What is Francesco Maria Piave?
{{Infobox person | name = Francesco Maria Piave | image = Francesco Maria Piave.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1810|05|18}} | birth_place = Murano, [[Venice]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|1876|03|5|1810|05|18}} | death_place = [[Milan]] | nationality = [[Italy|Italian]] | occupation = Poet and [[libretto|librettist]] }} '''Francesco Maria Piave''' (18 May 1810 – 5 March 1876) was an [[Italy|Italian]] writer. He wrote the [[libretto]]s (the story and words) for many [[opera]]s. He is most famous for the librettos he wrote for operas [[composer|composed]] by [[Giuseppe Verdi]]. ==Life== Piave was born in Murano, an island in [[Venice]]. At first, he studied to be a [[Priest|Catholic priest]]. He stopped studying to be a priest and went to [[Rome]]. In Rome, he studied [[philosophy]] and writing. He wrote poems and stories for newspapers but he is most famous for his opera librettos. He wrote more than 60 librettos. The first one was for [[Giovanni Pacini]]'s opera, ''{{lang|it|Il duca d'Alba}}'' in 1842. In 1844, he wrote the libretto for Verdi's opera ''Ernani''. Piave and Verdi became very good friends, For twenty years, they wrote many letters to each other. Piave wrote nine more opera librettos for Verdi. The last libretto he wrote for him was ''{{lang|it|[[La forza del destino]]}}''. Piave also worked as a stage director (someone who decides how [[Play (theatre)|plays]] and operas are performed). He worked as a stage director for the [[Teatro La Fenice]] in [[Venice]]. Later (1859), he worked as a stage director at [[La Scala]] in [[Milan]]. In 1867, Piave had a [[stroke]] (a problem in the [[brain]] caused by lack of [[blood]]). He lived for eight more years, but he could not move or speak. Verdi gave money to help Piave's wife and family. In 1876, Piave died in Milan. Verdi paid for his [[funeral]]. ==Piave's librettos for Giuseppe Verdi== *''Ernani'' (1844) *''{{lang|it|I due Foscari}}''(1844) *''Attila'' (1846) *''[[Macbeth (opera)|Macbeth]]'