«Il possesso della scena»: gente di teatro in musica tra Sei e Settecento

The present article investigates the training of female stage practitioners and their versatility in performing different genres. Through select case studies – such as those of Giulia de Caro and Teresa Gandini – it aims to trace the careers of actresses seeking to create an identity in the stage industry. Several sources describe their still unknown professional development, focusing both on parts and roles and on their performing skills (singing, dance, prose). As members of a society and a stage industry which still defy a thorough illustration, they reveal complex personalities that go far beyond brief and concise ‘biographies’. Needless to say, they interact with ‘multitasking’ colleagues, as can be seen in the troupes of Domenico Antonio Di Fiore and Gabriele Costantini, whose actors were eager to work on different ‘stages’, showing how varied and intriguing their specialization was

Uno spettacolo a misura dei “particolari”: “Con chi vengo vengo” a palazzo Girifalco (Napoli 1665)

En el año 1665 el palacio del duque de Girifalco acoge a unos nobles napolitanos seleccionados para exhibir su magnificencia y su lealtad a la corona de España con un espectáculo muy rico sobre la obra de Calderón “Con quien vengo vengo”. Esta ocasión atestigua el mito de Calderón en Nápoles a lo largo del siglo XVII y las técnicas representativas en las casas aristocráticas. El texto fue puesto en escena utilizando las estrategias típicas del teatro napoletano, con prólogos y «licenze» musicales, bailes entre los actos e idiomas múltiples, y entregado a una compañía de valientes diletantes y profesionales talentosos. Entre «mensajes» performativos y otros se celebra una liturgia de propaganda, en la que se encuentran todos los elementos que amplifican y subrayan el homenaje del duque y de sus huéspedes, que se reconocen en él, al poder español. El esplendor y el mito de la «cattolicissima» ciudad se constituye a través de ocasiones parecidas, que unen los lenguajes más diferentes y la experimentación más atrevida. En este tiempo Nápoles anda perfeccionando y definiendo un papel artístico que en unas décadas se convertirá en una primacía absoluta en toda Europa.In 1665 the palace of the Duke of Girifalco hosts a selected group of aristocratic people for a rich performance inspired to Calderón’s “Con quien vengo vengo”, in order to show the magnificence of the house as well as its loyalty to the Spanish king. This event testifies both to the myth of Calderón in Naples in the 17th century and to the performing strategies in private houses. The text was staged using typical resources of Neapolitan theatres, such as prologues, musical insertions, dances between the acts and multiple language scenes, and was entrusted to a troupe formed by talented amateurs and skilled practitioners. Technical solutions and other «messages» constitute a propagandistic «liturgy» aimed at emphasizing the tribute of the Duke (and of his entourage) to the Spanish power. The glamour and the myth of the «catholic» nation is based also upon such events, where different «languages» and bold experiments are combined. At that time Naples is gaining (and bringing to perfection) an artistic role, which will soon turn into an absolute primacy in Europe

Pagamenti riguardanti l’attività del Teatro di San Carlo anni 1764-1767

Un travail d'archive mené par Paologiovanni Maione qui met en lumière pour la première fois, à travers des documents inédits, l'activité du Théâtre San Carlo de Naples pendant les années  1764-1767. Sources: L'Archive historique de la banque de Naples. Il s'agit des annexes qui complètent de travail de recherche mené dans le cadre du projet Magri présenté également dans le volume Il virtuoso grottesco. Gennaro Magri Napoletano (a.c. de A.B. Fabbricatore, Aracne 2020) À télécharger ici: Maione..

A Show Suiting “private noblemen”: Con chi vengo vengo at Palace Girifalco (Naples 1665)

In 1665 the palace of the Duke of Girifalco hosts a selected group of aristocratic people for a rich performance inspired to Calderón’s Con quien vengo vengo, in order to show the magnificence of the house as well as its loyalty to the Spanish king. This event testifies both to the myth of Calderón in Naples in the 17th century and to the performing strategies in private houses. The text was staged using typical resources of Neapolitan theatres, such as prologues, musical insertions, dances between the acts and multiple language scenes, and was entrusted to a troupe formed by talented amateurs and skilled practitioners. Technical solutions and other «messages» constitute a propagandistic «liturgy» aimed at emphasizing the tribute of the Duke (and of his entourage) to the Spanish power. The glamour and the myth of the «catholic» nation is based also upon such events, where different «languages» and bold experiments are combined. At that time Naples is gaining (and bringing to perfection) an artistic role, which will soon turn into an absolute primacy in Europe

Uno spettacolo a misura dei “particolari”: “Con chi vengo vengo” a palazzo Girifalco (Napoli 1665)

En el año 1665 el palacio del duque de Girifalco acoge a unos nobles napolitanos seleccionados para exhibir su magnificencia y su lealtad a la corona de España con un espectáculo muy rico sobre la obra de Calderón “Con quien vengo vengo”. Esta ocasión atestigua el mito de Calderón en Nápoles a lo largo del siglo XVII y las técnicas representativas en las casas aristocráticas. El texto fue puesto en escena utilizando las estrategias típicas del teatro napoletano, con prólogos y «licenze» musicales, bailes entre los actos e idiomas múltiples, y entregado a una compañía de valientes diletantes y profesionales talentosos. Entre «mensajes» performativos y otros se celebra una liturgia de propaganda, en la que se encuentran todos los elementos que amplifican y subrayan el homenaje del duque y de sus huéspedes, que se reconocen en él, al poder español. El esplendor y el mito de la «cattolicissima» ciudad se constituye a través de ocasiones parecidas, que unen los lenguajes más diferentes y la experimentación más atrevida. En este tiempo Nápoles anda perfeccionando y definiendo un papel artístico que en unas décadas se convertirá en una primacía absoluta en toda Europa.In 1665 the palace of the Duke of Girifalco hosts a selected group of aristocratic people for a rich performance inspired to Calderón’s “Con quien vengo vengo”, in order to show the magnificence of the house as well as its loyalty to the Spanish king. This event testifies both to the myth of Calderón in Naples in the 17th century and to the performing strategies in private houses. The text was staged using typical resources of Neapolitan theatres, such as prologues, musical insertions, dances between the acts and multiple language scenes, and was entrusted to a troupe formed by talented amateurs and skilled practitioners. Technical solutions and other «messages» constitute a propagandistic «liturgy» aimed at emphasizing the tribute of the Duke (and of his entourage) to the Spanish power. The glamour and the myth of the «catholic» nation is based also upon such events, where different «languages» and bold experiments are combined. At that time Naples is gaining (and bringing to perfection) an artistic role, which will soon turn into an absolute primacy in Europe

«Disotterriamo que' polverosi capolavori»: il recupero di Alessandro Scarlatti a Napoli tra Ottocento e Novecento

The essay deals with the revival and rediscovery of Scarlatti in Naples in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as revealed in contemporary newspapers and gazettes. This rediscovery followed in the wake of the early music revival, which saw a series of small-scale publications featuring presentations of ‘ancient’ authors by such luminaries as Beniamino Cesi and Alessandro Longo. As for performances, the name of Scarlatti begins to appears in local concert programmes only from 1919, the year of the foundation of the Associazione Musicale Scarlatti. Over the following decades this society was responsible for enabling concert-goers to hear a series of his masterpieces for the first time