Lorenzo Da Ponte: The Life and Times of Mozart’s Librettist

Lorenzo Da Ponte

Lorenzo Da Ponte I On the 24th day of August 1763, 8t Bartholomew's Day, the small town of Ceneda, lying about 60 kilometres north of Venice, was filled with the sound of rejoicing. First a salvo of cannon thundered from the Monte di 8. Paolo, which rises steeply above the houses; the five bells of the cathedral rang out in response; and the bells of all the principal churches chimed in their turn. For the next four days the ceremony was repeated at regular intervals. At two o'clock on the 29th - the feast of the beheading of 8t John the Baptist - the bishop of Ceneda, Lorenzo Da Ponte, emerged from the C"astello di 8. Martino and made his stately way along the winding road whic.h leads down to Ceneda. He was preceded by a company ofhalberdiers in ceremonial dress, drums beating; next came his household in their best clothes, followed by a large number of clerics. The most illustrious and reverend bishop was accompanied by deputies of the city and by members of the noblest families. In the midst of this grand cortege were the four people whom it most closely concerned: Geremia Conegliano and his three sons, Emanuele, Baruch and Anania, who were this day to be baptised. Flanked by their godparents, all distinguished citizens of Ceneda and the neighbourhood, they entered the cathedral, which was richly adorned for the occasion, and with joyous pomp were received into the Catholic church. Mass was celebrated, and the bishop gave a brief but loving address which brought tears to the eyes of his listene~s. Afterwards, still accompanied by the halberdiers, the newly baptised Christians returned to the bishop's castle for private celebrations , while the citizens of Ceneda, and the many visitors who had come from far and near to share in the festivities, crowded into the piazza to watch the splendid firework display which had been devised by the famous Professor Gaetano Sarti of Bologna. The day was rounded off by six salvoes of cannon from the mountain. In his memoirs Emanuele Conegliano says nothing about baptism or his Jewish origins. He was born in the ghetto of Ceneda on 10 March 1749, the son of a tanner and dealer in leather. Today the confines of the ghetto are not precisely known, though above one gateway there can still be seen a stone plaque bearing an inscription 3 in Hebrew, but in the eighteenth century a considerable Jewish community lived within its walls. Emanuele was lucky to be living in Ceneda, which was then part of the Venetian Republic. For centuries there had been Jews in Venice itself, traders from the Byzantine Empire. They were allowed to establish themselves on the Island of Sinalunga, which became known as the Giudecca, and here they set up as money-lenders, a calling forbidden to Christians but extremely important to the state. Because of their usefulness they were tolerated by the government, which otherwise was harsh in its treatment ofJews: the ghetto system was strictly enforced, and the inhabitants were gradually reduced to extreme poverty and misery. Ceneda, however, had escaped the worst of the antisemitism which was so prevalent elsewhere. At the end of the sixteenth century the town had passed through a period ofeconomic crisis, and the bishop, Monsignor Mocenigo, a man of enlightened views, had invited 'missier Israel Ebreo da Conegliano', whose probity was well known, to come to Ceneda to open a bank there. For at least two centuries before this Jews had been living in the town, peacefully engaged in business, and documents still exist testifying to the benefits which their trading brought. Like Jews elsewhere, they were subject to many restrictions: their religious rites were limited; they were not permitted to build a new synagogue; they could not be employed by Christians; they were allowed to follow only certain callings; and when they travelled abroad the men had to wear red berets and the women red head-scarves. Nevertheless, the sanctions against them were much less rigorous than 'in other cities. The family from the town of Conegliano, which is a few miles south of Ceneda, prospered in the relatively benign atmosphere of their new home, and during the seventeenth century gave Venice some of her most famous doctors. With all this, the situation ofany Jew was still much less favourable than that of his Christian neighbour, and in the...