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Wellesley College Research Guides

MUS 230 Opera: Its History, Music & Drama

Librettos, Translations, and IPA

Librettos can be found by searching on the title of the opera and the word libretto, e.g., Don Giovanni libretto. You can also check recordings for liner notes, as many of them will include a libretto with translations.

Some key resources for librettos, aria texts, translations, and pronunciations are:

German Miscellaneous Opera Libretti, by Nico Castel
ML48 .G45 2005

Includes translations and IPA pronunciation.

French Opera Libretti (3 vols), by Nico Castel
ML48 .F875 1999

Includes translations and IPA pronunciation.

Italian belcanto opera libretti (3 vols), by Nico Castel
ML48 .I882 2000

Includes translations and IPA pronunciation.

Libretti in the Music Library - a browseable list of the over 230 librettos in the Music Library. Most include translations.

Call Numbers for Libretti

ML48 Collections of libretti
ML49 Single-composer libretti collections
ML50 Individual libretti