Andrea Salvadori

Andrea Salvadori (1591 – buried 25 August 1634) was an Italian poet and librettist. He was born in Florence and educated at the Collegio Romano in Rome. From 1616 until his death in Florence at the age of 43, he was the principal court poet to the Medici family. In addition to numerous theatrical entertainments and poems, he wrote the libretti for five operas, four of which have survived, although only La Flora composed by Marco da Gagliano and Jacopo Peri has an extant score. He was married twice, first to Emilia Rigogli by whom he had three sons and then to the painter Alessandra Furini. A collection of Salvadori's principal works curated by his son Francesco was published in 1668.

Salvadori was born in Florence in 1591. Like his fellow poet Gabriello Chiabrera, he was educated by the Jesuits at the Collegio Romano in Rome with financial support from Cosimo II de' Medici. Described by the 19th century Italian philologist Francesco Trucchi as "gifted in the sciences, very erudite and well-versed in Latin and Greek", Salvadori was a member of both the Accademia Fiorentina and the Accademia della Crusca by 1608. He began working for the Medici family in 1613 when he collaborated with four other poets to write verses for a mock battle performed in honour of the visiting Duke of Urbino. In 1616 he was given a permanent position as the principal court poet. In that capacity he provided the texts and libretti for numerous musical spectacles and court entertainments both sacred and secular, many of them marking royal occasions.

One of the distinguishing features of Salvadori's opera libretti was his extensive use of the chorus not only to conclude each act but also to link scenes within an act or to frame the singers' solo pieces. He was a pioneer in the sacred opera genre (azione sacra) for which he wrote La regina Sant'Orsola (The Queen Saint Ursula) in 1624 and Istoria di Iudit (The story of Judith) in 1626. According to musicologist Kelley Harness, La istoria di Iudit was the basis for Martin Opitz's libretto for Judith (1635) and may well have influenced Giulio Rospigliosi's later libretti on religious subjects. Rospogliosi had attended the performance of La istoria di Iudit marking Cardinal Francesco Barberini's visit to the Medici court. A notable example of Salvadori's secular operas was La Flora which was performed as part of the celebrations for the marriage of Margherita de' Medici and Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma in 1628.

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