Courtesy of Columbia University
Lorenzo Da Ponte, writer of librettos
for Mozart's beloved operas.
Please ping the list.
Posted on 10/05/2005 9:48:40 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
On June 4, 1805, a ship from London sailed into the harbor of Philadelphia, and a toothless 56-year-old Italian man disembarked. He was completely broke, having gambled away all his money on the two-month passage from Europe, so he borrowed $32 to pay the customs taxes on his violin, his tea urn, his carpet and his trunk of Italian literature.
An observer at the scene would never have guessed that here stood one of the greatest librettists in the history of music, but sure enough, it was Lorenzo Da Ponte, a name that would be forever yoked to the beloved operas that his graceful, witty and songlike poetry enabled Mozart to create: "Le Nozze di Figaro," "Don Giovanni" and "Così Fan Tutte."
Da Ponte never tired of dropping Mozart's name, but his time in Vienna as the poet of the Italian opera, appointed by Emperor Joseph II, was in truth only one exciting episode in a long and fantastically colorful life.
After leaving Vienna in 1791 and wending his way through Europe for more than a decade, seemingly always on the run from creditors and plagued by financial woes, Da Ponte joined his unofficial wife and children in this country. He lived out his final three decades here story continues here
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Da Ponte was quite a character. He later wrote a extensice autobiography...which mentions Mozart hardly at all.
Courtesy of Columbia University
Lorenzo Da Ponte, writer of librettos
for Mozart's beloved operas.
Please ping the list.
The link mentions the autobiography and other colorful episodes of his varied career.
In keeping with my general erudition I should mention that I didn't read the article before posting that. :)
Dear afraidfortherepublic,
Very interesting article! Thanks!
Classical Music Ping List ping! If you want on or off this moderate volume list, let me know via FR e-mail. Thanks.
sitetest
So, he showed up here as a foreign-speaking, broke, unemployed, gambling addict and had to go into debt immediately. We couldn't control our borders any better then than we can now.................
Falco ping!
Just kidding....
Rock me Amadeus!
Wow! Thanks for posting this. The historical novel Da Ponte in America is on its knees, begging to be written!
With grim irony I note that the first thing he discovered in America was how expensive legal immigration was
The claim by the San Francisco Opera is that they predated the NYC one - I have never verified nor refuted that claim. In any case, this is a fascinating link to Mozart. Once wonders, had Mozart not been so ill of health, would he at some point have made it over to the US?
That's quite all right. I don't think that many read the whole article -- especially when there is a link -- before commenting. :~)
The same thought occurred to me. The way we are taught history -- with divergent events and topics seldom connected, or put in context -- I had never associated Mozart's life with the possibility of appearing in America. Of course it would have been possible, though unlikely. However, with Constanza's business mind and the family's constant need for money, she just might have arranged a tour!
constant = insatiable
She was never known as a great business mind when he was alive but all of a sudden become one after he died. There was a Mozart boom right after his death because of the Magic Flute and she took full advantage of it selling off publishing rights at good prices.
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