Giovanni Schmidt
Encyclopedia
Life
He moved to NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
whilst still young and stayed there his whole life. Between 1800 and 1840 he wrote libretti for 45 operas, especially for the Teatro San Carlo, for which he was official poet. He and Andrea Leone Tottola
Andrea Leone Tottola
Andrea Leone Tottola was a prolific Italian librettist, best known for his work with Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini.It is not known when or where he was born...
were the two librettists who dominated theatrical life in Naples in the first quarter of the 19th century. His lyrics were mostly banal and verbose, but were set by the most important composers of the era, such as Giacomo Tritto
Giacomo Tritto
Giacomo Domenico Mario Antonio Pasquale Giuseppe Tritto was an Italian composer, known primarily for his 54 operas. He was born in Altamura, and studied in Naples; among his teachers were Nicola Fago, Girolamo Abos, and Pasquale Cafaro. One of his pupil was Ferdinando Orlandi...
, Gaetano Andreozzi, Luigi Mosca, Pietro Generali, Saverio Mercadante
Saverio Mercadante
Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
and Gioachino Rossini; for Rossini alone he wrote texts for Elisabetta regina d’Inghilterra, Eduardo e Cristina, Armida and Adelaide di Borgogna, which are considered his best works. He also appears as a character in a scene from the 1991 film Rossini! Rossini! (directed by Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli was an Italian director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the Commedia all'Italiana , three times nominated for Oscar.-Biography:...
).
Libretti
- Meleagro (opera seria; music by Nicola Antonio Zingarelli, 1798)
- Idante ovvero I sacrifici d'Eccate (dramma per musica; music by Marcos António Portugal, 1800)
- Gli americani (opera seria; music by Giacomo TrittoGiacomo TrittoGiacomo Domenico Mario Antonio Pasquale Giuseppe Tritto was an Italian composer, known primarily for his 54 operas. He was born in Altamura, and studied in Naples; among his teachers were Nicola Fago, Girolamo Abos, and Pasquale Cafaro. One of his pupil was Ferdinando Orlandi...
; 1802) - Piramo e Tisbe (opera seria; music by Gaetano Andreozzi, 1803)
- LeonoraLeonora (opera)Leonora, ossia L’amore coniugale is an opera in two acts by the Italian composer Ferdinando Paer. The libretto, by Giovanni Schmidt, is based on Léonore ou L’Amour conjugal by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, which was also the source of Beethoven's Fidelio...
(dramma semiserio; music by Ferdinando PaerFerdinando Paer-Biography:Paer was born at Parma. His father was a trumpeter with the Ducal Bodyguards and also performed at church and court events. His name, Ferdinando, was after Duke Ferdinand of Parma and was given to him by Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Duke Ferdinand's wife...
, 1804) - Cesare in Egitto (opera seria; music by Giacomo TrittoGiacomo TrittoGiacomo Domenico Mario Antonio Pasquale Giuseppe Tritto was an Italian composer, known primarily for his 54 operas. He was born in Altamura, and studied in Naples; among his teachers were Nicola Fago, Girolamo Abos, and Pasquale Cafaro. One of his pupil was Ferdinando Orlandi...
, 1805) - Andromeda (opera seria; music by Vittorio Trento, 1805)
- Il salto di Leucade (music by Luigi MoscaLuigi MoscaLuigi Mosca was Italian composer of operas and sacred music and a noted singing teacher. He composed eighteen operas, most of them originally for theatres in Naples, but which played throughout Italy in their day.-Biography:...
, 1812) - Ecuba (tragedia per musica; music by Nicola Antonio ManfroceNicola Antonio ManfroceNicola Antonio Manfroce was an Italian composer.-References:...
, 1812) - Elisabetta, regina d'InghilterraElisabetta, regina d'InghilterraElisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, is a dramma per musica or opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, from the play The Page of Leicester by Carlo Federici...
(dramma; music by Gioachino Rossini, 1815) - ArmidaArmida (Rossini)Armida is an opera in three acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, based on scenes from Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso.-Performance history:...
(dramma; music by Gioachino Rossini, 1817) - Adelaide di Borgogna (dramma; music by Gioachino Rossini, 1817)
- Eduardo e CristinaEduardo e CristinaEduardo e Cristina is an operatic 'dramma' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto originally written by Giovanni Schmidt for Odoardo e Cristina , an opera by Stefano Pavesi, and adapted for Rossini by Andrea Leone Tottola and Gherardo Bevilacqua-Aldobrandini.This pastiche work was...
(dramma; music by Gioachino Rossini, 1819) - L'apoteosi d'Ercole (dramma per musica; music by Saverio MercadanteSaverio MercadanteGiuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
, 1819) - Anacreonte in Samo (dramma per musica; music by Saverio MercadanteSaverio MercadanteGiuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
, 1820) - Lo sposo in provincia (commedia; music by Giacomo Cordella, 1821)
- La sposa indiana (music by Pietro Generali, 1822)
- L'amante virtuoso (music by Giuseppe Balducci, 1823)
- Alessandro nelle Indie (dramma per musica; music by Giovanni PaciniGiovanni PaciniGiovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas...
, 1824) - Anazilia (melodramma; music by Giovanni PaciniGiovanni PaciniGiovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas...
, 1825) - Malvina (music by Michele Costa, 1829)
- Le nozze campestri (dramma per musica; music by Giacomo Cordella, 1840; music by Giuseppe LilloGiuseppe LilloGiuseppe Lillo was an Italian composer. He is best known for his operas which followed in the same vein of Gioachino Rossini. He also produced works for solo piano, a small amount of sacred music, and some chamber music....
, 1840)