Calzabigi, Ranieri (EN)

Calzabigi, Calsabigi, Ranieri Simone Francesco Maria de, *23 December 1714 Livorno, †July 1795 Naples, Italian writer and librettist. After studying in Livorno and Pisa, he became a member of the Accademia Etrusca of Cortona in 1740, as well as of the Arcadia in Rome, where he wrote under the pseudonym “Liburno Drepanio.” From 1743 to 1748, he served as court poet in Naples. It was during this period that Calzabigi’s acquaintance with P. Metastasio began. Around 1750, he left for Paris. From 1752, he undertook the publication of Metastasio’s works, the first volume of which appeared in 1755 with a dedication to the Madame de Pompadour. In the preface, Calzabigi expressed his views on the aesthetics of opera. In later years, he came to oppose Metastasio’s opinions. Before 1761, due to financial difficulties, he was forced to leave Paris. In 1761, he appeared as an advisor to the Court of Auditors at the court in Vienna, where he established contact with the intendant of the Imperial Theatre, Count G. Durazzo, and through him began a collaboration with C.W. Gluck, resulting in the creation of the ballet pantomime Don Juan (1761). The following years brought further joint stage works: Orfeo ed Euridice (1762), Alceste (1767) and Paride ed Elena (1770). The collaboration between the two composers came to an end following a disagreement, when Gluck handed Calzabigi’s libretto (Le danaidi) over to his pupil A. Salieri. Calzabigi also wrote two librettos for opere buffe; in the first, Amiti e Ontario (unperformed), he drew on the ideas of J.J. Rousseau calling for a return to nature; in the second, L’opera seria, he created a satire on this genre of opera. From 1780 he lived in Naples, where he produced further critical writings, including Rispota… (1790), which was a response to S. Arteaga’s attack in Rivoluzioni del teatro musicale italiano (Venice, 2nd ed. 1785); he also wrote the librettos for Elfrida and Elvira there. In 1774, two volumes of Poesie de Ranieri de’ Calzabigi were published in Livorno, and in 1793, two volumes of Poesie e prose diverse di Ranieri de’ Calzabigi were published in Naples.

As a librettist, Calzabigi played an important role in the history of opera, spearheading a reform in this field alongside Gluck. At the heart of this reform lay the dramatisation of opera, achieved in part through the incorporation of innovations from Italian and French opera. In his work on the libretto, Calzabigi moved away from melodrama and towards tragedy. In his librettos, he strove for simplicity in line with the views of the Encyclopédistes and J.J. Rousseau, to strengthen the dramatic action; he reduced the number of characters and scaled back the hitherto overly elaborate stage design. Calzabigi was interested in the relationship between music and text, emphasising declamation, natural phrasing and the tempo of speech; he emphasised recitatives, particularly in moments of high emotional tension; he moved away from the Neapolitan practice of arranging separate recitatives and arias in sequence, instead structuring the plot into large scenes, integrated by a progression towards climactic moments. He realised these principles most perfectly in the librettos of Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste. His last two librettos, Elfrida and Elvira, were based on historical themes and departed from the principles of the reform: they are characterised by the complexity of the dramatic action, the absence of choruses, and a large number of characters. All of Calzabigi’s works reveal him to be a man of great knowledge, familiar with ancient, Italian, French and English literature. He was a translator of works by Milton, Gray and Thomson.

Literature: H. Weki Gluck und Calzabigi, “Vierteljahrschrift für Musikwissenschaft” VII, 1891; G. Lazzeri La vita e Popera letteraria di Ranieri Calzabigi, Città di Castello 1907; A. Einstein Ein unbekannter Opern-text Calzabigis, Gluck-Jahrbuch II, 1915; A. Einstein Calzabigis “Erwiderung” von 1790, Gluck-Jahrbuch II, III, 1915, 1917; J.G. Prod’homme Deux collaborateurs italiens de Gluck, “Revue de Musicologie” XXIII, 1916; H. Michel Ranieri Calzabigi als Dichter von Musikdramen und ais Kritiker, Gluck-Jahrbuch IV, 1918; R. Haas Die Wiener Ballett-Pantomime im 18. Jahrhundert und Glucks Don Juan, “Studien zur Musikwissenschaft” X, 1926; R. Giazotto Poesia melodrammatica e pensiero critico nel settecento, Milan 1952; D. Heartz From Garrick to Gluck. The Reform of Theatre and Opera in the Mid-eighteenth Century, “Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association” XCIV, 1967–68; H. Hammelmann, M. Rose New Light on Calzabigi and Gluck, “Musical Times,” June 1969; H.Ch. Wolff Das Märchen von der Neapolitanischen Oper und Metastasio, “Analecta Musicologica” IX, 1970; M. Dona Dagli archivi milanesi. Lettere di Ranieri di Calzabigi e di Antonia Bernasconi, “Analecta Musicologica” XIV, 1974; G. Carli Ballola „Paride ed Elena” and L’ultimo Calzabigi, Paisiello e “I’Elfrida” and D. Heartz “Orfeo ed Euridice.” Some Criticism, Revisions, and Stage-Realizations during Gluck’s Lifetime, “Chigiana” IX–X, 1972–73; A.L. Bellina Ranieri Calzabigi. Teoria e prassi melodrammatica tra Parigi e Vienna, “Lettere italiane” 1984; M. Hager Die Opernprobe als Theaterauf-führung. Eine Studie zum Libretto im Wien des 18. Jahrhunderts, in: Oper als Text. Romanistische Beiträge zur Libretto-Forschung, ed. E. Gier, Heidelberg 1986.