Literary notes about Libretto (AI summary)
The term "libretto" in literature is employed not merely as a technical term for an opera’s text but as a marker of creative ambition and cultural reinterpretation. In early instances, such as Addison’s contribution to the opera of Rosamond ([1],[2]), the word denotes an essential, crafted literary component of a musical work. Later texts, particularly in Wagner’s autobiographical narratives ([3], [4], [5]), reveal a more personal and experimental usage: aspiring to conceptualize grand operas or reworking existing texts—even translating them into another language ([6],[7]). Furthermore, the term is also used to evoke the celebrated traditions of opera, as seen in references to Mozart's Magic Flute ([8]), underscoring the libretto’s role as both a literary and artistic blueprint. Overall, "libretto" becomes a multifaceted concept that bridges the realms of literature, music, and innovative dramatic reimagining.
- In the same year the opera of Rosamond was produced, with Addison's libretto.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 by Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele - In the same year the opera of Rosamond was produced, with Addison's libretto.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - These were, first, a longing to write the libretto of Liebesverbot; and secondly, my growing attachment to Minna.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner - I managed, however, to get to work on the libretto of Rienzi, which I had sketched out at Blasewitz.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner - He asked what my real object was, and I told him it was to get permission from the King to read my libretto Lohengrin to him.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner - He had no idea of standing on his dignity as an author, and was quite willing to undertake the translation of an existing libretto into French verse.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner - As he had ordered a French libretto for Munich, I knew what he meant.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner - [4] Quotation from the Libretto of Mozart's "Magic Flute" Act I, Sc. 3.—TR.
— from The Twilight of the Idols; or, How to Philosophize with the Hammer. The Antichrist by Nietzsche
