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

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 ...

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

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 ...

on the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s (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 given ...

'' (1918) and ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'' (1926).

Works of plays

Adami 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 comed ...

Early life, training and biography

Adami was born in

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 ...

. He graduated from the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

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 and conducting, conductor. 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 ...

's ''La via della finestra'' (1919); and Franco Vittadini'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 ( , , ; ) 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 ...

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