Francesco Sbarra

Francesco Sbarra (18 February 1611 – 20 March 1668) was an Italian poet and librettist. Born in Lucca, he spent most of his career in Austria where he wrote the librettos for entertainments and operas at the courts of Archduke Ferdinand Charles in Innsbruck and Emperor Leopold I in Vienna. Sbarra was member of the Accademia degli Oscuri and the Accademia degli Accesi of Lucca. He corresponded with Michelangelo Torcigliani. His most famous libretto, Il pomo d'oro, was set to music by Antonio Cesti and performed at the imperial court in Vienna in 1668.

Librettos Alessandro vincitor di se stesso (opera in a prologue and 3 acts), set by Antonio Cesti, Venice 1651 Venere cacciatrice, set by Antonio Cesti, Innsbruck 1659 La magnanimità d'Alessandro, set by Antonio Cesti, Innsbruck, 1662 Nettuno e Flora festeggianti (azione teatrale), set by Antonio Cesti, Vienna, 1666 Le Lachrime di San Pietro (azione sacra), set by Giovanni Felice Sances. Vienna. 1666 Le disgrazie d'Amore, set by Antonio Cesti, Vienna, 1667 La Germania esultante , set by Antonio Cesti, Vienna, 1667 Il pomo d'oro (opera in a prologue and 5 acts), set by Antonio Cesti, Vienna, 1668