Пьетро Метастазио

Olivier Ruvier is one of the leading French specialists in the field of baroque music. Pietro Metastasio (1698 -1782) - one of the greatest librettists in the history of the opera. This book is the most detailed study of the life and work of the Italian poet, whose "recipes" turned out to be fundamental for several generations of baroque composers. Separate libretto metastasio became the basis for operas of different composers more than 80 times. Ruvier describes some techniques and verbal recipes of metastasio, his view on the general principles of dramaturgy and the features of his thinking in comparison with the thinking of other librettists. Metastasio creativity appears as an impressive universe with its laws and rules.
The book also gives a summary of the main libretto of metastasio. As examples of creativity, translations of one sonnet and one full libretto of the great Italian librettist are given