Menotti, Gian Carlo, muh NAHT ee, jahn KAHR loh (1911-2007), an American composer, wrote some of the most popular operas of the mid-1900's. Unlike most composers, he also wrote the librettos (words) for his operas and staged most of their premieres. He won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for music for The Consul (1950) and the 1955 prize for The Saint of Bleecker Street (1954).