Alessandro Pepoli (1757–1796), was an Italian librettist and author of tragedies.
Born in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, Pepoli sought to be considered a literary rival to
Vittorio Alfieri, often writing his own takes on topics previously addressed by Alfieri.
[Peter Hainsworth and David Robey, eds., "Pepoli, Alessandro, Count", ''The Oxford Companion to Italian Literature'' (2002), p. 450.] Styling himself as a champion of
liberty,
in 1783, he wrote an essay on freedom, advocating political reform.
Other noted works include:
* ''Anna Bolena'', a libretto recounting the life of
Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...
. Similar treatments were done in the same period by
Felice Romani (''
Anna Bolena'') and
Ippolito Pindemonte (''Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena'').
* A libretto for an opera by
Giovanni Paisiello entitled ''
I giuochi d'Agrigento'' with which the theater,
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice beca ...
, was inaugurated on 16 May 1792.
* A six-page summary translation of
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...
's ''
Paradise Lost
''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...
'', ''Prospetto del "Paradiso Perduto" di Giovanni Milton Tradotto in versi sciolti da Alessandro Pepoli'', printed in Venice in 1795.
[William Bridges Hunter, ''A Milton Encyclopedia'' (1983), Vol. 8, p. 82.]
* A tragedy ''Agamennone'' published in Venice in 1794 and rival of the tragedy with the same subject of Alfieri
References
External links
Alessandro Pèpoli at www.ariannaeditrice.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepoli, Alessandro
1757 births
1796 deaths
Italian librettists
Italian male writers
18th-century Venetian writers