Antonio Ghislanzoni

Ghislanzoni was born in Lecco, Lombardy, and studied briefly in a seminary, but was expelled for bad conduct in 1841. He then decided to study medicine in Pavia, but abandoned this after a short time to pursue a singing career as a baritone and to cultivate his literary interests. In 1848, stimulated by the nationalist ideas of Mazzini, Ghislanzoni founded several republican newspapers in Milan but eventually had to take refuge in Switzerland. While travelling to Rome, where he wanted to help defend the nascent republic, Ghislanzoni was arrested by the French and briefly detained in Corsica. In the mid-1850s, having forsaken the stage, Ghislanzoni became active in journalism in the bohemian circles of Milan, serving as director of Italia musicale and editor of the Gazzetta musicale di Milano. He also founded L'uomo di pietra the magazine Rivista minima, collaborating with, among others, Arrigo Boito. In 1869, Ghislanzoni retired from journalism and returned to his native Lombardy, where he dedicated himself to literature and writing libretti for operas. He wrote many short stories in verse and diverse novels including Un suicidio a fior d'acqua (1864), Angioli nelle tenebre (1865), La contessa di Karolystria (1883), Abracadabra: Storia dell'avvenire (1884). His novel of theatrical life Gli artisti da teatro, (1865), was republished into the 20th century. He also published musical essays, the most important being Reminiscenze artistiche. Ghislanzoni wrote some eighty-five libretti, including Edmea for Catalani (1866), Aida (1870), Fosca (1873) and Salvator Rosa (1874) for Gomes, I Lituani for Ponchielli (1874) and the second version of La forza del destino (1869). He also contributed a few verses to the revised translation into Italian of Verdi's Don Carlos. Ghislanzoni ran a hotel for artists called Il Barco in Caprino Bergamasco, Bergamo, where he died in 1893, at age 68. He was an atheist.

The following table contains a list of opera librettos written by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Ghislanzoni has been attributed with 85 librettos, but the exact number is probably around 40. • Title — Genre — Subdivisions — Music — Première — Place, theatre • Le due fidanzate — Melodramma serio — 3 (prologue, 2 acts) — baurAntonio Baur — 25 February 1857 — Milan, Teatro Carcano • conteIl conte di Leicester — Melodramma — 4 acts — baurAntonio Baur — 18 February 1858 — Parma, Teatro Regio • mariaMaria Tudor — Opera — 4 acts — kashperovVladimir Nikitich Kashperov — 7 December 1859 — Milan, Teatro Carcano • marionMarion Delorme — Opera seria — 3 acts — bottesiniGiovanni Bottesini — 10 January 1862 — Palermo, Real Teatro "Vincenzo Bellini" • colaCola di Rienzi — Melodramma — 4 acts — kashperovVladimir Nikitich Kashperov — March 1863 — Florence, Teatro della Pergola • stellaLa stella di Toledo — Melodramma — 3 acts — benvenutiTomaso Benvenuti — 23 April 1864 — Milan, Teatro della Canobbiana • isolaL'isola degli orsi — Opera buffa — 3 acts — dall'argineCostantino Dall'Argine — 14 February 1867 — Milan, Teatro di Santa Radegonda • avventurieriGli avventurieri — Melodramma — 3 (prologue, 2 acts) — bragaGaetano Braga — 30 October 1867 — Milan, Teatro di Santa Radegonda • artistiGli artisti alla fiera — Melodramma buffo — 3 acts — rossiLauro Rossi — 7 November 1868 — Turin, Teatro Carignano • giovannaGiovanna di Napoli (Giovanna II di Napoli) — Dramma lirico — 4 (prologue, 3 acts) — petrellaErrico Petrella — 27 February 1869 — Naples, Teatro San Carlo • valeriaValeria — Tragedia lirica — 4 acts — veraEdoardo Vera — 16 March 1869 — Bologna, Teatro Comunale • promessiI promessi sposi — Melodramma — 4 acts — petrellaErrico Petrella — 1 October 1869 — Lecco, Teatro Sociale • capriccioUn capriccio di donna — Melodramma serio — 4 (prologue, 3 acts) — cagnoniAntonio Cagnoni — 10 March 1870 — Genoa, Teatro Carlo Felice • papaPapà Martin (La gerla di papà Martin) — Opera semiseria — 3 acts — cagnoniAntonio Cagnoni — 4 March 1871 — Genoa, Teatro Politeama Tivoli • reginellaReginella — Melodramma — 4 (prologue, 3 acts) — bragaGaetano Braga — 16 September 1871 — Lecco, Teatro Sociale • aidaAida — Opera — 4 acts — verdiGiuseppe Verdi — 24 December 1871 — Cairo, Khedivial Opera House • adelindaAdelinda — Dramma lirico — 3 acts — mercuriAgostino Mercuri — 18 Agust 1872 — San Marino, Teatro Concordia • caligolaCaligola — Opera — 4 (prologue, 3 acts) — bragaGaetano Braga — 22 January 1873 — Lisbon, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos • foscaFosca — Melodramma — 4 acts — gomesAntônio Carlos Gomes — 16 February 1873 — Milan, Teatro alla Scala • parlatoreIl parlatore eterno — Scherzo comico — 1 act — ponchielliAmilcare Ponchielli — 18 October 1873 — Lecco, Teatro Sociale • lituaniI Lituani — Dramma lirico — 4 (prologue, 3 acts) — ponchielliAmilcare Ponchielli — 7 March 1874 — Milano, Teatro alla Scala • salvatorSalvator Rosa — Dramma lirico — 4 acts — gomesAntônio Carlos Gomes — 21 March 1874 — Genoa, Teatro Carlo Felice • ducaIl duca di Tapigliano — Opera comica — 3 (prologue, 2 acts) — cagnoniAntonio Cagnoni — 10 October 1874 — Lecco, Teatro Sociale • saraSara — Melodramma — 4 (prologue, 3 acts) — gibelliLuigi Gibelli — 27 May 1876 — Milan, Teatro Castelli • schiaviGli schiavi di Enna — Melodramma — raveraNicolò Teresio Ravera — January 1877 — London, Queen's Theatre • atahualpaAtahualpa — Dramma lirico — 4 acts — pastaCarlo Enrico Pasta — 11 January 1877 — Lima, Teatro Principal • francescaFrancesca da Rimini — Tragedia lirica — 4 acts — cagnoniAntonio Cagnoni — 19 February 1878 — Turin, Teatro Regio • adelinaAdelina — Melodramma serio — 3 acts — sozziLuigi Sozzi — 30 September 1879 — Lecco, Teatro Sociale • don RiegoDon Riego — Dramma lirico — 4 acts — dall'olioCesare Dall'Olio — 29 November 1879 — Rome, Teatro Argentina • moraMora — Opera seria — viciniLuigi Vicini — 13 October 1880 — Lecco, Teatro Sociale • giovannaGiovanna la pazza — Melodramma — zarateElidoro Ortiz de Zarate — 1886 — Milan, Conservatorio di Musica • edmeaEdmea — Dramma lirico — 3 acts — catalaniAlfredo Catalani — 27 February 1886 — Milan, Teatro alla Scala • doriaI Doria — Dramma lirico — 4 acts — machadoAugusto Machado — 15 January 1887 — Lisbon, Teatro de São Carlos • edoardoEdoardo Stuart — Melodramma — 4 acts — pontoglioCipriano Pontoglio — 21 May 1887 — Milan, Teatro Manzoni • carmosinaCarmosina — Dramma lirico — 3 acts — gomesdeJulio Gomes de Araújo — 1 May 1888 — Milan, Teatro Dal Verme • fiammaFiamma — Opera ballo — 4 acts — raveraNicolò Teresio Ravera — 26 October 1890 — Alessandria, Teatro Civico • andreaAndrea del Sarto — Dramma lirico — 3 acts — baravalleVittorio Baravalle — 20 November 1890 — Turin, Teatro Carignano • spartacoSpartaco — Tragedia lirica — 4 acts — plataniaPietro Platania — 29 March 1891 — Naples, Teatro San Carlo • cleopatraCleopatra — Dramma lirico — 4 acts — moralesMelesio Morales — 14 November 1891 — Mexico City, Gran Teatro Nacional (Mexico) • celesteCeleste — Idillio musicale — 3 acts — spetrinoFrancesco Spetrino — 3 December 1891 — Bucharest, Teatrul National • gualtieroGualtiero Swarten — Opera — 3 (prologue, 2 acts) — gnagaAndrea Gnaga — 15 November 1892 — Rome, Teatro Costanzi • frineFrine od Amore e capriccio — Opera seria — 2 acts — carpanetoGiovanni Carpaneto — 7 February 1893 — Genoa, Teatro Carlo Felice • maestroMaestro Smania — Operetta — 1 act — clandestiniCesare Clandestini — 12 March 1894 — Bergamo, Teatro Riccardi • aldaAlda — Dramma lirico — 4 acts — romanielloLuigi Romaniello — 30 January 1896 — Piacenza, Teatro Municipale • moriI Mori di Valenza (Les maures de Valence) (revised by Annibale Ponchielli and completed by Arturo Cadore) — Dramma lirico — 4 acts — ponchielliAmilcare Ponchielli — 17 March 1914 — Monte Carlo, Opéra de Monte-Carlo

• Aida, directed by Clemente Fracassi (1953) • Aida, directed by Claes Fellbom (1987)