Giovacchino Forzano
Giovacchino Forzano (Italian pronunciation:
Biography
Forzano was born in Borgo San Lorenzo, in the province of Florence.
He studied medicine before embarking on a brief career as an operatic baritone. He then began studying law and, after finishing his diploma, became a freelance journalist, contributing regularly to several of Italy's major newspapers. In 1914 he met and befriended Puccini who asked him to write the librettos for his Il trittico, a collection of three one-act operas. Forzano agreed to write the librettos for two of the works, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, but declined Il tabarro saying that he preferred to create his own plots (Giuseppe Adami wrote the libretto for Il tabarro). Il trittico premiered at the Metropolitan Opera on 14 December 1918 to high acclaim. With the success of Il trittico, Forzano was soon approached by other composers to provide librettos, including Alberto Franchetti, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Mario Peragallo, Mary Rosselli Nissim, Umberto Giordano, and Pietro Mascagni.[1]
In 1920 Forzano became a stage director at La Scala, serving in that capacity through 1930. During the 1920s he became one of the most successful and frequently performed dramatists of his day. He later became a producer and director of propaganda films for the National Fascist Party under Benito Mussolini. In 1957 he published a volume of memoirs, Come li ho conosciuti, which reveal interesting perspectives on the composers with whom he collaborated.[1] He also participated in several filmed documentaries that recall his work on Gianni Schicchi with Puccini.
He died at Rome in 1970.
Work as a dramatist
Forzano's plays were light-weight, but extremely popular and he was one of the most frequently performed playwrights of the period.
Opera librettos
- Notte di leggenda (Alberto Franchetti, 1915)
- Lodoletta (Pietro Mascagni, 1917)
- Suor Angelica (Giacomo Puccini, 1918)
- Gianni Schicchi (Giacomo Puccini, 1918)
- Edipo re (Ruggero Leoncavallo, 1919)
- Il piccolo Marat (Pietro Mascagni, 1921)
- Glauco (Alberto Franchetti, 1922)
- I Compagnacci (Primo Riccitelli, 1924)
- Gli amanti sposi (Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, 1925)
- Sly (Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, 1927)
- Il re (Umberto Giordano, 1929)
Principal theatrical works
Le campane d Lucio (1916) Madonna Oretta (1918) Sly (1920) Lorenzino (1922) Il conte di Brechard (1924) I fiordalisi d'oro (1924) Il dono del mattino (1924) Gutlibi (1925) Ginevra degli Almieri (1926) Madama Roland (1927) Pietro il Grande (1929) Jack Broder (1929) Danton (1929) Il colpo di vento (1930) Campo di Maggio (with Mussolini; 1930) Don Buonaparte (1931) Villafranca (with Mussolini; 1931) Racconti d'autunno, d'inverno e primavera (1937) Cesare (with Mussolini; 1939)
References
- ^ a b c Julian Budden: "Giovacchino Forzano", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 4 March 2009), (subscription access)
- ^ C.E.J.Griffiths, The Theatrical Works of Giovacchino Forzano: Drama for Mussolini's Italy (Edwin Mellon Press: Lampeter, 2000)
- ^ C.E.J.Griffiths, 'Italian Cinema in the Thirties: Camicia nera and other films by Giovacchino Forzano', The Italianist 15 (1995), pp. 299–321.