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Francesco Maria Piave

Writing

1.0 Popularity May 18, 1810 (65 years old) Murano, Italy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Maria_Piave.

Francesco Maria Piave (18 May 1810 – 5 March 1876) was an Italian opera librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy.

His career spanned over tw...

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Maria_Piave.

Francesco Maria Piave (18 May 1810 – 5 March 1876) was an Italian opera librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy.

His career spanned over twenty years working with many of the significant composers of his day, including Giovanni Pacini (four librettos), Saverio Mercadante (at least one), Federico Ricci, and even one for Michael Balfe. He is most well known as Giuseppe Verdi's librettist, for whom he was to write 10 librettos, the most well-known being those for Rigoletto and La traviata.

But Piave was not only a librettist: he was a journalist and translator in addition to being the resident poet and stage manager at La Fenice in Venice where he first encountered Verdi. Later, Verdi was helpful in securing him the same position at La Scala in Milan. His expertise as a stage manager and his tact as a negotiator served Verdi very well, but the composer bullied him mercilessly for his pains over many years.

Like Verdi, Piave was an ardent Italian patriot, and in 1848, during Milan's "Cinque Giornate," when Radetzky's Austrian troops retreated from the city, Verdi wrote to Piave in Venice addressing him as "Citizen Piave."

Together, they worked on ten operas between 1844 and 1862, and Piave would have also prepared the libretto for Aida when Verdi accepted the commission for it in 1870, had he not suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed and unable to speak. Verdi helped to support his wife and daughter, proposing that "an album of pieces by famous composers be compiled and sold for Piave's benefit". The composer paid for his funeral when he died nine years later in Milan aged 65 and arranged for his burial at the Monumental Cemetery.

Filmography 100

2025
La Traviata Movie

Writer

2021
Rigoletto Movie

Writer

2019
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra Movie

Screenplay

2019
2019
Verdi: Macbeth Movie

Writer

2018
2018
2017
2017
Rigoletto Movie

Writer

2017
Ernani Movie

Writer

2017
2016
Macbeth Movie

Writer

2015
Verdi: Macbeth Movie

Lyricist

2015

Personal Details

Known For Writing
Gender Male
Birthday May 18, 1810 (65 years old)
Died March 05, 1876
Place of Birth Murano, Italy
Years Active 1918 - 2025
Popularity 1.0
Career Stats
100 Total Credits