Alessandro Pepoli

Alessandro Pepoli (1757-1796 ), was an Italian librettist and author of tragedies.

Born in Venice, Pepoli sought to be considered a literary rival to Vittorio Alfieri, often writing his own takes on topics previously addressed by Alfieri.^[1] Styling himself as a champion of liberty,^[1] in 1783, he wrote an essay on freedom, advocating political reform.

Other noted works include:

• Anna Bolena, a libretto recounting the life of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII. Similar treatments were done in the same period by Felice Romani (Anna Bolena) and Ippolito Pindemonte (Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena).
• A libretto for an opera by Giovanni Paisiello entitled I giuochi d'Agrigento with which the theater, La Fenice, was inaugurated on 16 May 1792.
• A six-page summary translation of John Milton's Paradise Lost, Prospetto del "Paradiso Perduto" di Giovanni Milton Tradotto in versi sciolti da Alessandro Pepoli, printed in Venice in 1795.^[2]

References

1. Peter Hainsworth and David Robey, eds., "Pepoli, Alessandro, Count", The Oxford Companion to Italian Literature (2002), p. 450.
2. William Bridges Hunter, A Milton Encyclopedia (1983), Vol. 8, p. 82.

External links