by Sam Hall

Interesting fact –Lorenzo da Ponte , librettist for Don Giovanni, was the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University in New York City; he was also the first ethnically Jewish member of the faculty, and the first to be a Catholic priest.

Before that, he worked at various points in his life as grocer, among other things, and for a time served as a librettist for the imperial Hapsburg court in Vienna, where he became W.A. Mozart's most famous collaborator in the opera. Da Ponte led an interesting life and he was a gifted writer, though not a great one.

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Source: http://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/