Calisto Bassi

Calisto Bassi (Cremona, beginning of the 19th century – Abbiategrasso, c. 1860) was an Italian opera librettist.

Bassi wrote many original librettos and was also active as translator into Italian of several librettos from other languages. For many years he was also stage director at La Scala in Milan.

Original librettos

Title	Genre	Subdivisions	Music	Première	Place, theatre
Le nozze di Telemaco e Antiope	azione lirica	3 acts	Saverio Mercadante	5 November 1824	Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor
Il podestà di Burgos ossia Il signore del villaggio	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Saverio Mercadante	20 November 1824	Vienna, Theater am Kärntnertor
I Crociati a Tolemaide ovvero Malek-Adel	melodramma serio	2 acts	Giovanni Pacini	13 November 1828	Trieste, Teatro Grande
Il solitario	opera seria	2 acts	Giuseppe Persiani	26 April 1829	Milan, Teatro alla Scala
La vendetta	melodramma tragico	2 acts	Cesare Pugni	11 February 1832	Milan, Teatro alla Scala
Ricciarda di Edimburgo	dramma serio	2 acts	Cesare Pugni	29 September 1832	Trieste, Teatro Grande
Iacopo di Valenza	melodramma	2 acts	Ruggero Manna	Autumn 1832	Trieste, Teatro Grande
Il carrozzino da vendere	melodramma comico	1 act	Angelo Frondoni	29 June 1833	Milan, Teatro alla Scala
Amelia, ossia Otto anni di costanza	melodramma comico	3 acts	Lauro Rossi	31 December 1834	Napoli, Teatro San Carlo
I tre mariti	farsa	1 act	Giovanni Luigi Bazzoni	24 June 1836	Milan, Teatro alla Canobbiana
La bella Celeste degli Spadari	melodramma comico	2 acts	Pietro Antonio Coppola	14 June 1837	Milan, Teatro alla Canobbiana
L'ammalata e il consulto	melodramma comico	1 act	Giuseppe Manusardi	24 June 1837	Milan, Teatro alla Canobbiana
Salvator Rosa	farsa	3 acts	Giovanni Luigi Bazzoni	27 June 1837	Milan, Teatro alla Canobbiana
I ciarlatani	melodramma buffo	2 acts	Giacomo Panizza	29 October 1839	Milan, Teatro alla Scala
Il solitario	opera seria	2 acts	Achille Peri	29 May 1841	Reggio Emilia, Teatro Comunale
Il Buontempone di Porta Ticinese in Milano, ossia Sabato Domenica e Lunedì	melodramma buffo	3 acts	Placido Mandanici	16 June 1841	Milan, Teatro alla Scala
Il birichino di Parigi	melodramma	1 act	Giuseppe Manusardi	25 June 1841	Milan, Teatro alla Scala
Rosalia di San Miniato	melodramma semiserio	1 act	Antonio Cagnoni	28 February 1845	Milan, Conservatory
Azema di Granata, ovvero Gli Abencerragi ed i Zegrini	melodramma tragico	2 acts	Lauro Rossi	21 March 1846	Milan, Teatro alla Scala
Don Bucefalo	melodramma giocoso	3 acts	Antonio Cagnoni	28 June 1847	Milan, Conservatory
Il testamento di Figaro	melodramma comico	3 acts	Antonio Cagnoni	26 February 1848	Milan, Teatro Re
Mezz'ora all'Inferno	cantata fantastica		Luigi Pirola	1850	Milan, Teatro Carcano
Due mogli in una	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Cesare Dominiceti	30 June 1853	Milan, Teatro Filodrammatici
Ida di Danimarca (Revision of La fidanzata di Lammermoor, after Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor)	opera	3 acts	Luigi Rieschi	29 July 1854	Milan, Teatro Carcano
Elodia di San Mauro	melodramma	3 acts	Giovanni Battista Meiners	Spring 1855	Milan, Teatro Carcano

Translations

This is a partial list of librettos translated into Italian by Bassi. Location and date refer to the first performance of the translated version.

• L'assedio di Corinto (from Le siège de Corinthe), music by Gioachino Rossini (Parma, Teatro Ducale, 31 January 1828)
• Guglielmo Tell (from Guillaume Tell), music by Gioachino Rossini (Lucca, Teatro del Giglio, 17 September 1831)
• La muta di Portici (from La muette de Portici), music by Daniel Auber (Rome, Teatro Valle, Spring 1835)
• Roberto il Diavolo (from Robert le diable), music by Giacomo Meyerbeer (Lisbon, 2 September 1838)
• Il Postiglione di Longjumeau (from Le postillon de Lonjumeau for Adolphe-Charles Adam)
  • music by Pietro Antonio Coppola (Milan, Teatro alla Scala, 6 November 1838)
  • music by A. A. Speranza (Turin, Teatro Sutera, Spring 1845)
• La figlia del reggimento (from La fille du régiment), music by Gaetano Donizetti (Milan, Teatro alla Scala, 30 October 1840)
• La Favorita (from La favorite), music by Gaetano Donizetti (Milan, Teatro alla Scala, 6 August 1843)
• I Martiri (from Les Martyrs, adaptation of Poliuto), music by Gaetano Donizetti (Lisbon, 15 February 1843)
• Roberto Bruce (from Robert Bruce), music by Gioachino Rossini (1847)
• L'anima in pena (from L'âme en peine), music by Friedrich von Flotow (1847)
• Mosè (from Moïse et Pharaon), music by Gioachino Rossini (Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 1849)
• Gerusalemme (from Jérusalem), music by Giuseppe Verdi (Milan, Teatro alla Scala, 26 December 1850)
• I Guelfi ed i Ghibellini (from Les Huguenots) (Trieste, Teatro Grande, Carnival 1851)
• Il Profeta (from Le Prophète), music by Giacomo Meyerbeer (Florence, Teatro della Pergola, 26 December 1852)
• Alessandro Stradella, music by Friedrich von Flotow (Genua, Teatro Carlo Felice, Autumn 1863)

Sources

• "BASSI, Calisto". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). 7. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. 1970. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
• "Calisto Bassi" (in Italian). [amadeusonline]. Retrieved 11 February 2015.