Salvatore Cammarano
music_department, soundtrack, writer
- Born:
- 1801-03-19, Naples, Kingdom of Naples [now Campania, Italy]
- Died:
- 1852-07-17, Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies [now Campania, Italy]
- Professions:
- music_department, soundtrack, writer
Biography
Naples, spring of 1801: the curtain rises on Salvatore Cammarano, born 19 March into the bustle of a kingdom that no longer exists. By 1852 his pen had helped the world sing: he fed libretti to Donizetti—most famously the storm-tossed Lucia di Lammermoor—and polished verses for Verdi that still ring in opera houses from Milan to Manaus. Oddly, his name also flickers across modern marquees: the 1971 film of Lucia carries his text; The Money Pit (1986) and Match Point (2005) resurrect his credit lines, ghost-writing from beyond the footlights. On 17 July 1852, back in his native city—now the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies—Cammarano lowered his final curtain, leaving Naples with stories that refuse to exit the stage.
