A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as Mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or the story line of a ballet.

Libretto (pl. libretti), from Italian, is the diminutive of the word "libro" (book). A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. However, some ballet historians use the word libretto to refer to the 15–40 page books which were on sale to 19th century ballet audiences in Paris and contained a very detailed description of the ballet's story, scene by scene.^[1]

The relationship of the librettist (that is, the writer of a libretto) to the composer in the creation of a musical work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources and the writing techniques employed.

Relationship of composer and librettist[link]

Libretti for operas, oratorios, and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries generally were written by someone other than the composer, often a well-known poet. Metastasio (1698–1782) (real name Pietro Trapassi) was one of the most highly regarded librettists in Europe. His libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted 18th century librettist was Lorenzo da Ponte, who wrote the libretti for three of Mozart's greatest operas, as well as for many other composers. Eugène Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for works by Meyerbeer (with whom he had a lasting collaboration), Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. The French writers' duo Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote a large number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet and Georges Bizet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, also composed two operas of his own.

The libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers, such as Mikhail Glinka, Alexander Serov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Puccini, and Mascagni wrote passages of music without text and subsequently had the librettist add words to the vocal melody lines. (This has often been the case with American popular song and musicals in the 20th century, as with Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's collaboration, although with the later team of Rodgers and Hammerstein the lyrics were generally written first.)

Some composers wrote their own libretti. Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for two of his best-known works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Berg adapted Georg Büchner's play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck.

Sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer; this can involve adaptation, as was the case with Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist Bel'sky, or an entirely original work. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics, and the "book" (i.e., the spoken dialogue and the stage directions) may each have their own author. Thus, a musical such as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer (Jerry Bock), a lyricist (Sheldon Harnick), and the writer of the "book" (Joseph Stein). In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the dance arrangements - music, lyrics, and libretto, as Lionel Bart did for Oliver!.

Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for stage or screen. There are the preliminary steps of selecting or suggesting a subject and developing a sketch of the action in the form of a scenario, as well as revisions that might come about when the work is in production, as with out-of-town tryouts for Broadway musicals, or changes made for a specific local audience. A famous case of the latter is Wagner's 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his opera Tannhäuser for Paris.

Literary characteristics[link]

The opera libretto from its inception (ca. 1600) was written in verse, and this continued well into the 19th century, although genres of musical theater with spoken dialogue have typically alternated verse in the musical numbers with spoken prose. Since the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. Much of the recitative of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, for instance, is merely DuBose and Dorothy Heyward's play Porgy set to music as written - in prose - with the lyrics of the arias, duets, trios and choruses written in verse.

The libretto of a musical, on the other hand, is almost always written in prose (except for the song lyrics). The libretto of a musical, if the musical is adapted from a play (or even a novel), may even borrow their source's original dialogue liberally - much as Oklahoma! used dialogue from Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, Carousel used dialogue from Ferenc Molnár's Liliom, My Fair Lady took most of its dialogue word-for-word from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, Man of La Mancha took most of its dialogue from the 1959 television play I, Don Quixote (from which it was adapted), and the 1954 musical version of Peter Pan used J.M. Barrie's dialogue. Even the musical Show Boat, which is greatly different from the Edna Ferber novel from which it was adapted uses some of Ferber's original dialogue, notably during the miscegenation scene. And Lionel Bart's Oliver! uses chunks of dialogue from Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist, although it bills itself as a "free adaptation" of the novel.

Language and translation[link]

As the originating language of opera, Italian dominated that genre in Europe (except in France) well through the 18th century, and even into the next century in Russia, for example, when the Italian opera troupe in Saint Petersburg was challenged by the emerging native Russian repertory. Significant exceptions before 1800 can be found in Purcell's works, German opera of Hamburg during the Baroque, ballad opera and Singspiel of the 18th century, etc.

Just as with literature and song, the libretto has its share of problems and challenges with translation. In the past (and even today), foreign musical stage works with spoken dialogue, especially comedies, were sometimes performed with the sung portions in the original language and the spoken dialogue in the vernacular. The effects of leaving lyrics untranslated depend on the piece. Many musicals, such as the old Betty Grable - Don Ameche - Carmen Miranda vehicles, are largely unaffected, but this practice is especially misleading in translations of musicals like Show Boat, The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady or Carousel, in which the lyrics to the songs and the spoken text are often or always closely integrated, and the lyrics serve to further the plot.^{[citation needed]} Availability of printed or projected translations today makes singing in the original language more practical, although one cannot discount the desire to hear a sung drama in one's own language.

The Spanish words libretista (playwright, script writer or screen writer) and libreto (script or screen play), which are used in the Hispanic TV and cinema industry, derived their meanings from the original operatic sense.

Status of librettists and the libretto[link]

Poster for La figlia di Iorio where the librettist, Gabriele D'Annunzio, is given top billing

Librettists have historically received less prominent credit than the composer. In some 17th-century operas still being performed, the name of the librettist was not even recorded. As the printing of libretti for sale at performances became more common, these records often survive better than music left in manuscript. But even in late 18th-century London, reviews rarely mentioned the name of the librettist, as Lorenzo da Ponte lamented in his Memoirs.

By the 20th century some librettists became recognized as part of famous collaborations, as with Gilbert and Sullivan or Rodgers and Hammerstein. Today the composer (past or present) of the musical score to an opera or operetta is usually given top billing for the completed work, and the writer of the lyrics relegated to second place or a mere footnote, a notable exception being Gertrude Stein, who received top billing for Four Saints in Three Acts. Another exception was Alberto Franchetti's 1906 opera La figlia di Iorio which was a close rendering of a highly successful play by its librettist, Gabriele D'Annunzio, a celebrated Italian poet, novelist, and dramatist of the day. In some cases, the operatic adaptation has become more famous than the literary text on which it was based, as with Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande after a play by Maurice Maeterlinck.

On the other hand, the affiliation of a poor libretto to great music has sometimes given the libretto's author a kind of accidental immortality. Certainly it is common for works of classical music to be admired in spite of, rather than because of, their libretti. An example is Mozart's inept librettist Varesco.

The question of which is more important in opera — the music or the words — has been debated over time, and forms the basis of at least two operas, Richard Strauss's Capriccio, and Antonio Salieri's Prima la musica, poi le parole.

Publication of libretti[link]

Pages from an 1859 libretto for Ernani, with the original Italian lyrics, English translation, and musical notation for one of the arias

Libretti have been made available in several formats, some more nearly complete than others. The text — i.e., the spoken dialogue, sung lyrics, and stage directions, as applicable — is commonly published separately from the music (such a booklet is usually included with sound recordings of most operas). Sometimes (particularly for operas in the public domain) this format is supplemented with melodic excerpts of musical notation for important numbers.

Printed scores for operas naturally contain the entire libretto, although there can exist significant differences between the score and the separately printed text. More often than not, this involves the extra repetition of words or phrases from the libretto in the actual score. For example, in the aria 'Nessun dorma' from Puccini's Turandot, the final lines in the libretto are "Tramontate, stelle! All'alba, vincerò!" (Fade, you stars! At dawn, I will win!). However, in the score they are sung as "Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba, vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!"

Because the modern musical tends to be published in two separate but intersecting formats (i.e., the book and lyrics, with all the words, and the piano-vocal score, with all the musical material, including some spoken cues), both are needed in order to make a thorough reading of an entire show.

See also[link]

• List of opera librettists

References[link]

Notes

Sources

• Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 985 pages, ISBN 0-19-861459-4
• MacNutt, Richard (1992), 'Libretto' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
• Smith, Marian Elizabeth (2000). Ballet and Opera in the Age of Giselle. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04994-7
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Librettos

• Selected Opera Libretti at Naxos
• Public-Domain Opera Libretti and Other Vocal Texts
• 400 Librettos of the most famous Operas
• Либретто во сне и наяву (Libretto in dream and in reality), holding Russian and some Western libretti (in the Russian language, as Microsoft Word files), notably: Libretti of classic Russian operas (in Russian)
• Index of over 900 opera libretti

vep:Libretto

Kanon Wakeshima
Kanon Wakeshima performing at Japan Expo 2009
Background information
Born	(1988-06-28) June 28, 1988 (age 23)
Origin	Tokyo
Genres	Neoclassical dark wave, dark ambient, baroque rock
Occupations	Singer, musician, cellist
Instruments	Vocals, cello
Years active	2008–present
Labels	DefStar Records, Maru Music
Website	www.kanonweb.jp

Kanon Wakeshima (分島 花音, Wakeshima Kanon^?, born June 28, 1988)^{[dubious – discuss]} is a Japanese singer and cellist.^[1] Produced by musician and fashion designer Mana, Wakeshima debuted under the DefStar Records label on May 28, 2008 with the single "Still Doll", the ending theme for the anime adaptation of the manga series Vampire Knight. She also provided the voice for a maid that appears in the eighth episode of the series. Wakeshima's second single "Suna no Oshiro", released on November 12, 2008, was used as the ending theme for the series' second season (subtitled Guilty).^[2]

She was nominated for a Best Newcomer award for 2008 in the fourth annual Shōjo Beat Music Awards, nominees of which are determined by surveying "record companies, music journalists, music experts, and music fans".^[1]

Biography[link]

Before her birth, Wakeshima's music-loving parents wished that she would be a musician. At the age of three, she began learning cello, marking her entry into the world of music. In junior high school she formed her own ensemble group. At the age of fifteen, she transited from her former classical ensembles into playing in the baroque section. Appearing in a variety of recitals and concerts throughout her school years, she began writing her own music and combining singing with her cello playing at the age of sixteen. As she transited from junior high school to high school, she began writing her own music and singing. She gave her first vocal performances during a high school festival.^[3]

Wakeshima auditioned at Sony Music Entertainment as a singer, originally not intending to include her cello playing with her demo tape, but later changed her mind after experimenting with performing with the piano. She became a finalist at the audition, contracting with the Sony subsidiary DefStar Records and debuting on May 28, 2008 with her first single, "Still Doll.^[4] The single was chosen as the ending theme for the first season of the anime adaptation of Vampire Knight.^[2][5][6]

She uses cellos, one for performing, one for music videos and one for recording. Wakeshima has given each cello a name. The white cello is known as "Mikazuki-san", which means "crescent moon" and this is the cello she normally uses during live performances. The red cello is known as "Nanachie-san", which means "wisdom" used in most music videos. According to Wakeshima, Nanachie-san is very hard to play but she manages. Her third cello is a brown cello called "Yaeharu-san", which means "multi-layered spring". Yaeharu-san is very special to Wakeshima as she has had it since middle school, and it is the one she practices on and records with. Currently, she has a new silver cello named "Momotose."^[7]

She has recently formed a duo with An Cafe's bassist Kanon, called Kanon×Kanon. The duo sang the second theme song for the anime adaptation of Shiki, called "Calendula Requiem".

Kanon×Kanon recently made a song "Koi no Doutei" in their newest single, which was later made the OP (opening song) for the new anime "30-sai no Hoken Taiiku" that came out the spring of 2011.

Overseas Performances[link]

Kanon has done numerous performances overseas, including being invited to Japan Expo 2009 in Paris, France and Otakon 2009 in Baltimore, MD. Kanon has also done short concerts in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She was also invited to AM²^[8] 2011, an anime convention in Anaheim, where she had both, a solo and a KanonXKanon concert. Following AM2 Kanon also appeared at Hyper Japan 2011 in London in July and in Ani-Com and Games Hong Kong 2011.

Kanon is also scheduled to perform in various cities in Europe at the end of 2011 as Kanon×Kanon^[9]

The Europe Tour venues and dates are as follows:

04.11.11 Moscow Concert Hall- Moscow / Russia

05.11.11 Zal Ozhidania Club - St.Petersburg / Russia

07.11.11 Tavastia - Helsinki / Finland

09.11.11 Club 202 - Budapest / Hungary

11.11.11 Columbia Club - Berlin / Germany

12.11.11 Zeche - Bochum / Germany

14.11.11 De Helling - Utrecht / Netherlands

15.11.11 Le Marche Gare - Lyon / France

16.11.11 Divan du Monde - Paris / France

18.11.11 O2 Academy Islington - London / GB^[10]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Shinshoku Dolce (侵食ドルチェ^?, "Sweetness Violation", 2009)^[2]
• Lolitawork Libretto (少女仕掛けのリブレット～LOLITAWORK LIBRETTO～, Shōjo Jikake no Riburetto ~LOLITAWORK LIBRETTO~^?, "A Libretto on What Makes a Girl Work", 2010)^[2]

Singles[link]

• "Still Doll" (2008)^[2] Oricon Singles chart peak rank 33^[11]
• "Suna no Oshiro" (砂のお城^?, "Sand Castle", 2008)^[2] Oricon Singles chart peak rank 39^[12]
• "Tōmei no Kagi" (透明の鍵^?, "Transparent Key", 2009) (digital download, theme song of the online game Avalon no Kagi)^[13]

As KanonxKanon[link]

• "Calendula Requiem" (カレンデュラ レクイエム, 2010)^[14]
• "Koi no Doutei" (2011)^[15]

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} North, Dale (February 2009). "Fourth Annual Shojo Beat Music Awards". Shojo Beat (Viz Media) 5 (2): 315–216. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "ディスコグラフィ" (in Japanese). Sony Music Online. http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Arch/DF/kanonwakeshima/m_disco.html. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
3. ^ Sugie, Yuki. "Artist Profile: Kanon Wakeshima". Sony Music. http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/kanonwakeshima/profile/eng.html. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
4. ^ Takahashi, Szkoropad (translator). "Kanon Wakeshima Special Feature". CD Japan/Neowing. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/jpop/essentials/kanon_wakeshima.html. Retrieved 2009-01-06. 
5. ^ "音楽情報サイト" (in Japanese). Hot Express Music Magazine. 2008-03-25. http://www.hotexpress.co.jp/news/080325_kanon/. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
6. ^ "J!-ENT INTERVIEW: Kanon Wakeshima by J!-ENT's Dennis A. Amith". http://www.nt2099.com/J-ENT/INTERVIEWS/kanon-wakeshima/kanonwakeshima.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-11. 
7. ^ Wakeshima, Kanon. "The Lolita Revolution". The Lolita Revolution. http://ameblo.jp/wakeshima. Retrieved 9 September 2011. 
8. ^ "AM2 Convention". AM2 Convention. AM2Con. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM%C2%B2. Retrieved 8 July 2011. 
9. ^ Wakeshima, Kanon. "Kanon Wakeshima". http://www.kanonweb.jp/main.html. Retrieved 2 September 2011. 
10. ^ Kanon, Kanon. "kanonxkanon Information". http://www.kanonkanon.net/info/index.html. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
11. ^ "Still Doll, Kanon Wakeshima" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/762114/1/. Retrieved 2009-01-20. 
12. ^ "Suna No Oshiro, Kanon Wakeshima" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/786316/1/. Retrieved 2009-01-20. 
13. ^ "フランス・アメリカを熱狂させたチェロ・シンガー、分島花音が新曲発表" (in Japanese). Livedoor News. Livedoor. 2009-09-17. http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/4353599/. Retrieved 2010-07-27. 
14. ^ "kanonxkanon" (in Japanese). Sony Music Online. http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Arch/DF/kanon_kanon/index.html. Retrieved 2010-09-06. 
15. ^ "koi no dotei". http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=DFCL-1774. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kanon Wakeshima

• Official Website (Japanese)
• Kanon Wakeshima at Maru Music
• Kanon Wakeshima Interview at Anime Dream
• Kanon Wakeshima Interview for Purple SKY
• Getting ready for the first UK performance from gothic Lolita icon Kanon Wakeshima