Giuseppe Giacosa
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Giuseppe Giacosa (21 October 1847 – 1 September 1906) was an Italian poet, playwright and librettist.
Biography
He was born in Colleretto Parella, now Colleretto Giacosa, near Turin. His father was a magistrate. Giuseppe went to the University of Turin, studying in the University of Turin, Faculty of Law. Though he gained a degree in law, he did not pursue a legal career.
He gained initial fame for his play Una Partita a Scacchi ("A Game of Chess") in 1871. His main field was playwriting, which he accomplished with both insight and simplicity, using subjects set in Piedmont and themes addressing contemporary bourgeois values. He wrote La signora di Challant (La Dame de Challant, The Lady of Challand), based on a novella by Matteo Bandello, for noted French actress Sarah Bernhardt, produced in New York in 1891.
Giacosa wrote the final polished version of the libretto for Giacomo Puccini's Manon Lescaut, which had been begun by Ruggero Leoncavallo, Marco Praga, Domenico Oliva, and Luigi Illica. He also wrote the librettos used by Puccini for La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly in conjunction with Luigi Illica. Illica supplied the plot and dialogue, and Giacosa polished the libretto into verses.
See also
External links
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- 1847 births
- 1906 deaths
- Italian dramatists and playwrights
- Italian poets
- Italian male poets
- Italian opera librettists
- People from Turin
- University of Turin alumni
- People from the Province of Turin
- Italian male dramatists and playwrights
- 19th-century poets
- 19th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights
- 19th-century male writers