Works of plays

Adami also wrote several plays, such as ''I fioi di Goldoni'', ''Una capanna e il tuo cuore'' (1913), ''Capelli bianchi'' (1915), ''Felicità Colombo'' (1935) and ''Nonna Felicità'' (1936). The latter was adapted into a film in 1938 by director

Mario Mattoli Mario Mattoli (; 30 November 1898 – 26 February 1980) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 86 films between 1934 and 1966. His 1939 film ''Defendant, Stand Up!'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy ...

Early life, training and biography

Adami was born in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. He graduated at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

but dedicated his career as a writer, theatre playwright, and then music critic. After the death of Puccini, Adami published a collection of the composer's letters in ''Epistolario'' (1928). He also published his personal recollections; ''Giulio Ricordi e i suoi musicisti'' (1933); ''Giacomo Puccini'' (1935) (this was one of the earliest biographies of the composer); and a second biography of Puccini ''Il romanzo della vita di Giacomo Puccini'' (1942).

Librettos

Adami also wrote librettos for other

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

s including

Riccardo Zandonai Riccardo Zandonai (28 May 1883 – 5 June 1944) was an Italian composer. Biography Zandonai was born in Borgo Sacco, Rovereto, then part of Austria-Hungary. As a young man, he showed such an aptitude for music that he entered the Pesaro Conserv ...

's ''La via della finestra'' (1919); and

Franco Vittadini Franco Vittadini (9 April 1884 in Pavia – 30 November 1948 in Pavia) was an Italian composer and conductor. As a composer he is mostly known for his operas and sacred music. Born in Pavia, he began his musical studies in 1903 at the Milan Cons ...

's ''Anima allegra'' (1921) and ''Nazareth'' (1925). He was a music critic for ''La sera'' (Milan) and for the review ''La comedia'' from 1931 to 1934. Adami acted as publicist with the house of

Ricordi Ricordi may refer to: People *Giovanni Ricordi (1785–1853), Italian violinist and publishing company founder * Giulio Ricordi (1840–1912), Italian publisher and musician Music *Casa Ricordi, an Italian music publishing company established i ...

to the end of his life. 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 ...

aged 67.

References

External links

Giuseppe Adami biography
*
''La via della finestra''
Vocal score from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection 1878 births 1946 deaths Writers from Verona University of Padua alumni Italian music critics Italian opera librettists Italian male dramatists and playwrights Italian male non-fiction writers {{Opera-bio-stub