Lorenzo da Ponte
b Ceneda, March 10, 1749; d New York , August 17, 1838
Mozart may have had his real-life connections to Così fan tutte, but Lorenzo da Ponte appears to have been just as much a student, then practitioner of ?The School for Lovers.? Born in Italy as Emmanuele Conegliano, Da Ponte and his family converted to Christianity and adopted the name of their patron, the Bishop of Ceneda (as was the custom). Da Ponte seemed destined for the priesthood (he took orders in 1773) and held a number of teaching posts in Portogruaro, Treviso and Venice . His interest in liberal politics and wayward women, however, led to banishment from the Venetian Republic in 1779. (An early friend and mentor was the legendary Giacomo Casanova; one particularly notorious exploit involved Da Ponte's presence in a house of ill repute, reportedly playing his violin while dressed in clerical attire.)
Trying his luck in Dresden , Da Ponte hooked up with poet and librettist Caterino Mazzolà (later a collaborator with Mozart on La clemenza di Tito ), translating plays and libretti. A letter of introduction from Mazzolà led Da Ponte to Vienna and to court composer Antonio Salieri in 1781. When Joseph II re-established the Italian opera company in 1783, he favored Da Ponte, who was appointed imperial poet. Texts and revisions for leading composers beside Mozart [with whom he collaborated on Le nozze di Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787) and Così fan tutte (1790)] included La scuola delgi gelosi (1783), Il ricco d'un giorno (1784), Axur, re d'Ormus (1788), Il talismano (1788), Il pastor fido (1789) and La cifra (1789) for Salieri and Il burbero di buon cuore (1786), Una cosa rara (1786) and L'arbore di Diana (1787) for Martín y Soler. The death of Joseph II coupled with court intrigue, suspicion of revolutionary thought and an ongoing relationship with soprano Adriana Ferrarese del Bene led to Da Ponte's dismissal in 1791. The couple traveled to Trieste , but the affair cooled and Del Bene left him for Venice , where he was still not welcome.
Da Ponte eventually went to England in 1792, accepting a position at the King's Theatre. During his tenure he arranged existing operas and created several new works with Martín y Soler [ La scuola de' maritati, L'isola del piacere and Le nozze dei contadini spagnuoli (all 1795)] as well as collaborating with composers Francesco Bianchi and Peter von Winter. Falling victim to more social intrigue and budget cutbacks, Da Ponte was let go in 1799. Further involvement in a number of shady business dealings with impresario William Taylor led to Da Ponte's own bankruptcy a year later. His post at the court opera was reinstated in 1801, but forced to flee creditors, Da Ponte left England in 1805.
Da Ponte went to New York and worked as a grocer, supplementing his earnings by giving Italian lessons. Determined to bring Italian culture to the United States, he used his London connections to persuade the García family (famous interpreters of Rossini's operas) to make an American tour ? as a result of his efforts,
Don Giovanni made its American premiere in 1826. Da Ponte was also instrumental in building New York 's ill-fated Italian Opera House in 1833; it survived only two seasons. He was appointed chair of Italian literature at Columbia College in 1825, and two years later finished writing his
Memorie, a fascinating, if not entirely accurate, account of his busy and diverse life.
