Ranieri Calzabigi (redirected from Ranieri de' Calzabigi)

Calzabigi, Ranieri 

Born Dec. 23, 1714, in Livorno; died July 1795, in Naples. Italian librettist.

From 1750 to 1760, Calzabigi resided in Paris. In 1760 he moved to Vienna, where he collaborated with the composer C. W. von Gluck and the choreographer G. Angiolini. He participated in the reform of opera and ballet. Calzabigi expressed ideas concerning the reform of opera as early as 1755 in the Dissertation on the Dramatic Poetry of Signor Father P. Metas-tasio. He wrote the librettos for Gluck’s ballets and operas (Orpheus and Eurydice, Alcestis, and Paris and Helen). Many Italian composers wrote operas to Calzabigi’s texts.

REFERENCE

Michel, H. “R. Calzabigi als Dichter von Musikdramen und als Kri-tiker.” Gluck-Jahrbuch, 1918, fourth year of publication.