Andrea Leone Tottola

Andrea Leone Tottola (died 15 September 1831) was a prolific Italian librettist, best-known for his work with Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini.

It is not known when or where he was born. He became the official poet to the royal theatres in Naples and agent for the impresario Domenico Barbaia, and started writing librettos in 1802.

His libretto for "Gabriella di Vergy", originally set by Michele Carafa in 1816, was reworked by Donizetti in the 1820s and 1830s. He wrote six other librettos for Donizetti, including those for "La zingara" (1822), "Alfredo il grande" (1823), "Il castello di Kenilworth" (1829) and "Imelda de' Lambertazzi" (1830).

For Rossini he wrote "Mosè in Egitto" (1818), "Ermione" (1819), "La donna del lago" (1819) and "Zelmira" (1822).

For Vincenzo Bellini he wrote "Adelson e Salvini" (1825). Other composers who set Tottola's librettos to music included Giovanni Pacini ("Alessandro nelle Indie" (1824) and others), Saverio Mercadante, Johann Simon Mayr, Nicola Vaccai, Errico Petrella, Ferdinando Paer and Manuel Garcia.

Tottola died in Naples.

ources

*"The Oxford Dictionary of Opera", by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), ISBN 0-19-869164-5
*"New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 4, pp. 772-3.