Metastasio (jan 1, 1698 – jan 1, 1782)

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The premier Italian librettis of the eighteenth century. Between 1720 and 1771 he wrote some sixty librettos, and his texts were set more than eight hundred times by more than three hundred composers over several generations. The Metastasian libretto balanced the theoretical ideals of the Arcadian reformers with the practical considerations of the stage.

aria di sorbetto (sherbet aria), which is usually first aria of Act II, which was when refreshments were served.

Pietro Antonio Trapassi. Neoclassical Italian librettist who was the most influential figure in the effort to restore opera's noble sensibilities and to eliminate comic elements. He was crucial to establishing conventions that would long dominate opera seria, or serious opera. A typical scene consisted of a recitative that moved the action forward, followed by an aria that reflected on that action. The form of arias was usually da capo (from the head), in ABA form, although the repeated A section would typically be ornamented differently.

Metastasio claimed that arias were comparable not with the soliloquies but the choruses of Greek dramas, which are addressed to the audience. "emotional weather reports". There's a difference between recitative time and aria time. This distinction was the stroke of genius that gave opera a special dramatic dimension that spoken drama could not match.

Librettos include Attilio Regolo, which celebrates noble self-sacrifice, and Artasaerse, which is the most frequently reused operatic libretto of all time. Almost everytime it was performed, it was in Italian./

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