An Opera Libretto?

Pkmatrix

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I wasn't sure whether to put this here or in Poetry, so I flipped a coin and here we are. xD

So...Opera Libretti.

Last week I picked up Dana Giona's libretto for Nosferatu at Books-a-Million and, since, have developed some interest in trying to write one (or, at the very least, sate my curiosity as to what goes into writing one). I'm not a poet and don't normally write poetry, but I have written screenplays and stage plays before. In the last week, though, my searches for information on how to write a libretto have come up empty handed. Barnes & Noble, Wikipedia, and even Google have turned up shockingly little on the subject. Thus, I turn to you fine ladies and gentlemen. :)

Does anyone here have any experience with libretti, or at least some idea of where I can find information on them? Not actual libretto texts, which aren't that hard to find, but information or tips on writing them. What are the rules or conventions of the form? Is there a particular meter or rhyme scheme associated with a libretto?

Any help is appreciated. :)
 

Melville

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There are tons of books about writing for the musical theatre. You might want to start with "Writing Musical Theater" by Allen Cohen -- it addresses writing the libretto.

"Writing the Broadway Musical" by Aaron Frankel too.

They may not focus on opera, but they do delve into musical text.
 
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Pkmatrix

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Ah, okay! Thank you! I'll go track those two down right now.

I was getting a little frustrated, since the last time I've had this much trouble finding information on something was over a decade ago (pre-Wikipedia, or at least before I discovered Wikipedia). It only worsened when I went to Barnes and Noble only to find they had nothing (they had plenty on Shakespeare, but that's about it).