Lorenzo da ponte biography for kids

Lorenzo Da Ponte was born Emanuele Conegliano in 1749 in Ceneda, in the Republic of Venice (now Vittorio Veneto, Italy). Da Ponte was Jewish by birth and the eldest of three sons. In 1764, Da Ponte's father, Geronimo Conegliano, then a widower, converted himself and his family to Roman Catholicism in order to marry a Catholic woman. Emanuele, as was the custom, took the name of Lorenzo Da Ponte from the Bishop of Ceneda who baptized him.

Thanks to the bishop, the three Conegliano brothers studied at the Ceneda seminary. The bishop died in 1768, after which Da Ponte moved to the seminary at Portogruaro, where he took Minor Orders in 1770 and became Professor of Literature. Da Ponte  was ordained a priest in 1773 and began writing poetry in Italian and Latin, including an ode to wine, "Ditirambo sopra gli odori".

In 1773 Da Ponte moved to Venice, where he made a living as a teacher of Latin, Italian, and French. Although he was a Catholic priest, the young Da Ponte led a dissolute life. While priest of the church of San Luca, Da Ponte took a mistress, with whom he had two children. At Da Ponte's 1779 trial, where he was charged with "public concubinage" and "abduction of a respectable woman," it was alleged that he had been living in a brothel and organizing the entertainments there. Da Ponte  was found guilty and banished for fifteen years from Venice.

Lorenzo Da Ponte moved to Gorizia, then part of Austria, where he lived as a writer, attaching himself to the leading noblemen and cultural patrons of the city. In 1781 Da Ponte falsely believed that he had an invitation from his friend Caterino Mazzolà, the poet of the Saxon court, to take up a post at Dresden, only to be disabused when he arrived there. Mazzolà however offered Da Ponte work at the theatre translating libretti and recommended that he seek to develop writing skills. He also gave Da Ponte a letter of introduction to the composer Antonio Salieri.

With

Lorenzo da Ponte (10 March 1749 – 17 August 1838) was an operalibrettist and poet. He is best known for having written the libretti for three of Mozart's operas, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte.

Biography

Da Ponte was born Emanuele Conegliano to Jewish parents near Venice, Italy. He became a Christian, and took the name Lorenzo da Ponte from the bishop who baptized him. He became a priest at the church of San Luca in Venice. He took Anzoletta Bellaudi as his mistress. They ran a brothel. Da Ponte was banished from Venice for 15 years. He went to Austria where he became court librettist to EmperorJoseph II.

About 1792, da Ponte married Ann Celestine Grahl. They had four children. When Joseph II died, da Ponte lost his job. He went to London. He got into debt, and went to the United States. He ran a grocery store in Pennsylvania for a short time. He moved to New York City and opened a bookstore. He became the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia College. He produced Don Giovanni in New York in 1826. In 1828, da Ponte became a naturalized US citizen.

Da Ponte died in 1838 in New York. His funeral was held in New York's old St. Patrick's Cathedral. His final resting place is uncertain. All of da Ponte's libretti were adaptations of pre-existing plots, except L'arbore di Diana and Così fan tutte. His adaptations are of the highest order. The Don Giovanni character was given new life in da Ponte's hands. The character is now considered the archetypicallibertine.

References

• Acocella, Joan, "Nights At The Opera: The Life of the Man who put Words to Mozart", The New Yorker, 8 January 2007
• Holden, Anthony, “The phoenix”, ‘’The Guardian’’ (London), 7 January 2007
• Keats, Jonathan, "Lorenzo's Toil: How the Son of an Impoverished Leatherworker Came to Write Mozart's Libretti", Washington Post, 16 July 2006 — book review
•  "Lorenzo

Lorenzo da Ponte, born on March 10, 1749, would go on to become one of the great librettists in the history of opera.

He was born Emanuele Conegliano, but when his father converted from Judaism to Catholicism to marry a Catholic woman, he took the name of Lorenza da Ponte. He studied at the Ceneda seminary and eventually moved to the seminary at Portogruaro, receiving Minor Orders in 1770 and becoming a Professor of Literature. He was ordained a priest in 1773.

In 1773, he moved to Venice and led a life that went against priesthood, taking a mistress and having children. At a subsequent trial he was found guilty of public concubinage, abduction of a respectable woman, and was thus banished from Venice for 15 years.

He moved to Austria and started his life as a writer. He eventually met with Salieri who helped him obtain the post of librettist to the Italian Theatre in Vienna. It was during this time that he collaborated with Mozart, Salieri, and Martin y Soler.

In 1790, he lost his patronage upon the death of Austrian Emperor Joseph II. From there he set off for Paris, but eventually set off to London where he worked as an Italian teacher and grocer. He eventually became librettist at the King’s Theatre. However, debt and bankruptcy caused him to leave to the U.S. with his family.

In the U.S. he ran a grocery store, gave Italian lessons, opened a bookstore in New York and eventually became an unpaid professor of Italian literature at Columbia College. He introduced New Yorkers to opera with the first full performance of “Don Giovanni” in the U.S. in 1825. He also introduced Americans to the music of Rossini.

In 1833, he founded the New York Opera Company at age 84. In 1836, it became the National Theater. While it was ultimately destroyed in a fire twice, it became the predecessor for the New York Academy of Music and Metropolitan Opera.

He died in 1838 and was buried in New York.

Major