Ranieri de' Calzabigi (; 23 December 1714 – July 1795) was an Italian poet 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 ...

, most famous for his collaboration with the composer

Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of th ...

on his "reform" operas. Born in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

, Calzabigi spent the 1750s in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he became a close friend of

Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (; ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer who was born in the Republic of Venice and travelled extensively throughout Europe. He is chiefly remembered for his autobiography, written in French and pu ...

. Here he explored his interest in opera, producing an edition of the works of

Pietro Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and Libretto, librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early ...

, the most famous librettist of

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abou ...

. However, Calzabigi was also impressed by French

tragédie en musique ''Tragédie en musique'' (, musical tragedy), also known as ''tragédie lyrique'' (, lyric tragedy), is a genre of French opera introduced by Jean-Baptiste Lully and used by his followers until the second half of the eighteenth century. Operas i ...

, and eager to reform Italian opera by making it simpler and more dramatically effective. In 1761 he settled in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he met likeminded reformers: Gluck; Count

Giacomo Durazzo Count Giacomo Durazzo (27 April 1717 – 15 October 1794) was an Italian diplomat, art collector and man of the theatre. He is most famous for working with the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck on reforming Italian opera. Biography Early l ...

, the theatre director;

Gasparo Angiolini Gasparo Angiolini (7 February 1731 – 6 February 1803), real name Domenico Maria Gasparo, son of Francesco Angiolini and Maria Maddalena Torzi, was an Italian dancer, choreographer and composer. He was born in Florence and died in Milan. He is ...

, the choreographer; Giovanni Maria Quaglio, the set designer; and the

castrato A castrato (Italian; : castrati) is a male singer who underwent castration before puberty in order to retain a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice can also occur in one who, due to an endocrino ...

Gaetano Guadagni Gaetano Guadagni (16 February 1728 – 11 November 1792) was an Italian mezzo-soprano castrato singer, most famous for singing the role of Orpheus at the premiere of Gluck's opera '' Orfeo ed Euridice'' in 1762. Career Born at Lodi, Guadagni ...

. Together they worked on Gluck's groundbreaking ''

Orfeo ed Euridice (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning an ...

'' in 1762. Calzabigi then wrote the libretto for ''Alceste'', which further abandoned the practices of opera seria in favour of "noble simplicity". In the preface to this work, to which Gluck put his signature, Calzabigi set out his manifesto for reforming opera. A third collaboration, '' Paride ed Elena'', followed in 1770. Calzabigi also contributed to the scenario of Gluck's reformist

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, ''Don Juan'', in 1761. ''La finta giardiniera'', set by

Pasquale Anfossi Pasquale Anfossi (5 April 1727 – February 1797) was an Italian opera composer. Born in Taggia, Republic of Genoa, he studied with Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini, and worked mainly in London, Venice and Rome. He wrote more than 80 ope ...

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and feathers British customs ...

and

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

1775 Events Summary The American Revolutionary War began this year, with the first military engagement on April 19 Battles of Lexington and Concord on the day after Paul Revere's ride. The Second Continental Congress took various steps tow ...

, has been ascribed to Calzabigi, but this is now regarded as doubtful. In 1774 Calzabigi was banished from the Viennese court as the result of a scandal and took up residence in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

and in 1780 in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, where he wrote his last two librettos, ''Elfrida'' (1792) and ''Elvira'' (1794), both set to music by

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born i ...

, and continued his literary activities until his death.

Legacy

German composer

Georgina Schubert Georgina (or Georgine) Schubert (28 October 1840 – 26 December 1878) was a German coloratura soprano and lieder composer who toured throughout Europe. Life Schubert was born in Dresden to violinist and composer François Schubert and his wife ...

(1840-1878) used Calzabigi’s text for her song “Romanza.”

Notes

External links

''Alceste'': opera with libretto by Calzabigi and music by Gluck
vocal score from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection * Daniel Winkler: "Körper und Tragödie. Alfieris und Calzabigis paratextueller Kampf um eine reine Gattung", in

Wilhelm Fink, Munich 2016, . 49–104. pp. 153–190. {{DEFAULTSORT:Calzabigi 1714 births 1795 deaths People from Livorno Ballet librettists Italian expatriates in Austria Italian opera librettists Italian male dramatists and playwrights 18th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 18th-century Italian male writers Writers from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany Expatriates in France