Ferdinando Fontana (30 January 1850 – 10 May 1919) was an Italian journalist, dramatist, and poet. He is best known today for having written the

libretti 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 l ...

of the first two

operas Opera is a form of Western 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 li ...

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

– ''

Le Villi ''Le Villi'' (''The Willis'' or ''The Fairies'') is an opera–ballet in two acts (originally one) composed by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, based on the short story "Les Willis" by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. Karr ...

'' and ''

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

''.

Biography

Born at

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 ...

, then part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, into a family of artists - both his father Carlo and his brother Roberto were painters - he entered a

Barnabite The Barnabites (), officially named as the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul (), are a religious order of clerics regular founded in 1530 in the Catholic Church. They are associated with the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul and the members of the Bar ...

school at the age of seven and then went on to study at the Collegio Zambelli. He was forced to abandon his studies while still young to provide for himself and his two younger sisters following the death of their mother. During that period, he worked in a series of menial jobs before becoming a

copy editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (" copy") to improve quality and readability, as well as ensuring that a text is free of errors in grammar, style, and accuracy. ''The Ch ...

for the newspaper ''Corriere di Milano''. This brought him into contact with the world of journalism and literature, which was to become his career. An exponent of the second

Scapigliatura ''Scapigliatura'' () is the name of an artistic movement that developed in Italy after the Risorgimento period (1815–71). The movement included poets, writers, musicians, painters and sculptors. The term Scapigliatura is the Italian equivalent ...

artistic movement, Fontana was a very versatile writer. Apart from his plays and opera libretti, he wrote poems (in both Italian and

Milanese dialect Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ) is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...

), travel books, and articles in various Italian newspapers, including ''

Corriere della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

''. From 1878 to 1879 he was the Berlin correspondent for the ''Gazzetta Piemontese'' (today ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'').

During his time in Milan, Fontana wrote two plays in Milanese dialect, ''La Pina Madamin'' and ''La Statôa del sciôr Incioda''. Both had considerable success and starred Edoardo Ferravilla, considered one of the greatest comic actors in Milanese theatre. He wrote numerous libretti, including two for

Alberto Franchetti Alberto Franchetti (18 September 1860 – 4 August 1942) was an Italian composer and racing driver, best known for the 1902 opera ''Germania''. Biography Alberto Franchetti was born in Turin, a Jewish nobleman of independent means. He studied ...

(''

Asrael ''Asrael'' is a ''leggenda'' or opera in four acts by composer Alberto Franchetti and librettist Ferdinando Fontana. The plot, based on German fairy tale and folklore, displays the conflict between the spirit of evil and the spirit of Christian l ...

'' and ''Zoroastro'') and two for

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 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 line of composers, s ...

(''Le Villi'' and ''Edgar''). He wrote the libretto for ''Edgar'' in

Caprino Bergamasco Caprino Bergamasco (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northwest of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,908 ...

, where fellow librettist

Antonio Ghislanzoni Antonio Ghislanzoni (; 25 November 1824 – 16 July 1893) was an Italian journalist, poet, and novelist who wrote librettos for Verdi, among other composers, of which the best known are ''Aida'' and the revised version of '' La forza del de ...

ran a hotel for artists. He also translated several

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

libretti for performance in Italy, including

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is '' The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life and career L ...

's ''

Die lustige Witwe ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality ...

(The Merry Widow)'' and ''

Der Graf von Luxemburg ''Der Graf von Luxemburg'' (''The Count of Luxembourg'') is an operetta in three acts by Franz Lehár to a German libretto by Alfred Maria Willner, Alfred Willner, Robert Bodanzky, and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein. A Viennese take on Bohemianism, ...

(The Count of Luxembourg)'',

Oskar Nedbal Oskar Nedbal (26 March 1874 – 24 December 1930) was a Czech violist, composer, and conductor of classical music. Early life Nedbal was born in Tábor, in southern Bohemia. He studied the violin at the Prague Conservatory under Antonín Ben ...

's ''Polenblut (Polish Blood)'', and

Edmund Eysler Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March 1874 – 4 October 1949), was an Austrian composer. Biography Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family. He was supposed to enter the engineering profession, but his acquaintance with Leo Fall led h ...

's ''Der Frauenfresser (The Woman-Eater)''. Early in his career, Fontana's output was prodigious: an 1886 article in ''La Stampa'' said that at the time, 13 new libretti by Fontana were being composed by 12 different composers. A committed and passionate socialist, he took part in the Milanese demonstrations in 1898 which led to the Bava-Beccaris massacre. Because of the repressions which followed, he fled to Switzerland where he first lived in Montagnola, a small town near

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

. He remained in Switzerland until his death, living a modest life, and greatly reducing his literary activities. Fontana died in Lugano in 1919, at the age of 69.

Texts set to music

Unless indicated otherwise, the texts were opera libretti. *''El marchionn di gamb avert'', from the poem ''Lament del Marchionn di gamb avert'' by Carlo Porta, set to music by Enrico Bernardi (Milan, 14 July 1875) *''Il conte di Montecristo'', completion of a libretto by Emilio Praga, music by Raffaele Dell'Aquila (Milan, 14 June 1876) *''Maria e Taide'', music by Nicolò Massa (August 1876) *''Il violino del diavolo'', music by Agostino Mercuri (

Cagli Cagli is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, Marche, central Italy. It is c. south of Urbino. The Burano flows near the town. History Cagli occupies the site of an ancient village on the Via Flaminia, which seems to have ...

, 12 September 1878) *''Aldo e Clarenza'', music by Nicolò Massa (11 Aprile 1878) *''La Simona'', music by Benedetto Junck (Milan, 1978) *''Odio'', from

Victorien Sardou Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 1831 – 8 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-c ...

's play ''La Haine (Hatred)'', for

Amilcare Ponchielli Amilcare Ponchielli (, ; 31 August 1834 – 16 January 1886) was an Italian opera composer, best known for his opera La Gioconda (opera), ''La Gioconda''. He was married to the soprano Teresina Brambilla. Life and work Born in Paderno Fasolaro ( ...

but never composed (written between 1878 and 1879) *''

Maria Tudor ''Maria Tudor'' is an opera in four acts composed by Antônio Carlos Gomes to an Italian-language libretto by Emilio Praga (completed by Arrigo Boito). The libretto is based on Victor Hugo's 1833 play '' Marie Tudor'', which centers on the ris ...

'' (attributed to Emilio Praga, completed after his death by

Arrigo Boito Arrigo Boito (; born Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) was an Italian librettist, composer, poet and critic whose only completed opera was ''Mefistofele''. Among the operas for which he wrote the libretto, libretti ar ...

, Angelo Zanardini, and Fontana) music by

Antônio Carlos Gomes Antônio Carlos Gomes (; 11 July 1836 in Campinas – 16 September 1896 in Belém) was a Brazilian composer notable for being the first New World composer whose work was accepted by Europe. He was the only non-European who was successful as an o ...

(Milan, 27 March 1879) *''Il bandito'', music by Emilio Ferrari (

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, northwestern Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po River, Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montfe ...

, 5 December 1880) *''La leggenda d'un rosajo'',

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

, music by Enrico Bertini (1883) *''Anna e Gualberto'', music by Luigi Mapelli (Milan, May 1884) *''

'', music by

(Milan, 31 May 1884) *''Il Natale'', stories set to music by

Giulio Ricordi Giulio Ricordi (19 December 1840 – 6 June 1912) was an Italian editor and musician who joined the family firm, the Casa Ricordi music publishing house, in 1863, then run by his father, Tito, the son of the company's founder Giovanni Ricordi. ...

under the pseudonym of Jules Burgmein (1884) *''Il Valdese'', music by Giuseppe Ippolito Franchi-Verney (

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, 3 December 1885) *''Flora mirabilis'', music by Spiro Samara (Milan, 16 May 1886) *''Il bacio'', music by Enrico Bertini, never performed (written 1886) *''Il profeta del Korasan'' (or ''Mocanna''), music by

Guglielmo Zuelli Guglielmo Zuelli (20 October 1859 – 17 October 1941) was an Italian composer, conductor, and music educator.Slonimsky, p. 1952 As a composer he achieved fame for his first opera ''Fata del Nord'' which premiered in Milan in 1884. Both his fi ...

, never performed (written 1886) *''Notte d'aprile'', music by Emilio Ferrari (Milan, 4 February 1887) *''Colomba'', music by Vittorio Radeglia (Milan, 15 June 1887) *''Annibale'', ballo, music by

Romualdo Marenco Romualdo Marenco (March 1, 1841 – October 9, 1907) was an Italian composer primarily noted for ballet music. Marenco started his musical career as a violinist in the Doria Theater in Genoa. His first composition was the ballet ''Garibaldi ...

(1888) *''Asrael'', music by

(

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...

, 11 February 1888) *''

'', music by Giacomo Puccini (Milan, 21 April 1889) *''Zoroastro'', music by Alberto Franchetti, never performed (written 1890) *''Il tempo'', dance, music by Riccardo Bonicioli (3 January 1891) *''Lionella'', music by Spiro Samara (Milan, 4 April 1891) *''Theora'', music by Ettore Edoardo Trucco (14 February 1894) *''Duettin d'amore'', written with Gaetano Sbodio, music by Emilio Ferrari, (1895) *''La forza d'amore'', music by Arturo Buzzi-Peccia (

, 6 March 1897) *''Il signor di Pourceaugnac'', based on

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

's play ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac'', music by Alberto Franchetti (Milan, 10 April 1897) *''Mal d'amore'', based on Paolo Ferrari's ''La medicina d'una ragazza malata'', music by

Angelo Mascheroni Angelo Mascheroni (1855 in Bergamo, Italy – 1905) was a pianist composer, conductor, and music teacher, brother of the conductor Edoardo Mascheroni. He is most famous for his "Eternamente" for voice and violin, sung by Enrico Caruso; his t ...

(Milan, 30 April 1898) *''La lampada'', music by Ubaldo Pacchierotti (16 December 1899) *''La dea della montagna, ovvero I minatori'', music by Ivan Zajc (composition completed 31 January 1899; unperformed) *''La notte di Natale'', music by Alberto Gentile (29 December 1900) *''Il calvario'', music by Edoardo Bellini (Milan, 25 June 1901) *''La nereide'', music by Ulisse Trovati (14 November 1911) *''Sandha'', music by Felice Lattuada (

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, 21 February 1924) *''Maria Petrovna'', music by João Gomes de Araújo (composed in 1903 but not performed until January 1929) *''Elda'' (written in Switzerland) *''La Simona'', lyric poem based on the Seventh Tale of the Fourth Day in

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was s ...

's ''

Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's ''Comedy'' "''Divine''"), is a collection of ...

'', music by Benedetto Junck (date unknown) *''Inno del Canton Ticino'' (''

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

Canton Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts and its capital city is Bellinzona ...

'') as well as songs and

romanza ''Romanza'' is the first compilation album by Italian tenor singer Andrea Bocelli, released internationally in 1997. Although a compilation, ''Romanza'' is considered Bocelli's breakthrough album and is his most commercially successful, topping ...

s set to music by various composers, including Nicolò Massa and

Francesco Paolo Tosti Sir Francesco Paolo Tosti KCVO (9 April 1846, Ortona, Abruzzo2 December 1916, Rome) was an Italian composer and music teacher. Today, he is remembered mostly for his light-hearted songs, which are popular among vocal students. Life Frances ...

. Fontana supplied the poems for three songs by Tosti – "Senza di te!", "È morto Pulcinella!", and "Nonna,... sorridi?...".Sanvitale (2004), p. 115.

Notes and references

* This article is a substantial translation from

Ferdinando Fontana Ferdinando Fontana (30 January 1850 – 10 May 1919) was an Italian journalist, dramatist, and poet. He is best known today for having written the libretto, libretti of the first two operas by Giacomo Puccini – ''Le Villi'' and ''Edgar (opera ...

in the Italian Wikipedia. With the exception of Sanvitale (2004), the source texts listed below are from the original article. * Cesari, Francesco, ''Ferdinando Fontana librettista'', in ''Scapigliatura & Fin de Siècle. Libretti d'opera italiani dall'Unità al primo Novecento - Scritti per Mario Morini'', edited by Johannes Streicher, Sonia Teramo e Roberta Travaglini, Ismez, Rome 2007, pp. 325–344 - * Gallini, Natale, ''Incontro con Ferdinando Fontana'' in ''La Martinella di Milano'' IX (1955), pp. 11–12 * Istituto di Studi Pucciniani, ''Lettere di Ferdinando Fontana a Giacomo Puccini: 1884-1919'', in ''Quaderni Puccininani 4 - 1992''. * Longoni, Biancamaria, ''Vita e opere di Ferdinando Fontana'', in ''Quaderni Puccininani 4 - 1992'', Istituto di Studi Pucciniani. * Sanvitale, Francesc
''The Song of a Life: Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846-1916)''
(translated by Nicola Hawthorne), Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2004.

External links

* *
Poetry and Stories by Ferdinando Fontana
on

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

(in Italian) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Ferdinando Italian opera librettists Writers from Milan 1850 births 1919 deaths Scapigliatura Movement Italian socialists Italian expatriates in Switzerland Italian male dramatists and playwrights People from Lugano German–Italian translators