(b Venice, 11 Dec 1668; d Venice, 11 Nov 1750). Italian poet, librettist, scholar and antiquarian. He was educated by the Somaschi fathers in the Venetian classical tradition, but was also familiar with the empiricism of Galileo and with rationalism. In 1691 he founded the Accademia degli Animosi, where he became prominent at a very young age as a poet in the late-Baroque mould. Like the more famous Accademia degli Animosi it had as its aim the restoration of Arcadian ‘good taste’. Zeno took part in the debate between G.G. Orsi and Bouhours, defending in a letter to Orsi of 29 October 1706 certain verses of Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata against the accusation by the Frenchman that they were artificially refined. With Scipione Maffei, Antonio Vallisnieri and his brother Pier Caterino Zeno he founded the Giornale de' letterati d'Italia (Verona, 1710). He was the chief editor between 1710 and 1718, entrusting the position to his brother when he left for Vienna to become court poet and historian. His prolific correspondence with distinguished men of letters (Orsi, L.A. Muratori, G. Fontanini, G. Gigli, A. Maghabechi, F. Marmi and the brothers A.M. and S. Salvini) reveals details of his projects, such as that on the history of Italian poets, and confirms his belief in the civilizing influence of culture; his interest in collecting books, manuscripts, medals and coins, and in scholarly research is also evident. Zeno kept his work for the theatre and his scholarly activities separate, and while the former allowed him financial security, he considered it to be less prestigious.
His first libretto, set by C.F. Pollarolo in 1696, was Gli inganni felici, in which the pastoral plot is complicated by incredible misunderstandings and comic lines. He produced librettos for the commercial theatres of Venice and Milan, often collaborating with Pietro Pariati, who versified the dramas. His choice of the theatre as a means of communication was motivated not only by the financial rewards, but also by the practical possibilities of theatre as an art. However, he strove endlessly to meet the demands set down by the impresarios, greedy for profit, and singers. In spite of his copious libretto production, Zeno always felt constrained by the requirements of opera as a spectacle: content and form were heavily conditioned by the need to entertain – ‘if one does not allow oneself many extravagances, the main purpose of such compositions, which is enjoyment, is lost’ (letter to Muratori of August 1701). This was somewhat at odds with his aspirations towards the austere restraint of tragedy: ‘something has to be conceded to the indulgences of the age, to decoration, to music’ (letter to P.C. Zeno of 6 January 1720, on the Venetian production of Lucio Papirio).
In 1709–10 Zeno was commissioned by the Habsburg pretenders to the Spanish throne to write Atenaide and Scipione nelle Spagne, dramas delineating the monarch's role as servant of the state, concerned with respect for the law and the virtues of justice, clemency and self-restraint. He thus showed himself adept in the functions of court poet, a post which he held in Vienna from 1718 until 1729, when Pietro Metastasio was summoned, ostensibly to help the older poet but in effect to replace him. Zeno returned to Venice in the same year and sent one more libretto, Enone (1734), to his former patrons. In the latter years of his residence in Vienna he had turned towards scholarly matters, organizing the coin museum of Charles VI, and when he returned to Italy he concerned himself exclusively with study.
While recent studies have suggested that it was not Zeno who initiated the ‘reform’ of opera, the word riforma appears frequently in his letters on the subject of the theatre. In a letter to Giuseppe Gravisi of 3 November 1730, immediately after he had left the service of the court, he stressed as intrinsic limitations to the verisimilitude of opera ‘the need to sing the da capo in ariettas, and all those changes of scene’. The first of these caused him special difficulties in sacred dramas, where he found it unseemly to provide dignified personages with trifling passages; and the second prevented exact observance of the rule of unity of place, which he had to relax, though he kept the action within a single town.
The specific objective behind Zeno's reform was moral rectitude. In the same letter to Gravisi, he complained about the ‘scant regard’ poets had for the ethical aspect of the theatre, seeing that they aimed to arouse passions, particularly love, rather than to keep a rein on them. The idea of catharsis seemed necessary to Zeno, but not only as a purgation by means of terror and pity: he also created examples of virtue to be admired and imitated in his dramas, thus achieving the happy ending traditionally expected in court dramas (the happy ending of a married couple should perhaps be seen in moral terms as a celebratory metaphor of the eternal renewal present in the stable dynastic lines of Zeno's clients). Zeno's dramatic verse was inspired by G.B. Guarini's pastoral tragicomedies: the characters are of noble condition, as tragedy required, the emotional orientation is towards pathos, not terror, and the sadness of the audience is assuaged with a happy ending. The operas written in Vienna are of this type (Meride e Selinunte, 1721; Euristeo, 1724; Imeneo, 1727).
Zeno continued with dramas on mythical subjects, even though he was particularly attracted to historical subjects for their intrinsic and noble realism. He maintained a strong respect for history, punctiliously citing his sources, both classical and medieval, in his plot summaries. His directions for scene changes (few in number) reveal his care for historical and iconographical evidence, whether the subject was Greek, Roman (Flavio Aricio Olibrio, 1707) or Byzantine, medieval or Nordic (Faramondo, 1698; L'amor generoso, 1707; Engelberta, 1708; Sirita, 1719). He paid particular attention to the scenic atmosphere of exotic subjects, which the public found particularly delightful – Chinese (Il Teuzzone, 1706), Persian (Ormisda, 1721), Egyptian (Nitocri, 1722) and Indian (Gianguir, 1724).
Zeno dedicated to his imperial patrons his Poesie sacre drammatiche (Venice, 1734), which is important as a poetic testament because it traces his move from the commercial theatres of Venice to the Viennese court theatre, which marked a turning-point in the ethical aspect of his lodevol riforma; freed from the constraints of pecuniary success, conscious that his patrons were concerned with the more enduring profits of praise and prestige, he could put forward on the imperial stage models of human perfection. These, according to his assertion in the dedication, would be directly inspired by the imperial pair themselves and by august persons of classical antiquity. However, the main means of making drama was by catharsis through admiration, which could best be achieved in sacred drama; by its more austere tone and discourse this approached more closely his objective of the restoration of tragedy.
Zeno expressed doubt on how effective the reform had been in a letter to Gravisi of 1735: ‘Save for a few of them, I consider them as failures and monstrosities’. Yet many were remarkable successes, produced often in a variety of theatres and set to music by diverse composers.
ELENA SALA DI FELICE
drammi per musica unless otherwise stated; selective list of settings
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Gli inganni felici, C.F. Pollarolo, 1696 (A. Scarlatti, 1699; Buini, 1722); Il Tirsi (dramma pastorale), Lotti, Caldara and Ariosti, 1696; Il Narciso (pastorale), Pistocchi, 1697 (Sarti, 1763); I rivali generosi, M.A. Ziani, 1697 (Monari, Pistocchi and Capelli, 1710; Albinoni, 1725; Vignati, 1726); Eumene, Ziani, 1697 (Gasparini, 1714; Torri, 1720; Porpora, 1721; Albinoni, 1723; Giai, 1737; Jommelli, 1742; Manna, 1750; Aurisicchio, 1754; Mazzoni, 1759; Sacchini, 1763; De Majo, Insanguine and Errichelli, 1771; Carvalho, 1773; Insanguine, 1778; Borghi, 1777; Bertoni, 1783); Odoardo, Ziani, 1698; Faramondo, Pollarolo, 1698 (Porpora, 1719; Gasparini, 1720; Handel, 1738) |
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Lucio Vero, Pollarolo, 1700 (Albinoni, 1713; Gasparini, 1719; Torri, 1720; Sarro, 1722; Ciampi, 1726; Ariosti, 1727; Keiser, 1728, as Lucius Verus; Araia, 1735; Sala, 1737, as Vologeso; Di Capua, 1739, as Vologeso re de' Parti; Pulli, 1741, as Vologeso, re de' Parti; Manna, 1745; Galuppi, 1748, as Vologeso; Jommelli, 1754; Perez, 1754; Sarti, 1754, as Vologeso; Bertoni, 1757; Perez, 1762, as Berenice; Fischietti, 1764, as Vologeso; Sacchini, 1764; Jommelli, 1766, as Vologeso; Colla, 1770, as Vologeso; Sacchini, 1772, as Vologeso; Traetta, 1774; Guglielmi, 1775, as Vologeso; Rutini, 1775, as Vologeso; Masi, 1776, as Vologeso; Rust, 1778, as Vologeso; Martín y Soler, 1783, as Vologeso; Brunetti, 1789, as Vologeso, re de' Parti) |
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Temistocle (azione scenica), Ziani, 1701 (Porpora, 1718; Chelleri, 1721); Griselda, A. Pollarolo, 1701 (Albinoni, 1703; Chelleri, 1707; Predieri, 1711, as La virtù in trionfo, o sia La Griselda; Orlandini, 1716; A.M. Bononcini, 1718; G. Bononcini, 1722; A. Scarlatti, 1721; Torri, 1723; F.B. Conti, 1725; Ciocchetti, 1728; Vivaldi, 1735; Latilla, 1751); Il Venceslao, C.F. Pollarolo, 1703 (Perti, 1708; Mancini, 1714, as Il Vincislao; Boniventi, 1720; Capelli, 1724; Caldara, 1725; Torri, 1725; Porta, 1726, as La Lucinda fedele; Scalabrini, 1744; Pampani, 1752; Latilla, 1754); Aminta (dramma regio pastorale), Albinoni, 1703; Pirro, Aldrovandini, 1704 (Gasparini, 1717) |
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Antioco (with P. Pariati), Gasparini, 1705 (Hasse, 1721, Gurecký, 1729); Artaserse (with Pariati), Giannettini, 1705 (Orlandini, 1706; Sandoni, 1709; Ariosti, 1724); Ambleto (with Pariati), Gasparini, 1706 (D. Scarlatti, 1715; Vignati, 1719; Carcani, 1742); Statira (with Pariati), Gasparini, 1706 (Albinani, 1726); Il Teuzzone, Magni and Monari, 1706 (Lotti, 1707; Orlandini and others, 1712; G. Casanova and Fioré, 1716; Feo, 1720; Ariosti, 1727; Nicolini, 1725), L'amor generoso, Gasparini, 1707 (Orlandini and Ceruti, 1708; Costanzi, 1727; Vivaldi, 1731, as Alvilda regina de' Goti; Galuppi, 1737, as L'Alvilda); Anfitrione (tragicommedia, with Pariati), Gasparini, 1707 |
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Flavio Anicio Olibrio (with Pariati), Gasparini, 1708 (Porpora, 1711; Porta, 1726, as Il trionfo di Flavio Olibrio; Vinci, 1728; E. Duni, 1736, as La tirannide debellata; Jommelli, 1740, as Ricimero re de' Goti); Engelberta (with Pariati), Fiorè, 1708 (Albinoni and Gasparini, 1709; Orefice and Mancini, 1709; C.F. Pollarolo, 1711; Bioni, 1729; Paganelli, 1743); Astarto (with Pariati), Albinoni, 1708 (Fago, 1709; G. Bononcini, 1715; Predieri, 1715, as Astarte; Conti, 1718; Caldara, 1725; Hasse, 1726; Galuppi, 1736, as Elisa regina di Tiro; Terradellas, 1739); Il falso Tiberino (with Pariati), C.F. Pollarolo, 1709; Atenaide, Fiorè, Caldara and Gasparini, 1709 (Ziani, A. Negri and Caldara, 1714; Vivaldi, 1728); Zenobia in Palmira (with Pariati), Chelleri, 1709 (Leo, 1725; Brusa, 1725, as L'amore eroico) |
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Scipione nelle Spagne, comp. unknown, 1710 (A. Scarlatti, 1714; Caldara, 1722; Albinoni, 1724; Ferrandini, 1732; Arrigoni, 1739; Leo, 1740; Bertoni, 1768); Costantino (with Pariati), Gasparini, 1711 (Lotti and Caldara, 1716; Orlandini, 1731, as Massimiano); Merope, Gasparini, 1712 (Fiorè, 1716; Orlandini, 1717; Predieri, 1718; Torri, 1719; Broschi, 1732; Giacomelli, 1734; Vivaldi, 1737, as L'oracolo in Messenia; Brivio, 1738; G. Scarlatti, 1740; Jommelli, 1741; Terradellas, 1743, Cocchi, 1748; Perez, 1750; Capranica, 1751; Gassmann, 1757; Sciroli, 1761; Latilla, 1763; Sala, 1769; Insanguine, 1772; Guglielmi, 1775; Traetta, 1776) |
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Alessandro Severo, Lotti, 1717 (Mancini, 1718; Chelleri, 1718; Sarro, 1719; Orlandini, 1723; Giacomelli, 1732; Handel, 1738; Bernasconi, 1738; Sacchini, 1763); Ifigenia in Aulide, Caldara, 1718 (Orlandini, 1732; Porpora, 1735; Porta, 1738; Salari, 1776); Sirita, Caldara, 1719; Lucio Papirio dittatore, Caldara, 1719 (A. Pollarolo, 1721; Giacomelli, 1729; Porta, 1732; Holzbauer, 1737; Hasse, 1742; Graun, 1745, as Quinto Fabio; Manna, 1748; Galupi, 1751; Paisiello, 1767; Anfossi, 1771, as Quinto Fabio; Bertoni, 1778, as Quinto Fabio; Bortnyansky, 1778, as Quinto Fabio; Cherubini, 1779, as Quinto Fabio; Borghi, 1781, as Quinto Fabio; Marinelli, 1791; Zingarelli, 1794) |
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Don Chisciotte in Sierra Morena (tragicommedia per musica, with Pariati), Conti, 1719; Alessandro in Sidone (with Pariati), Conti, 1721 (G. Bononcini, 1737); Meride e Selinunte, Porsile, 1721 (Porpora, 1726; Chiarini, 1744); Ormisda, Caldara, 1721 (Orlandini, 1723; A. Pollarolo, 1723, as Cosroë; Cordans, 1728; Handel, 1730); Nitocri, Caldara, 1722 (Sellitto, 1733; Leo, 1733; Giacomelli, 1736; Cocchi, 1751; Agnesi-Pinottini, 1771; Mercadante, 1824); Euristeo, Caldara, 1724 (Hasse, 1732); Andromaca, Caldara, 1724 (Feo, 1730); Gianguir, Caldara, 1724 (Giacomelli, 1729; Porta, 1732; Giai, 1738; V. Ciampi, 1759); Semiramide in Ascalona, Caldara, 1725; I due dittatori, Caldara, 1726; Imeneo, Caldara, 1727; Ornospade, Caldara, 1727; Mitridate, Caldara, 1728 (Giai, 1730; Porpora, 1730); Caio Fabbrizio, Caldara, 1729 (Hasse, 1732; Scalabrini, 1743; Auletta, 1743; Graun, 1746; Scolari, 1755; De Majo, 1760); Enone, Caldara, 1734 |
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Incomplete, in I-Vnm: Antiochide; Caio Mario in Minturno |
first performed in Vienna: music by Caldara unless otherwise stated
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Sisara, Porsile, 1719; Tobia, Porsile, 1720; Naaman, Conti, 1721; Giuseppe, 1722; David, Conti, 1724; Le profezie evangeliche d'Isaia, 1725; Gioaz, 1726; Il Batista, 1727; Gionata, 1728; Naboth, 1729; Daniello, Hasse, 1731; David umiliato, 1731; Sedezia, 1732; Gerusalemme convertita, 1733; San Pietro in Cesarea, 1734; Gesù presentato nel Tempio, 1735; Ezechia, G. Bononcini, 1737 |
ES (A. Basso)
MGG (A.A. Abert)
SmitherHO, i
A. Zeno: ‘Catalogo dei drammi composti dal signor Apostolo Zeno con la dichiarazione de' luoghi e de' tempi in cui l’autore stesso li la pubblicati’, Novelle della Repubblica Letteraria per l'anno MDCCXXXV, no.46 (1735), 361–4
A. Zeno: Poesie drammatiche, ed. G. Gozzi (Venice, 1744)
J. Morelli, ed.: Lettere di Apostolo Zeno Cittadino veneziano istorico e poeta cesareo (Venice, 1785)
F. Negri: La vita di Apostolo Zeno (Venice, 1816)
L. Pistorelli: Il melodrammi di Apostolo Zeno (Padua, 1894)
L. Pistorelli: ‘Due melodrammi inediti di A. Zeno’, RMI, iii (1896), 261–74
A. Menghi: Lo Zeno e la critica letteraria (Camerno, 1901)
A. Wotquenne: Alphabetisches Verzeichnis der Stücke in Versen aus der dramatischen Werken von Zeno, Metastasio und Goldoni (Leipzig, 1905)
W. Pietzsch: Apostolo Zeno in seiner Abhängigkeit von der französischen Tragödie (diss., U. of Leipzig, 1907)
M. Fehr: Apostolo Zeno und seine Reform des Operntextes (Zürich, 1912)
A. Michieli: ‘Le poesie sacre drammatiche di Apostolo Zeno’, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, xcv (1930), 1–33
R. Giazotto: Poesia melodrammatica e pensiero critico nel Settecento (Milan, 1952)
R. Freeman: ‘Apostolo Zeno's Reform of the Libretto’, JAMS, xxi (1968), 321–41
D.J. Grout: ‘La Griselda di Zeno e il libretto dell'opera di Scarlatti’, NRMI, ii (1968), 207–25
C. De Michelis: ‘Le iniziative di informe di Apostolo Zeno’, Lettereti e lettori nell Settecento veneziano (Florence, 1979), 37–65
R.S. Freeman: Opera without Drama: Currents of Change in Italian Opera, 1675–1725 (Ann Arbor, 1981)
P. Gallarati: ‘Zeno e Metastasio’, Metastasio e il melodramma, ed. E. Sala Di Felice and L. Sannia Nowè (Padua, 1985), 89–104
E. Sala Di Felice: ‘Alla vigilia di Metastasio: Zeno’, Metastasio: Atti del convegno dell'Accademia nazionale dei Lincei: Rome 1985, 79–110
E. Kanduth: ‘Das Libretto im Zeichen der Arcadia, Paradigmatisches in den Musikdramen Zenos (Pariatis) und Metastasios’, Oper als Text: romanistische Beiträge zur Libretto-Forschung, ed. A. Gier (Heidelberg, 1986), 33–53
E. Sala Di Felice: ‘Zeno: dal teatro impresariale al teatro di corte’, L'opera italiana a Vienna prima di Metastasio, ed. M.T. Muraro (Florence, 1990), 65–114
M. Viale Ferrero: ‘Le didascalie sceniche nei drammi per musica di Zeno’, ibid., 271–85
L. Bianconi and G. LaFace, eds.: I libretti italiani di Georg Friedrich Händel e le loro fonti, i (Florence, 1992)
E. Sala Di Felice: ‘Zeno, Metastasio e il teatro di corte’, Italia–Austria alla ricerca del passato comune, ed. P. Chiarini and H. Zeman (Rome, 1995), 523–68