Librettists
by bderoes-12985 | created - 14 Oct 2020 | updated - 20 Nov 2020 | Public
1. Robert Altman
Director | Gosford Park
Robert Altman was born on February 20th, 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri, to B.C. (an insurance salesman) and Helen Altman. He entered St. Peters Catholic school at the age six, and spent a short time at a Catholic high school. From there, he went to Rockhurst High School. It was then that he started...
2. Stephen Fry
Actor | Gosford Park
Writer, actor, comedian, doer of good works, excellent good friend to the famous and not, Fry lives in his London SW1 flat and his Norfolk house when not traveling. Famous for his public declaration of celibacy in the "Tatler" back in the 1980s, Emma Thompson has characterised her friend as "90 ...
opera The Magic Flute (2006)
3. Peter Greenaway
Director | The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Peter Greenaway trained as a painter and began working as a film editor for the Central Office of Information in 1965. Shortly afterwards he started to make his own films. He has produced a wealth of short and feature-length films, but also paintings, novels and other books. He has held several ...
4. Jane Austen
Writer | Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen was born on December 16th, 1775, to the local rector, Rev. George Austen (1731-1805), and Cassandra Leigh (1739-1827). She was the seventh of eight children. She had one older sister, Cassandra. In 1783 she went to Southampton to be taught by a relative, Mrs. Cawley, but was brought ...
musical Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980)
5. Robert Benton
Writer | Kramer vs. Kramer
Robert Douglas Benton is an American screenwriter and filmmaker from Waxahachie, Texas who is known for screenwriting Bonnie & Clyde, Kramer vs. Kramer and Superman. He won two Academy Awards for writing and directing Kramer vs. Kramer. He directed other feature films including Twilight, Bad ...
6. Philip Glass
Soundtrack | The Truman Show
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Glass worked in his father's radio store and discovered music listening to the offbeat Western classical records customers didn't seem to want. He studied the violin and flute, and obtained early admission to the University of Chicago. After graduating in mathematics ...
7. Richard Wagner
Soundtrack | Watchmen
Richard Wagner was a German composer best known for his operas, primarily the monumental four-opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen". He was born Wilhelm Richard Wagner on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, Germany. He was the ninth child in the family of Carl Wagner, a police clerk. Richard was only six ...
opera Tannhäuser (2012)
8. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Soundtrack | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland. He was a writer, known for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), 4 Days in France (2016) and Le Devin du Village (1962). He was married to Thérése Levasseur. He died on July 2, 1778 in Ermenonville, France.
opera Le Devin du Village (1962) (TV Short)
9. Jérôme Savary
Actor | La fille du garde-barrière
Jérôme Savary was born on June 27, 1942 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor and writer, known for La fille du garde-barrière (1975), Le boucher, la star et l'orpheline (1975) and Emmenez-moi au théâtre (1982). He was married to Mona Heftre. He died on March 4, 2013 in ...
10. Vladimir Cosma
Composer | Diva
Vladimir Cosma was born on April 13, 1940 in Bucharest, Romania. He is a composer and actor, known for Diva (1981), Octav (2017) and Le Bal (1983).
opera Marius et Fanny (2008)
11. Claude Debussy
Soundtrack | Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Claude Debussy was born in St. Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France. His father was a salesman and kept a china shop. His mother was a seamstress. Some traumatizing events in his childhood caused him a depression and he never spoke about his early years. Later he could not compose without having his...
12. Gaetano Donizetti
Soundtrack | Le Cinquième Élément
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was born November 29, 1797 in Bergamo, Italy. He was born in a windowless cellar into a poor family of a government clerk. At the age of 9 he became a protégé of Johann Simon Mayr, Maestro di Cappella of the Lombard city. Johann Mayr hosted and educated young ...
13. Jacques Offenbach
Soundtrack | Moulin Rouge!
Jacques Offenbach, the son of a synagogue cantor, was born in Cologne, Germany, June 20, 1819. So strong were his musical talents that the Paris Conservatory waived the rule forbidding foreigners and enrolled him. At the completion of his studies he began playing the cello in the orchestra of the ...
opera RSVP (1951)
14. Sergei Prokofiev
Soundtrack | Children of Men
Prokofiev was a multi-talented man and an innovative composer. He learned piano from his mother and chess from his father. He always had a chess set on his piano, and was able to play against the chess champions of his time. He studied music with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, graduated with highest ...
15. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Soundtrack | Smurfs
Rimsky-Korsakov was a navy officer but soon discovered his love for music. Since 1861 he belonged to the group of Balakirew but later he returned to the traditional way of composing. He combined uniquely the Russian folk songs with the music of the Orthodox Church. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the first ...
opera Le coq d'or (2003)
16. Robert Schumann
Soundtrack | Wasabi
Schumann studied Law and at the same time attended piano lessons. He ignored all musical theory because in his mind the romantic music had only to be inspired by fantasy. Publishing the "Neue Zeitschrift fuer Musik" he supported young composers of his time like Frédéric Chopin or Johannes Brahms. ...
17. Dmitri Shostakovich
Soundtrack | Children of Men
Dmitri Shostakovich, one of Russian culture's most acclaimed intellectuals who was censored under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, was an internationally recognized composer whose music was in over 100 films.
He was born Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich on September 25, 1906, in St. Petersburg, ...
18. Oscar Straus
Composer | One Hour with You
Oscar Straus was born on March 6, 1870 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was a composer and writer, known for One Hour with You (1932), Married in Hollywood (1929) and The Smiling Lieutenant (1931). He was married to Clara Singer and Nelly Irmen. He died on January 11, 1954 in Bad Ischl,...
operetta/musical Zena, ktera vi co chce (1934)
19. Richard Strauss
Soundtrack | 2001: A Space Odyssey
Richard Strauss was a German composer best known for symphonic poem 'Also sprach Zarathustra' (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1896) used as the music score in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by director Stanley Kubrick.
He was born Richard Georg Strauss on June 11, 1864, in Munich, Bavaria (now Germany). His ...
opera Capriccio (2018)
20. Igor Stravinsky
Soundtrack | The Lobster
Igor Stravinsky's father was a singer at the opera, and thus Stravinsky became a student of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov after a short stint as a law student. Very much influenced by Russian composers, only his sponsor Sergei Diaghilev in Paris was able to convince him to try new styles of ballet, e.g. ...
opera Le rossignol (2005)
21. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Soundtrack | Smurfs
Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Vyatka region, Russia. He was the second of six children (five brothers and one sister). His father, named Ilya Chaikovsky, was a mining business executive in Votkinsk. His father's ancestors were from Ukraine and Poland. His ...
22. Alban Berg
Soundtrack | Natural Born Killers
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was born on February 9, 1885, in Vienna, Austria. He was the third of four children in the upper-class family of Conrad Berg and his wife Johanna, nee Braun. He was trained for a career in accounting, but his father died in 1900, causing him a depression and the onset of ...
opera Berg: Wozzeck (2020)
23. Giuseppe Adami
Soundtrack | The Island
Italian screenwriter, director, librettist, playwright, author, journalist, and music critic. He was born in Verona on either February 4, 1878 or November 4, 1878 (major reference works differ). He graduated with a law degree from the University of Padua, but rather than entering the legal ...
opera Puccini: Turandot (2019)
24. Henri Alibert
Writer | Au pays du soleil
Henri Alibert was born on December 3, 1889 in Carpentras, Vaucluse, France. He was a writer and actor, known for Au pays du soleil (1951), Airs de France (1955) and Au pays des cigales (1946). He was married to Antoinette Scotto and Elisa Espanet. He died on January 23, 1951 in Marseille, France.
operettas/musicals
25. Ludovic Halévy
Soundtrack | Bohemian Rhapsody
Ludovic Halévy was born on January 1, 1834 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), Carmen (1943) and So This Is Paris (1926). He was married to Louise Breguet. He died on May 7, 1908 in Paris, France.
opera Bizet: Carmen (2019)
26. Angelo Anelli
Writer | Live from the Metropolitan Opera
Angelo Anelli was born on November 1, 1761 in Desenzano del Garda, Republic of Venice [now Lombardy, Italy]. He was a writer, known for The Metropolitan Opera Presents (1977), L'Italiana in Algeri, Dramma giocoso per musica in due atti di Angelo Anelli (2007) and Donizetti: Don Pasquale (1977). He ...
27. Nina Anisimova
Director | Zhuravlinaya pesn
Nina Anisimova was born on January 14, 1909 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. She was a director and actress, known for Zhuravlinaya pesn (1959), Don Kikhot (1957) and Gayane (1979). She died on September 23, 1979 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia].
ballet Gayane (1979)
28. Jean Anouilh
Director | Deux sous de violettes
Jean Anouilh was born on June 23, 1910 in Bordeaux, Gironde, France. He was a writer and director, known for Deux sous de violettes (1951), Le Voyageur sans bagage (1944) and Anna Karenina (1948). He was married to Nicole Lançon and Monelle Valentin. He died on October 3, 1987 in Lausanne, Vaud, ...
ballet Ballett in Wuppertal (1963)
29. Ludovico Ariosto
Writer | The Madness of Roland
Ludovico Ariosto was born on September 8, 1474 in Reggio Emilia, Duchy of Modena and Reggio [now Emilia-Romagna, Italy]. He was a writer, known for The Madness of Roland (1992), Prestige de la musique (1963) and Il viaggio di Astolfo (1972). He died on July 6, 1553 in Ferrara, Duchy of Ferrara [now...
opera Orlando furioso (2018)
30. Dennis Arundell
Actor | Meet Sexton Blake!
British stage, radio, and film actor. After a number of years as an amateur performer in local theatre, Arundell broke onto the professional stage at age 28. Five years later, he joined the Old Vic company at Sadler's Wells. His first film work followed in 1935, two years later. He managed a ...
opera, English version: The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)
31. Haydee Ascanio
Director | Unas son de amor
Haydee Ascanio was born on December 16, 1943 in Caracas, Venezuela. She was a writer and director, known for Unas son de amor (1987), Llovizna (1997) and Rosa de la calle (1982). She was married to Guillermo Carrasco. She died on March 8, 2005 in Venezuela.
no music/al credits
32. W.H. Auden
Author, poet and composer, educated at Oxford University, and a US citizen in 1946. He co-authored the verse plays: "The Dog Beneath the Skin", "The Ascent of F6", and "On the Frontier". His poetry volumes include: "Double Man". "The Shield of Achilles" (National Book Award), "For the Time Being"' ...
33. Alan Ayckbourn
Writer | A Chorus of Disapproval
Alan Ayckbourn was born on April 12, 1939 in London, England, UK. He is a writer and director, known for A Chorus of Disapproval (1989), By Jeeves (2001) and Season's Greetings (2020). He has been married to Heather Stoney since September 1997. They have two children. He was previously married to ...
musical By Jeeves (2001)
34. Ingeborg Bachmann
Writer | Der junge Lord
Ingeborg Bachmann was born on June 25, 1926 in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria. She was a writer, known for Der junge Lord (1969), Malina (1991) and Poem: I Set My Foot Upon the Air and It Carried Me (2003). She died on October 17, 1973 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
35. Giacomo Badoaro
Writer | Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
Giacomo Badoaro is known for Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (1980), Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, Dramma in musica in tre atti (2010) and Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (2002).
36. Anne Howard Bailey
Writer | Santa Barbara
Anne Howard Bailey was born on July 26, 1924 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She was a writer, known for Santa Barbara (1984), General Hospital (1963) and Tales of Tomorrow (1951). She died on November 23, 2006 in Rancho Mirage, California, USA.
37. Károly Bakonyi
Writer | Mágnás Miska
Károly Bakonyi was born on July 29, 1873 in Nagyvárad, Hungary. He was a writer, known for Mágnás Miska (1949), Bob herceg (1918) and Az obsitos (1917). He died on October 25, 1926 in Budapest, Hungary.
operetta/musical Bob herceg (1941)
38. Béla Balázs
Writer | Die 3 Groschen-Oper
Béla Balázs was born on August 4, 1884 in Szeged, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was a writer and actor, known for The Threepenny Opera (1931), Sonntag des Lebens (1931) and Karl Brunner (1936). He was married to Anna Hamvassy and Edit Olga Hajós. He died on May 17, 1949 in Budapest, Hungary.
39. Luigi Balocchi
Writer | Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'Albergo del Gigilio d'oro
Luigi Balocchi is known for Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'Albergo del Gigilio d'oro (1984), Matka Reimsiin (2003) and I poliorkia tis Korinthou (2021).
40. Samuel Barber
Soundtrack | Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
Composer ("Adagio for Strings", "Overture to 'The School for Scandal'"). He was educated at the Curtis Institute, and studied with Isabelle Vengerova, Emilio de Gogorza, Fritz Reiner, and Rosario Scalero. He was awarded an honorary music degree from Harvard University. He was a sergeant in the USAF...
41. Jules Barbier
Soundtrack | La vita è bella
Jules Barbier was born on March 8, 1825 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for Life Is Beautiful (1997), Jojo Rabbit (2019) and The Adventures of Tintin (2011). He died on January 16, 1901 in Paris, France.
42. Giuseppe Bardari
Writer | The Metropolitan Opera HD Live
Giuseppe Bardari is known for The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006), Maria Stuarda (2002) and Maria Stuarda (1988).
43. André Barde
Soundtrack | Arthur
André Barde was born on July 17, 1874 in Meudon, France. He was a writer, known for Beauty Cult (1930), Pas sur la bouche (1931) and Not on the Lips (2003). He died on October 18, 1945 in Paris, France.
musical/operetta Pas sur la bouche (2003)
44. Alberto Barrera
Writer | Agua y aceite
Alberto Barrera is known for Agua y aceite (2002), El Árbol de Gabriel (2011) and Carmen querida (1990).
telenovelas
45. James Goldman
Writer | The Lion in Winter
James Goldman was born on June 30, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer, known for The Lion in Winter (1968), Robin and Marian (1976) and Cyber Bandits (1995). He was married to Barbara Goldman and Maria McKeon. He died on October 28, 1998 in New York City, New York, USA.
musical Follies in Concert (1986)
46. Beaumarchais
Writer | La règle du jeu
Beaumarchais was born on January 24, 1732 in Paris, France. Beaumarchais was a writer, known for The Rules of the Game (1939), The Barber of Seville (1938) and The Marriage of Figaro (1949). Beaumarchais was married to Marie-Thérèse Willermawlaz, Geneviève Wattebled Lévêque and Madeleine Aubertin. ...
opera Tarare (1988)
47. Jack Beeson
Composer | NET Opera Theater
Jack Beeson was born on July 15, 1921 in Muncie, Indiana, USA. He was a composer and writer, known for NET Opera Theater (1967) and Live from Lincoln Center (1976). He was married to Nora. He died on June 6, 2010 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
48. Ralph Benatzky
Soundtrack | Die Puppenfee
Composer and author, he came to the US in 1938. He wrote the stage scores for "White Horse Inn (Berlin and New York)", "Meet My Sister (New York)", "The Apaches Cocktail", and "Casanova". He joined ASCAP in 1945, and his chief musical collaborator was Irving Caesar. His popular-song compositions ...
musicals/operettas Bezauberndes Fräulein (1977)
49. Francesco Berio di Salsa
Writer | Rossini: Ricciardo e Zoraide
Francesco Berio di Salsa is known for Rossini: Ricciardo e Zoraide (2019) and Ricciardo e Zoraide (1990).
50. Hector Berlioz
Soundtrack | Star Trek: First Contact
Hector Berlioz was born on December 11, 1803, into the family of Dr. Louis Berlioz and Marie-Antoinette-Josephine. Hector was the first of six children, three of whom died. He took music lessons at home from a visiting teacher and played flute and guitar. By age 16 he wrote a song for voice and ...
51. Georges Bernanos
Writer | Journal d'un curé de campagne
Georges Bernanos was born on February 20, 1888 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for Diary of a Country Priest (1951), Mouchette (1967) and Le dialogue des Carmélites (1960). He was married to Jeanne Talbert d'Arc. He died on July 5, 1948 in Paris, France.
52. Rudolph Bernauer
Writer | Ausflug ins Leben
Rudolph Bernauer was born on January 20, 1880 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was a writer and director, known for Ausflug ins Leben (1931), The Lucky Top Hat (1932) and Her Majesty, Love (1931). He was married to Emmy Erb and Henry Remilly. He died on November 27, 1953 in London, ...
musicals/operettas Wie einst im Mai (1938)
53. Leonard Bernstein
Soundtrack | New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts
Renowned composer ("West Side Story", "Candide", "On The Town"), conductor, arranger, pianist, educator, author, TV/radio host, educated at the Boston Latin School and Harvard University (BA) with Walter Piston. Edward Burlingame Hill and A. Tillman Merritt. He studied piano with Helen Coates, ...
opera Trouble in Tahiti (2017)
54. Giovanni Bertati
Writer | Zenés TV színház
Giovanni Bertati is known for Musical TV Theater (1970), Cimarosa: Il matrimonio segreto (2007) and Galuppi: L'inimico delle donne (2011).
55. Giuseppe Berto
Writer | Anonimo veneziano
Giuseppe Berto was born on December 27, 1914 in Mogliano Veneto, Veneto, Italy. He was a writer, known for The Anonymous Venetian (1970), Anna (1951) and I girovaghi (1956). He was married to Manuela Perroni. He died on November 1, 1978 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
operetta La fantarca (1966)
56. Hippolyte Bis
Soundtrack | Match Point
Hippolyte Bis was born on August 29, 1789 in Douai, France. He was a writer, known for Match Point (2005), Guillaume Tell: Royal Opera, London 2015 (2015) and Guillaume Tell (2013). He died on March 3, 1855 in Paris, France.
57. Boris Blacher
Composer | Stresemann
Boris Blacher was born on January 19, 1903 in Newchwang, China. He was a composer and writer, known for Stresemann (1957), Klassische Liebespaare - getanzt (1960) and Der widerspenstigen Zähmung (1958). He was married to Gerty Herzog. He died on January 30, 1975 in West Berlin, West Germany.
opera Dantons Tod (2019)
58. Marc Blitzstein
Soundtrack | What Women Want
Songwriter ("Mack the Knife"), composer, pianist, publisher and author, educated at the University of Pennsylvania, the Curtis Institute, and the Acad. der Kuenste in Berlin. He studied with Alexander Siloti, Rosario Scalero, Nadia Boulanger, and Arnold Schoenberg. He was awarded two grants from ...
musical The Cradle Will Rock (1964)
59. Robert Bodanzky
Writer | The Rogue Song
Robert Bodanzky was born on March 20, 1879 in Vienna, Austria. He was a writer, known for The Rogue Song (1930), Whirled into Happiness (1951) and Eva, the Factory Girl (1935). He died on November 2, 1923 in Berlin, Germany.
operetta Der Graf von Luxemburg (2006)
60. Arrigo Boito
Soundtrack | Match Point
Arrigo Boito was born on February 24, 1842 in Padua, Lombardy-Venetia, Austrian Empire [now Veneto, Italy]. He was a writer, known for Match Point (2005), Batman Begins (2005) and Faust and the Devil (1949). He died on June 10, 1918 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.
opera Otello (2017)
61. Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers
Producer | Mein Leopold
Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers was born on April 10, 1871 in Chemnitz, Germany. He was a producer and director, known for Mein Leopold (1919), Michels eiserne Faust (1914) and Kulissenzauber (1915). He died on January 30, 1938 in Dresden, Germany.
operetta Frau Luna (1975)
62. Guy Bolton
Writer | The Love Parade
Guy Bolton was born on November 23, 1884 in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He was a writer and composer, known for The Love Parade (1929), The Murder Man (1935) and Week-End at the Waldorf (1945). He was married to Stephen Powys, Mazie Radford, Marguerite Namara and Julia Alexander Curry. ...
musicals Crazy for You (1999)
63. Luc Bondy
Director | Die Ortliebschen Frauen
Luc Bondy was born on July 17, 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland. He was a director and writer, known for Die Ortliebschen Frauen (1981), Das weite Land (1987) and Ne fais pas ça! (2004). He was married to Marie-Louise Bischofberger. He died on November 28, 2015 in Paris, France.
opera Julie (2005)
64. Aleksandr Borodin
Soundtrack | Money Talks
Aleksandr Borodin was born on November 12, 1833 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was in fact the illegitimate son of the Georgian Prince, Lukas Gedevanishvili, who registered his son under the name of his serf and payed for Borodin's private education in music, languages and sciences.
Young Borodin ...
65. Zdenek Borovec
Soundtrack | Romance za korunu
Zdenek Borovec was born on January 7, 1932 in Praha, Czechoslovakia. He was an actor and writer, known for Romance za korunu (1975), The Great Movie Robbery (1986) and Cekání na dést (1978). He died on February 18, 2001 in Praha, Czech Republic.
musical? Kleopatra (2003)
66. Jean Nicolas Bouilly
Writer | Fidelio
Jean Nicolas Bouilly was born on January 24, 1763 in La Coudraye, Indre-et-Loire, France. Jean Nicolas was a writer, known for Fidelio (1956), Fidelio (1968) and The Metropolitan Opera Presents (1977). Jean Nicolas died on April 25, 1842 in Paris, France.
67. Grazio Braccioli
Writer | Orlando furioso
Grazio Braccioli is known for Orlando furioso (1990), Orlando furioso d'Antonio Vivaldi (2011) and Orlando furioso (2018).
68. Julius Brammer
Soundtrack | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Julius Brammer was born on March 9, 1877 in Sehraditz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Sehradice, Czech Republic]. He was a writer, known for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Suicide Squad (2021) and Sweet and Lowdown (1999). He died on April 18, 1943 in Juan-les-Pins, Alpes-Maritimes, ...
69. Ildebrando Pizzetti
Composer | Cabiria
Ildebrando Pizzetti was born on September 20, 1880 in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He was a composer and writer, known for Cabiria (1914), La nave (1921) and The Spirit and the Flesh (1941). He died on February 13, 1968 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
70. April De Angelis
Writer | Unprecedented: Real Time Theatre from a State of Isolation
April De Angelis is known for Unprecedented: Real Time Theatre from a State of Isolation (2020), Flight (1999) and Aristophanes: The Gods Are Laughing (1995).
Tell Your Friends