Adapting Earlier Librettos

The subject matter of Italian opera librettos is rarely original. Since the inception of the genre, librettists drew on all kinds of fictional, historical, dramatic, and narrative materials, modifying them to varying degrees in order to suit the different medium, specific musical and dramatic conventions, the expectations of specific patrons, the needs and demands of the cast, or the requirements of authorities and censors. Quite early in the history of opera, it became clear that one of the most straightforward ways to produce a libretto was to adapt an existing one. This practice solidified in the eighteenth century, and its pervasiveness is exemplified perfectly in countless remakes of the librettos of Pietro Metastasio. In early-nineteenth-century Italy, however, classical and neoclassical opera seria plots were in decline. Although they never completely disappeared, the most important librettists and composers did away with those subjects, seeking new dramatic themes instead. It is emblematic that in 1828 Vincenzo Bellini refused to compose a Cesare in Egitto, because, as he explained in a letter to his friend Francesco Florimo, “the subject is as old as Noah” (il soggetto è vecchio come Noè).