Indeed, there was a period when libretto-writing had a reputation of being hackwork, at least in Italy, so much so that authors took on acronymous pen-names (e.g., "Loran Glodici" for Carlo Goldoni) when they embarked on such projects! To this day, notions perpetuate that libretti are "just nonsense" or that, however well written the words may be, they necessarily take a back seat to the music. And so, in our own time, librettists are likely to go one step further back from pseudonymous to virtually anonymous -- unnamed in discussion of their operas. I am often guilty of not identifying them myself, for all my admiration of their skills. Alas, this tendency to ignore librettists leaves us woefully ignorant of some of the attempts by famous literary figures to try their hand at them.
A few centuries ago, for instance, Voltaire not only produced works to ultimately inspire more than 70 operas based upon them, but himself wrote seven libretti, most notably the 1744 La Princesse de Navarre and the 1745 La Temple de la Gloire, both set by Rameau. Dumas père collaborated on several libretti, including for an opera by Ambroise Thomas, the 1860 Le Roman d'Elvire. Henry Fielding wrote lyrics for several English ballad operas. Turgenev, who enjoyed a personal as well as professional relationship with her, wrote libretti for operettas composed by Pauline Viardot, such as the 1869 Le Dernier Sorcier. Hans Christian Andersen wrote a number of libretti, including his own version of a Scott novel, Bruden fra Lammermoor, set in 1832 by a composer named Bredal. Jules Verne wrote or co-wrote libretti for a total of eight operas-comiques and operettas. Even Dickens wrote one libretto, for John Hullah's 1836 The Village Coquettes. Unfortunately, the obscurity of these operas makes it difficult for us to evaluate such libretti alongside these writers' better-known works.
Let us turn to more modern examples of this special literary craft, with some consideration of the needs of an opera libretto. Sprawling as some works may appear onstage, operas usually have compact texts that needs must leave room for music to declare its own presence, sometimes even in complete absence of any vocalization; unlike straight drama, operas also not only permit but encourage the overlap of voices, as well as a more poetical use of language itself than would be natural as dialogue in a novel or play.
