Cristoforo Ivanovich

Cristoforo Ivanovich, from Minerva al tavolino, 1680
Funerary monument of Cristoforo Ivanovich by Marco Beltrame

Cristoforo Ivanovich was born in 1620 in Budua, Venetian Albania (today Budva in Montenegro), and died in Venice in 1689. He was the first historian of Venetian opera and wrote several librettos. He wrote all his works in Italian.

Life

Ivanovich descended from a family of old Dalmatian origin; he came in 1655 to Verona, where he was a member of the Accademia Filarmonica and of the Accademia dei Temperati.

In 1657, he moved to Venice, the city where he remained throughout his life. There he became secretary of Leonardo Pesaro, Procurator of San Marco, and later, in 1676, was appointed canon of St Mark's Basilica.

From 1663, he wrote several librettos for operas which were performed in the theaters of Venice, Vienna and Piacenza. He catalogued all opera performances held in Venice from 1637 until 1681 in his treatise Memorie teatrali di Venzia (Theatrical Memories of Venice), published in 1680 as part of collection Minerva al tavolino.

Works

Almost all his librettos are drammi per musica.

Bibliography

External links