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Lorenzo Da Ponte
BBC History UK
|August 2025
Librettists get overlooked, but Mozart's great operas wouldn't be what they are were it not for Da Ponte, who was immensely gifted
IN PROFILE
Lorenzo Da Ponte was an opera librettist, poet and Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for a string of operas by various composers, including three of Mozart's best-known works: The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787) and Così fan tutte (1790). After a spell living in England, he became a professor at Columbia University in New York City.
When did you first hear about Ponte?
I discovered Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro when I was 18, and instantly fell in love with it. When I got to know the libretto in English, I realised just how funny and clever it was, and thought: “I wonder who wrote it?” That’s when I discovered Lorenzo Da Ponte.
What kind of man was he?
Dit verhaal komt uit de August 2025-editie van BBC History UK.
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