Andrea Maffei (1798 – 1885) was an Italian poet, translator and

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 ...

. He was born in Molina di Ledro,

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

. A follower of Vincenzo Monti, he formed part of the 19th-century Italian

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

literary culture. Gaining

laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremo ...

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

, he moved for some years to

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, then to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and finally to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, where in 1831 he married contessa Clara Spinelli. They separated by mutual consent on 15 June 1846. As well as Verdi, Maffei also built up close relationships with others in the Italian cultural scene of the time, including Vincenzo Monti, Antonio Rosmini, Gino Capponi, Mario Rapisardi, Carlo Tenca, the painter

Francesco Hayez Francesco Hayez (; 10 February 1791 – 12 February 1882) was an Italian painter. He is considered one of the leading artists of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, and is renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories, and ...

, and the sculptors Vincenzo Vela and Giovanni Duprè. Key cultural figures from the rest of Europe also passed through the lounge of his house in Milan, including

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

and

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...

. In 1879 Andrea Maffei was made a senator of the Kingdom of Italy and participated in Italian political life. In the mid-19th century he frequently lived at Riva del Garda, where he organised his rich art collection and where, in 1935, the town's

Liceo classico The ''liceo classico'' or ''ginnasio'' () is the oldest public secondary education in Italy, secondary school type in Italy. Its educational curriculum spans over five years, when students are generally about 14 to 19 years of age. Until 196 ...

was named after him. He died in Milan in 1885.

Translator and poet

Skilled in foreign languages, he translated several works of English and

German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy ...

into Italian, particularly the plays of Schiller,

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' and ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'', many works of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

(including ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'') and

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

's ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...

''. In his translations he sought to adapt the author's original thought to that of the Italian literary public. Not only a translator, he was also a poet and Romanticist. For

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

he wrote the famous libretto for '' I masnadieri'', drawn from Schiller, and re-wrote some verses from

Francesco Maria Piave Francesco Maria Piave (18 May 18105 March 1876) was an Italian opera libretto, librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic), Kingdom of Italy. Career Piave's career spanned ...

's libretto for ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

''. He was also a librettist for

Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece '' Cavalleria rusticana'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ...

, writing the texts for his ''Il Re a Napoli in Cremona'' (1885) and '' Guglielmo Ratcliff'' (1895, from

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

's 1822 play ''William Ratcliff'').

Translations

Gessner

*''Idilli di Gessner'' (1821)

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...

*''Gli amori degli angeli'' (''The loves of angels'', 1836) *''Canti orientali'' (''Oriental poems'', 1836) *''Gli amori degli angioli'' (''The loves of angels'', 1839)

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

*''Caino'' (1852) *''Cielo e terra'' (1853) *''Parisina'' (1853) *''Misteri e novelle'' (''Mysteries and novels'', 1868)

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

*''Arminio e Dorotea'' (1864) *''Fausto'' (1866)

Schiller

*''La sposa di Messina'' (1827) *''Maria Stuarda'' (''Mary Stuart'', 1829) *''La vergine d'Orleans'' (''The Maid of Orléans'', 1830) *''Guglielmo Tell'' (''William Tell'', 1835) *''Maria Stuarda'' (''Mary Stuart'', 1835) *''Guglielmo Tell'' (''William Tell'', 1844) *''Cabala ed amore'' (1852) *''La congiura del Fiesco'' (1853) *''Turandot'' (1863)Turandot, fola tragicomica di Carlo Gozzi. Imitate da Federico Schiller e tradotte dal cav. Andrea Maffei.

Other works

*''Le satire e le epistole'' (after 1853) *''Il paradiso perduto'' (''

'', by Milton, 1857) *''Struensee'' (1863) *''Guglielmo Ratcliff'' (by

, 1875) *''L'

ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

a Pirra'' (by

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

, c. 1880) *''Poeti tedeschi'' (''German poets'', 1901)

Original works

*''La preghiera '' (1829) *''Studi poetici'' (1831) *''Dal Benaco'' (1854) *''Poesie varie'' (1859) *''Arte, affetti, fantasie'' (1864) *''E' morto il re!'' (1878) *''Liriche'' (1878) *''Affetti'' (1885) *''Ghirlanda per una sposa'' (1886)

Opera libretti

*'' I masnadieri'' (

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

, London, 22 July 1847, music by

) *''David Riccio'' : 2-act drama, with prologue (1849) music by Vinc. Capecelatro (1850) *''

'' (Additions to the original): 4 part melodrama, music by Giuseppe Verdi (1850)

References

Sources *'
Letters to Andrea Maffei
'', by Mario Rapisardi (1877)
''Prometheus''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maffei, Andrea 1798 births 1885 deaths People from Trentino 19th-century Italian poets Italian male poets Italian opera librettists 19th-century Italian translators English–Italian translators German–Italian translators Italian politicians Italian people of the Italian unification Shakespearean scholars Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Translators of William Shakespeare 19th-century Italian male writers Literary translators