[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-444850-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-444850-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","don-giovanni-opera-librettos-preface","DON GIOVANNI - Opera Librettos - Preface","","A preface explains the historical purpose of opera librettos as printed word books for performances, tracing their evolution from late-16th-century Florence to later European traditions. It discusses how comic opera shaped English-language developments, why earlier English translations were often unsatisfactory, and the challenges of translating Italian to singable English. It emphasizes the translator’s duty to clarify story, use simple language fitted to music, and notes the role of natural pronunciation for 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Hans","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",10,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why were opera words (librettos) printed as small books?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"They were printed as a little book—likely as souvenirs for invited ladies and gentlemen—and the custom continued to printing the words of operas.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What does the preface say about translating opera into English?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It argues that English translation must make the story clear, use simple words intelligible when sung, and be accurately fitted to the music.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"When does the preface suggest English opera translations became necessary to update?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It notes that translations can become out of date due to changes in literary convention, so even good earlier versions may need rewriting for the present day.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},444850,1790922287,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,91,95,100,105,110,115,120,123,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & 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J.DENTTHE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIOTHE BARBER OF SEVILLEDER FREISCHUTZDON GIOVANNIDON PASQUALEEUGENE ONEGINFIDELIOFRA DIAVOLOIL TROVATORELA TRAVIATATHE MAGIC FLUTETHE MARRIAGE OF FIGAROMARTHAORPHEUSRIGOLETTO  \nUN BALLO IN MASCHERATHE TROJANS  \nEnglish Versions by ARTHUR JACOBSTHE QUEEN OF SPADESBENVENUTO CELLINIL'ELISIR D'AMORE  \nEnglish Versions by DAVID HARRIS  \nABU HASSANDOCTOR MIRACLE  \nDON GIOVANNI  \nWords by  \nLORENZO DA PONTE  \nEnglish Version byEDWARD J.DENT  \nMusic byWOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART  \nLONDONOXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS  \nNEW YORK TORONTO  \nOxford University Press,Amen House,London E.C.4  \nGLASGoW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELINGTONBOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI LAHORE DACCACAPE TOWN 5ALISBURY NAIROBI IBADAN ACCRAKUALA LUMPUR HONG KONG  \nNOTE  \nAllapplications for permision to use zhe Englisb text bereprint sb beares sa  \nFirst edition I938Reprinted I943,I948,I952,I957,I96I,I963 and 1965  \n# PREFACE\n\nWHEN the first of all operas was produced at Florencetowards the end of the sixteenth century(the date is uncer-tain)the book of words was printed(in 160o)probably asasouvenir to be given away to the noble ladies and gentle-men who had been invited to the performance,and eversince then it has been the custom to print the words ofoperas as a little book—hence the international name forit,Libretto,a little book.The first librettos were writtenby real poets;in fact the words were often better thanthe music.As long as operas were composed mainly forthe cultivated classes,librettos maintained a reasonablyhigh standard,in whatever language they were written.Quinault wrote in French for Lully,Dryden for Purcellin the seventeenth century;in Italy Apostolo Zeno andMetastasio carried on the tradition of literary dignityinto the eighteenth.That century,too,is the great ageof comic opera,with admirable humorists such asGoldoni,Bickerstaffe,Sedaine,and Casti—the Gilbertof his day—to say nothing of Mozart's friend Da Ponte.It was not until the days of Verdi—from about 1840onwards—that the word libretto became a byword fornonsense and doggerel.Verdi's audiences were noisyand ill-educated;they wanted roaring melodrama(theword melodramma is the classical Italian word for opera,which about 16so was still rather colloquial),with musicthat could be taken up for political purposes.No wonderthat there are still nice-minded people who say they prefertheir operas in a language they do not understand.  \nPREFACE  \nOpera in English dates back to 1656,but after thedeath of Purcell in 1695 it languished.Italian opera wasestablished as a fashionable entertainment,and opera inEnglish was only what we should call‘musical comedy'.Out of this comic opera grew what in the nineteenth cen-tury was known as grand romantic opera';and its Englishlandmarks were Weber'sOberon,writtenforLondon,1826,and the English performances ofBeethoven's Fidelio(withMalibran as the heroine)in 1833.Butitis difficult to trans-late bad Italian into anything but worse English,and theresult has been that opera in English is to most people alamentably ridiculous affair.Opera in English will neverflourish until a tradition of really good translation isestablished.Far be it from me to speak ill of my prede-cessors:Thomas Oliphant's version of Fidelio(1833)isa model of good style.Unfortunately it sounds tooelegant for the present day;owing to changes in literaryconvention translations,like accompaniments to folk-songs,must sooner or later become out of date,and haveto be rewritten.  \nEnglish is a perfectly good language for singing,ifsingers will take the trouble to pronounce it naturally,as actors do.Even when English is difficult to sing,it isless difficult than German can be in some of the standardGerman operas.The first duty of a translator is to makethe story of the opera clear,and to write words simpleenough to be intelligible when sung.If only for thisreason,the words must be accurat","cbCaijLx9RRPLbRd","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijLx9RRPLbRd","pdf",2978367,100,"English","# PREFACE","[{\"question\":\"Why were opera words (librettos) printed as small books?\",\"answer\":\"They were printed as a little book—likely as souvenirs for invited ladies and gentlemen—and the custom continued to printing the words of operas.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the preface say about translating opera into English?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that English translation must make the story clear, use simple words intelligible when sung, and be accurately fitted to the music.\"},{\"question\":\"When does the preface suggest English opera translations became necessary to update?\",\"answer\":\"It notes that translations can become out of date due to changes in literary convention, so even good earlier versions may need rewriting for the present day.\"}]","DON GIOVANNI - Opera Librettos - Preface | PDF",1790709485,154]