Libretto

Libretto (Ital., 'little book'), the book of an opera. In too many cases it is deplorable, from the absence of any literary quality, plot, or consistency; and this largely because, almost from the beginning, any poetic or dramatic powers were forced into the Procrustes' bed formed by the requirements of the musician's art. The Italian librettos are especially poor, but many of their English and German rivals run them hard in this respect. Among the most noteworthy librettists have been Metastasio, Calzabigi, and Felice Romano in Italy; Quinault, Marmontel, Scribe, Barbier, Meilhac and Halévy, as well as Sardou, in France; the poet Geibel (who wrote Lorley for Mendelssohn) and Schikaneder (who wrote the Zauberflöte, &c. for Mozart) in Germany; and Gay, Alfred Bunn, Edward Fitzball, Theodore Hook, Planché, and Gilbert in England. Wagner stands alone, in that, after the Flying Dutchman, he himself wrote the librettos of his great music-dramas, becoming, to use his own words, 'first of all a poet.' Dryden, Addison, Fielding, Chat- terton, 'Monk' Lewis, Voltaire, and Rousseau, besides Sheridan, Dickens, and Mark Lemon, have attempted libretto-writing; while numerous subjects for operas have been taken from the works of Shakespeare, Goldsmith, Goethe, Scott, Hugo, &c.