Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca

Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca
Portrait of Migliavacca by Bartolomeo Nazari
Born	c. 1718 Milan, Italy
Died	c. 1795
Occupation	Poet and librettist

Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca (c. 1718 – c. 1795) was an Italian poet and librettist. A student and protégé of Metastasio, he was primarily active in the court theaters of Dresden and Vienna. His most successful work was the libretto for the opera Solimano, first set by Johann Adolph Hasse in 1753 and subsequently set by 18 other composers in the course of the next 50 years.

Migliavacca was born in Milan around 1718, but the exact date of his birth as well as his parentage and early life are unknown. Much of the information about his life has come from Metastasio's letters. Migliavacca's first appearance as a literary figure was in Milan in 1736, when at the age 18 he edited a collection of poetic tributes dedicated to the Duke of Noailles. Soon after, he became a member of the Accademia dei Filodossi and was active in the Milanese intellectual milieu of the Enlightenment. He initially opted for a career as a diplomat, working as the imperial secretary of the Italian legation to the court of Charles VII where he became a favourite of the emperor. After the death of Charles VII in 1745, Migliavacca saw little future in a diplomatic career and instead focused on his literary pursuits.

He moved to Vienna and between 1748 and 1752 worked for Metastasio as a secretary, copyist, and later a collaborator on some of his texts. At the time, Metastasio was the court poet to Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa. One of his duties was to supervise opera rehearsals and give directions to the singers. When Jommelli's Merope was to be performed in 1749, Metastasio delegated his directorial duties to Migliavacca. Tensions arising from a feud between two of the opera's star singers, Migliavacca's close friend Vittoria Tesi, and the castrato Caffarelli, and from Caffarelli's refusal to attend rehearsals reached a climax when he and Migliavacca fought a duel at Vittoria Tesi's house. However, her entreaties to the combatants ended the incipient sword fight before anyone was hurt.