A libretto (from the Italian libretto — “little book”) is the verbal text of a large musical-stage work: an opera, operetta, oratorio, or musical. It is the dramatic and literary basis onto which the composer “lays” the music and around which the whole stage action is built.
The author of a libretto is called a librettist, and their role is extremely important, since the success of a work depends in large measure on the quality of the text and the construction of the plot. In the history of opera there have been famous creative partnerships of composer and librettist — for example, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte. Librettos are often created after well-known plays, novels, or legends, adapting them to the demands of the musical stage: shortening, sharpening, and adding places for arias, ensembles, and choruses.
