List of opera librettists

This is an incomplete list of authors who have written libretti for operas. Only librettists with their own articles in Wikipedia are listed. The name of the composer of each opera is also given.

List of operas by librettist's last name

Contents :

A

Giuseppe Adami (1878–1946)

Jules Adenis (1823–1900)

Franco Alfano (1875–1954)

Louis Anseaume (?–1784)

George Antheil (1900–1959)

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)

W. H. Auden (1907–1973)

B

Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973)

Béla Balázs (1884–1949)

Henri Auguste Barbier (1805–1882)

Jules Barbier (1825–1901)

Pierre Beaumarchais (1732–1799)

Sem Benelli (1877–1949)

Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)

Giovanni Bertati (1735–1815)

Thomas Betterton (1635–1710)

Robin Blaser (born 1925)

Édouard Blau (1836–1906)

Arrigo Boito (1842–1918)

Jean-Nicolas Bouilly (1763–1842)

Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956)

Georg Büchner (1813–1837)

Francis Burnand (1836–1917)

Giovanni Francesco Busenello (1598–1659)

Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924)

C

Louis de Cahusac (1706–1759)

Henri Caïn (1859–1937)

Italo Calvino (1923–1985)

Ranieri de' Calzabigi (1714–1795)

Salvadore Cammarano (1801–1852)

Michel Carré (1821–1872)

Nick Cave (born 1957)

Ernest Chausson (1855–1899)

Helmina von Chézy (1783–1856)

Henry Fothergill Chorley (1808–1872)

Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)

John M. Coetzee (born 1940)

Colette (1873–1954)

Marco Coltellini (1719–1777)

Jeremy Commons (born 1933)

William Congreve (1670–1729)

Eugène Cormon (1810–1903)

Thomas Corneille (1625–1709)

Hector-Jonathan Crémieux (1828–1892)

Francis de Croisset (1877–1937)

Eric Crozier (1914–1994)

César Cui (1835–1918)

D

Gabriele d'Annunzio (1863–1938)

Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749–1838)

William Davenant (1606–1668)

Giovanni de Gamerra (1743–1803)

Constance DeJong (born 1950)

Casimir Delavigne

Germain Delavigne

Frederick Delius (1862–1934)

Philippe Néricault Destouches (1680–1754)

Eduard Devrient (1801–1877)

Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)

John Dryden (1631–1700)

E

Gottfried von Einem (1918–1996)

Adolphe d'Ennery (1811–1899)

Victor Erofeyev (born 1947)

Hanns Heinz Ewers (1871–1943)

F

Mohammed Fairouz (born 1985)

Lorenzo Ferrero (born 1951)

Jacopo Ferretti (1784–1852)

Ferdinando Fontana (1850–1919)

E. M. Forster (1879–1970)

Frederick the Great (1712–1786)

Christopher Fry (1907–2005)

G

Louis Gallet (1835–1898)

John Gay (1685–1732)

Richard Genée (1823–1895)

Antonio Ghislanzoni (1824–1893)

Giuseppe Giacosa (1847–1906) and Luigi Illica (1857–1919)

W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911)

Philippe Gille (1831–1901)

Alvise Giusti (1709–1766)

Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852)

Carlo Goldoni (1707–1793)

Edmond Gondinet (1828–1888)

Alice Goodman (born 1958)

Vincenzo Grimani (1652/1655–1710)

Sydney Grundy (1848–1914)

Nicolas-François Guillard (1752–1814)

H

Daron Hagen (born 1961)

Thomas Hales (c.1740–1780)

Ludovic Halévy (1834–1908)

Christopher Hampton (born 1946)

David Harsent (born 1942)

Georges Hartmann (1843–1900)

Nicola Francesco Haym (1678–1729)

Philip Hensher (born 1965)

Paul Hindemith (1895–1963)

Russell Hoban (born 1925)

Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1925)

François-Benoît Hoffman (1760–1828)

Basil Hood (1864–1917)

Victor Hugo (1802–1885)

David Henry Hwang (born 1957)

I

Luigi Illica (1857–1919)

see also Giuseppe Giacosa

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980)

J

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928)

Scott Joplin (1868–1917)

Étienne de Jouy (1764–1846)

K

Georg Kaiser (1878–1945)

Chester Kallman see Auden

Johann Friedrich Kind (1768–1843)

Kenneth Koch (1925–2002)

Eliška Krásnohorská (1847–1926)

Clemens Krauss (1893–1954)

L

Antoine Houdar de la Motte (1672–1731)

Ferdinand Lemaire (1832–1879)

Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857–1919)

Doris Lessing (1919–2013)

M

Amin Maalouf (born 1949)

Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949)

Albéric Magnard (1865-1914)

Jean-François Marmontel (1723–1799)

Henri Meilhac (1831–1897)

Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélesville (1787–1865)

Guido Menasci (1867–1925)

Catulle Mendès (1841–1909)

Gian Carlo Menotti (1911–2007)

Joseph Méry (1798–1866)

Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992)

Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782)

Nicolò Minato (ca. 1630–1698)

Paul Muldoon (born 1951)

Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881)

N

Émile de Najac (1828–1899)

Charles Nuitter (1828–99)

O

Meredith Oakes (born 1946)

Martin Opitz (1597–1639)

P

Francesco Maria Piave (1810–1876)

Arthur Wing Pinero (1855–1934)

Myfanwy Piper (1911–1997)

James Robinson Planché (1796–1880)

William Plomer (1903–1973)

David Pountney (born 1947)

Alexander Preis

Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)

Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837)

Q

Philippe Quinault (1635–1688)

R

Jean Richepin (1849–1926)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908)

Ottavio Rinuccini (1562–1621)

Michael Symmons Roberts (born 1963)

Felice Romani (1788–1865)

Giulio Rospigliosi (later Pope Clement IX) (1600–1669)

Gaetano Rossi (1774–1855)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)

Pierre-Charles Roy (1683–1764)

Alphonse Royer (1803–1875)

S

Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (1799–1875)

Emanuel Schikaneder (1751–1812)

Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951)

Eugène Scribe (1791–1861)

Sandra Seaton

Michel-Jean Sedaine (1719–1797)

Peter Sellars (born 1957)

Elkanah Settle (1648–1724)

Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642–1692)

William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816)

Renato Simoni (1875–1952)

Montagu Slater (1902–1956)

Antonio Somma (1809–1864)

Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)

B. C. Stephenson (1838–1906)

Cesare Sterbini (1784–1831)

Richard Strauss (1864–1949)

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)

Alessandro Striggio (1573–1630)

John Millington Synge (1871–1909)

T

Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti (1863–1934)

Nahum Tate (1652–1715)

Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1850–1916)

Emmanuel Théaulon (1787–1841)

Michael Tippett (1905–1998)

Andrea Leone Tottola (?–1831)

Étienne Tréfeu (1821–1903)

V

Albert Vanloo (1846–1920)

  • with William Busnach: L'oeuf rouge
  • with William Busnach: Ali-Baba
  • with Georges Duval: La belle au bois dormant
  • with Eugène Letterier: La Camargo, Giroflé-Girofla, La jolie persane, Le jour et la nuit, La marjolaine, La petite mariée
  • with Georges Duval: Les dragons de l'impératrice, Les p'tites Michu, Véronique

Giambattista Varesco (1735–1805)

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)

Paul Verlaine

Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (1799–1875) — see above under S

Voltaire (1694–1778)

W

Richard Wagner (1813–1883)

Camillo Walzel (1829–1895) pseudonym F Zell

Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)

Albert Willemetz (1887–1964)

Ernst von Wolzogen (1855–1934)

Y

Arthur Yorinks (born 1953)

Z

Franco Zeffirelli (born 1923)

Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871–1942)

Apostolo Zeno (1668–1750)

Julius Zeyer (1841–1901)

Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970)

Peter Zinovieff

Émile Zola (1840–1902)

Stefan Zweig (1881–1942)

General sources

See also

Literaturoper