Born Emmanuele Conegliano in Ceneda, Venetian Republic, the man known as Mozart’s librettist began life as a poet, scribbling verse during tedious school lessons. Those teenage experiments, plus a solid grounding in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, primed him for the writing life ahead. When a young Mozart, already famous, requested his assistance, Da Ponte agreed; thus began their illustrious collaboration. Between librettos, Da Ponte lived adventurously, gambling, living in brothels, and writing seditious poetry, for which he was twice tried and convicted. Da Ponte settled in America, selling Italian books and writing a long, lively autobiography.
The Falashas of Ethiopia have attracted considerable attention because of their Judaic religious practice, yet the relationship of their liturgy to normative Judaism remains underdetermined. This…
Amon:Proclaim to the citizens of our city that in joy and gladness we propose to marry our daughter Beruriah to the handsome Jedidiah, Sholom’s son. Our most…
Nighttime at the home of I. L. Peretz, and Shimon (aka Bernard) Kratko appears like a vision. Who masterminded an audience with Peretz, I can’t tell you, but it was all that mattered now, as if…