Apostolo Zeno (born in Venice, December 11, 1668; died in Venice, November 11, 1750) was an Italian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venexia), nicknamed the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice in Italy. ... December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events January - The Triple Alliance of 1668 is formed. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London, England April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 – Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex...

A venetian nobleman, he was in 1691 among the founders of the Accademia degli Animosi. In 1695, he composed his first libretto, Gli inganni felici, which obtained great success, making him a fashionable librettist. From 1705, he worked with Pietro Pariati, keeping the theatrical scenes for himself and leaving to Pariati the composition of the libretti. Events March 5 - French troops under Marshal Louis-Francois de Boufflers besiege the Spanish-held town of Mons March 20 - Leislers Rebellion - New governor arrives in New York - Jacob Leisler surrenders after standoff of several hours March 29 - Siege of Mons ends to the city’s surrender May 6... Events January 27 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed II to Mustafa II (1695-1703) July 17 - The Bank of Scotland is founded by an Act of Parliament of the old Scottish Parliament. ... A libretto is the complete body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. ... // Events Construction begins on Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England. ...

He began work as a literary journalist for the Galleria di Minerva, also taking upon executive responsibilities, but distanced himself when he realized that he had not succeeded in making the impact upon the publication that he intended. In the end he described it as an idiocy.

In 1710 together with Scipione Maffei, Antonio Vallisneri and his brother, Pier Caterino Zeno, he founded the Giornale de' letterati d'Italia, maintaining that it was necessary that "Italians themselves make their own newspaper... revealing that good sense, erudition and ingenuity never were lacking among us, and now more than ever are they flourishing." // Events April 10 - The worlds first copyright legislation became effective, Britains Statute of Anne Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Births January 3 - Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. ... Scipione Maffei (b. ... Antonio Vallisneri (1661–1730) was an Italian medical scientist, scientist and naturalist. ...

The tri-monthly publication had prestigious contributors such as Scipione Maffei, Antonio Vallisneri, Eustachio Manfredi, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Giovan Battista Vico, Bernardino Ramazzini. Motivated above all by the desire to improve italian learning, it enjoyed considerable success. Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672 - 1750) was an Italian historian, notable as a leading scholar of his age, and for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books. ... Giovanni Battista Morgagni (February 25, 1682 - December 6, 1771), Italian anatomist, was born on at ForIi. ... Bernardino Ramazzini (November 3, 1633, Carpi - November 5, 1714, Padua) was an Italian physician. ...

When Apostolo Zeno was called to duty as poet laureate to the imperial court of Vienna in 1718, his brother, Pier Caterino took over the direction until 1732, publishing the periodical annually. Apostolo remained in Vienna until 1729, at which point he was replaced by Pietro Metastasio. He returned to Venice, dedicating himself to works of erudition and to coin-collecting. Vienna (German: Wien ; Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian: Beč, Czech: Vídeň, Hungarian: Bécs, Greek: Βιέννη, Romanian: Viena, Romani: Bech or Vidnya, Russian: Вена, Slovak: Viedeň, Slovenian: Dunaj) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... // Events The Funj warrior aristocracy deposes the reigning mek and places one of their own ranks on the throne of Sennar. ... Events February 23 - First performance of Handels Orlando, in London June 9 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia. ... Events July 30 - Baltimore, Maryland is founded. ... Pietro Trapassi (January 13, 1698 – April 12, 1782), Italian poet, is better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio. ...

Works

He composed the libretto for 36 operas with historical and mythological themes, including Gli inganni felici (1695), Faramondo (1698), Lucio Vero (1700), Merope (1711), Alessandro Severo (1716), Griselda (1718), Teuzzone (1719), Semiramide (1725), and 17 works of oratorio. Among his literary works, the Dissertazioni vossiane are additions and corrections to De historicis latinis by Voss. His Annotazioni to the Biblioteca della eloquenza italiana by Giusto Fontanini were published posthumously. His correspondence (Epistolario) is ample. Events January 27 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed II to Mustafa II (1695-1703) July 17 - The Bank of Scotland is founded by an Act of Parliament of the old Scottish Parliament. ... Events January 4 - Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. ... Events January 1 - Russia accepts Julian calendar. ... // Events February 24 - The London premiere of Rinaldo by George Friderich Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage. ... // Events August 5 - In the Battle of Peterwardein 40. ... // Events The Funj warrior aristocracy deposes the reigning mek and places one of their own ranks on the throne of Sennar. ... // Events January 23 - The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire April 25 - Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe June 10 - Battle of Glen Shiel Prussia conducts Europes first systematic census Miners in Falun, Sweden find an apparently petrified body of Fet-Mats Israelsson in an unused... Events February 8 - Catherine I became empress of Russia February 20 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony. ...

Critical evaluation

From condemnation of the unrealistic and exaggerated elemensts of melodrama was born a demand for greater verisimilitude in plots and for literary dignity in texts. Zeno was the first to undertake reform to make melodrama more sober, according to the [arcadici] principles, developed further by Metastasio. Inspired by french tragedians, he respected, as they did, the rule of the unity of time and space. He reduced the number of characters and scenes and eliminated the clown roles, constructing his works so that they could be presented also without music. Poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914). ...

Francesco De Sanctis, referring to Metastasio, wrote that "if we look at the structure, his drama is constructed in the fashion which Apostolo Zeno already demonstrated. But the structure is only a simple skeleton. Metastasio breathed into that skeleton the grace and the romance of a happy and harmonious life. He was the poet of melodrama; Zeno was the architect." Francesco De Sanctis (1817-1883). ...