libretto
Americannoun
-
the text or words of an opera or similar extended musical composition.
-
a book or booklet containing such a text.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of libretto
1735–45; < Italian, diminutive of libro book < Latin liber; see -et
Explanation
In opera, the libretto is the words or lyrics, as distinct from the music. Mozart composed the music to his operas, but the librettos were written by someone else. The life of the librettist is often a thankless one. If the opera is a success, nobody mentions the libretto. Often, the libretto of an opera or musical is called the "book" and refers to all the parts of the script except the music. This can be helpful in remembering what the word means, because libr- is Latin for "book" (as in "library").
Vocabulary lists containing libretto
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Theater - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Pushkin’s text eventually became the libretto that Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov employed in his opera of the same name.
From Salon ● May 16, 2026
The libretto is cumbersome although full of dramatic promise and surprise and with a comic episode that prefigures “Falstaff.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026
Versions of this Stravinsky classic, with its libretto based on Russian fairytales, have come and gone for more than a century.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
There’s not a traditional libretto, so the story is transmitted mostly through song lyrics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
What’s more, he wrote the libretto as well as the music, and drew up the specifications of the purpose- built theatre at Bayreuth in which it was to be performed.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Scholars have speculated that the texts might be closer to libretti for an operatic experience that is as intellectual as it is emotional — and therefore difficult for us to precisely imagine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2022
In social media postings, New York composer Daniel Roumain said Sunday he was commissioned to write one of four libretti for a “Greenwood Overcomes” concert scheduled for a May 1 performance by the Tulsa Opera.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2021
He later wrote the libretto to “Emmeline,” from a novel by Judith Rossner, for composer Tobias Picker, and translated libretti by Mozart and Bizet.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2018
But while Vavrek’s libretti have powered a string of gritty operas, the Yale-trained Mazzolli is most identified with downtown chamber music, having written works for Kronos Quartet, Eighth Blackbird and other groups.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 21, 2016
Madame Gay wrote several comedies and opera libretti which met with considerable success.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various
He would grab a bunch of different librettos and “Wicked” was one of them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024
Italian soprano Carmela Remigio told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that it was thanks to the opera and its librettos that Italian language was still known in the world.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2023
In his subsequent collaborations with director Peter Sellars — from “Doctor Atomic” through “Girls” — the librettos were compiled entirely from “found texts” such as documents, diaries, speeches and poems.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2022
Although he adapted familiar books by Emily Bronte, John Steinbeck and Robert Penn Warren for these pieces, working closely with the last two authors, Mr. Floyd always wrote his own librettos.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 3, 2021
Even the libretto of Wagner's 'Master-Singers of Nuremberg,' altho it is far richer in tone than any of Scribe's librettos for Auber, is constructed in accord with principles already applied by the French playwright.
From A Book About the Theater by Matthews, Brander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
