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Antonio Somma

Born: 28 August 1809; Undine, Italy.

Died: 8 August 1864; Venice, Italy.

Opera Libretti

(The years given are those of the premieres.)

• Re Lear (for Verdi; unset)
• Un Ballo in Maschera (Verdi; 1857)

Following studies at Padua, he settled in Trieste as a poet and playwright.His successful tragedyParisina, written while he was still a student,brought him the superintendency of the Teatro Communale there. He laterpracticed law in Venice. There he met Verdi,who entrusted him with the libretto ofIl re Lear onCammarano's death;when this project collapsed, he prepared the melodrammaUn Ballo in Maschera instead. Verdi admired his poetic giftsand patriotic sentiments, but found him ignorant of the requirements ofmusical setting. Somma wrote several plays, but no other libretti, thoughhe is often credited as one of the authors (with Dall'Ongaro and Gazoletti),of the melodramaUn Duello sotto Richelieu(set by Federico Ricci, 1839); the extent of his participation is uncertain.

The libretto ofUn Ballo in Maschera was originally publishedanonymously, Somma refusing to associate himself with the changes in localeand characters imposed by the Roman censors. Somma's authorship of his solelibretto was apparently not revealed until after his death. It is ironic that this playwright, otherwise completely divorced from the opera stage, should beconnected with perhaps the most dramatic and frequently cited case of operaby censorship, and with one of the most famous operas never written.

References:

• The New Grove Dictionary of Opera;Edited by Stanley Sadie; Macmillan Press Limited, London; Volume 4, p 450.
• Budden, Julian:The Operas of Verdi, Revised edition,Oxford University Press, 1973, 1992.
• Werfel, Franz & Paul Stefan:Verdi: The Man in his Letters,L. B. Fischer, N.Y., 1942.

contributed byStephen L. Parker andRichard S. Bogart