Lorenzo da Ponte

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Lorenzo Da Ponte (March 10 1749–August 17 1838) was an Italian librettist born in Ceneda (now Vittorio Veneto). He is most famous for having written the librettos to three Mozart operas, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. Many of his works were in the genre of Opera buffa.

Da Ponte was the son of a converted Jew, and trained for the priesthood and to be a teacher. However, he was unable to behave in a manner befitting a priest or teacher, and so he was banned from teaching, and later exiled from Venice. Da Ponte worked in Dresden, and later Vienna, where he worked with Salieri. He became the court poet for Joseph II, in which capacity he worked in many languages, including French, German, and Italian. While in Vienna he also worked with the composer Vicente Martín y Soler.

Da Ponte later worked in Paris, London, and eventually moved to New York City, where he held a position as Professor of Italian at Columbia College (later called Columbia University).

Da Ponte's works were generally based on pre-existing plots, which was common at the time. Le nozze di Figaro, for example, was based on a Pierre Beaumarchais play, as was Axur re d’Ormus which he wrote for Salieri.

He was a long time friend of Giacomo Casanova.

Reference

Tim Carter and Dorothea Link. "Lorenzo Da Ponte", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed May 23 2006), [grovemusic.com].

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