Giuseppe Petrosellini (29 November 1727 – 1799) was an Italian poet and prolific

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 ...

working primarily in the ''

dramma giocoso ''Dramma giocoso'' (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: ''drammi giocosi'') is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of ''dramma giocoso per musica'' and describes the opera's libretto (text). The g ...

'' and ''

opera buffa Opera buffa (, "comic opera"; : ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesc ...

'' genres.

Life and career

Petrosellini was born in Corneto,

Papal State The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct Sovereignty, sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy fro ...

(now

Tarquinia Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscans, Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropolis, necropoleis, or cemeteries. Tarquinia was designated as a ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

) and spent most of life in Rome at the Papal Court where he held the title of "

Abate Abate may refer to: * Abate (surname) * A brand name for the insecticide temefos * ABATE, a motorcycle and motorcyclist rights organization * The Italian word for abbot and abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramai ...

". He was also a member of several ''accademie'' (learned societies), most notably the

Accademia degli Arcadi The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dell'Arcadia, "Academy of Arcadia" or "Academy of the Arcadians", is an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi. History Found ...

for whom he wrote under the pseudonym "Enisildo Prosindio". Amongst his most well-known libretti is Paisiello's ''

Il barbiere di Siviglia ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy '' ...

''. ''

La finta giardiniera ' ("The Pretend Garden-Girl"), Köchel catalogue, K. 196, is an Italian-language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old and it received its first performance on 13 January at the in M ...

'', 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 ...

in 1774 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 ...

in 1775, has been ascribed to him, but it is questionable whether it is in his style. He also wrote several libretti for

Domenico Cimarosa Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Music of Italy, Italian composer of the Neapolitan School and of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is ''Il ...

and

. One of his last works was the libretto for Cimarosa's ''I nemici generosi'' which premiered at the

Teatro Valle The ''Teatro Valle'' (literally Valley Theater) is a theatre and former opera house in Rome, Italy. It was built in 1726 for the Capranica family. In the middle of the 19th century, it switched from staging opera and theatre to only performances ...

in 1795. Petrosellini died in Rome in 1799.Senigl, Johanna (2005)
''Florilegium Pratense: Mozart, seine Zeit, seine Nachwelt''
p. 234 and ''passim''. Königshausen & Neumann

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrosellini, Giuseppe Italian opera librettists Italian poets Italian male poets 1727 births 1799 deaths People from the Papal States People from the Province of Viterbo Italian male dramatists and playwrights