Italian librettists during the first half of the nineteenth century were typically associated with the particular city in which they worked. More often than not the operas they contributed to were first performed in those cities. Exceptions to this practise attracted attention. Donizetti's use of librettos by the Neapolitan Cammarano for operas that were introduced in Venice was most unusual, and he was constantly under pressure to use a Venetian poet. On the other hand, Italian operas introduced outside of Italy, in Paris or Vienna for instance, characteristically employed texts written in Italy; that of Don Pasquale, however, was written in great part by an Italian émigré living in Paris.

More new operas were written and produced between 1800 and 1850 than in any other half-century since operas had been written at all. During this period the public's practically insatiable appetite for novelties meant that most operas were commissioned, conceived, composed and produced in a matter of a few months. For the librettist the pressure of time was a constant restriction. Even greater pressure was exerted, directly and indirectly, by the local censors; they were supposed to approve librettos even before the composers started to set them, but practical expediency often meant that this proviso was circumvented or ignored. The existence of censorship clearly affected the plots even at the stage of preliminary planning and discussion; for instance, weddings in operas of this period are represented by the signing of civil contracts rather than as religious ceremonies.