(1863-1934)
Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti was born in Livorno. He was an established journalist and newspaper editor by the time he wrote his first libretto, thought to be Mascagni’s Pinotta. He came to prominence with the fantastic success of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, for which he co-wrote the libretto with Guido Menasci. Targioni-Tozzetti went on to write the librettos for Mascagni’s Silvano and Nerone, and, with Menasci, I Rantzau and Zanetto. Targioni-Tozzetti’s other works included the first Italian translation of Massenet’s Werther and of Mascagni’s only French-language opera, Amica.