Laughter between Two Revolutions: Opera Buffa in Italy, 1831-1848

320 Pages·2013·12.737 MB·English

by  Francesco Izzo

“ Izzo provides an enlightening, often entertaining corrective to the common I L A U G H T E R
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notion that the music of the early romantic period in Italy was exclusively
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dour, serious, and grim, with exceedingly few new works of brilliant light
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comedy. At the same time, he provides an informative overview of the B E T W E E N
nuanced changes in style and structure of the comic genre, and of the
broader political and social context.” —G abriele Dotto, co–general editor,
T W O  R E V O L U T I O N S
Le opere di Gaetano Donizetti
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hi< <tudy repre<ent< the first substantial assessment u OPERA BUFFA IN ITALY,  1831-1848
of Italian comic operas composed during the central years g
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of the Risorgimento—the period during which upheavals, France<co Izzo
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revolutions, and wars ultimately led to the liberation and unification of e
Italy. Music historians often view the period as one during which serious r

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romantic opera flourished in Italy while opera buffa inexorably declined.
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Laughter between Two Revolutions revises this widespread notion by
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viewing well-known comic masterpieces—such as Donizetti’s L’elisir
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d’amore (1832) and Don Pasquale (1843)—as part of a still-thriving tradition.
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Also examined are opere buffe by Luigi Ricci, Lauro Rossi, Verdi (Un giorno n
di regno), and others, many of which circulated widely at the time. Francesco  
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Izzo’s pathbreaking study argues that in the “realm of seriousness” of mid-
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nineteenth-century Italy, comedy was not an anachronistic intruder, but a
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significant and vital cultural presence.  
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This important volume offers new insights into opera history and
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theories of comedy in the arts. It will be of interest to opera lovers v
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everywhere and to students in music, philosophy, comparative literature,
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and Italian cultural studies. u
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Francesco Izzo is senior lecturer in music at the University of
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Southampton.
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Cover image: Dulcamara (Luigi Lablache) sells his elixir to Nemorino (Mario) in
Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. Colored lithograph by Charles Vogt after Alexandre de
Valentini. Wellcome Library, London.
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-2731, USA
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Laughter between
Two Revolutions
Eastman Studies in Music
Ralph P. Locke, Senior Editor
Eastman School of Music
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Volume 1: Essays on Early Modern Italy
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Edited by Rebecca Cypess, Beth L. Glixon, and Nathan Link
A complete list of titles in the Eastman Studies in Music series
may be found on our website, www .urpress. com .
Laughter between
Two Revolutions
Opera Buffa in Italy, 1831– 1848
Francesco Izzo
Copyright © 2013 by Francesco Izzo
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation, no part of this
work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in
public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded, or reproduced in any form or
by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
First published 2013
University of Rochester Press
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
www.urpress.com
and Boydell & Brewer Limited
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
www.boydellandbrewer.com
ISBN- 13: 978-1 - 58046-2 93- 8
ISSN: 1071-9 989
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Izzo, Francesco (Musicologist), author.
Laughter between two revolutions : opera buffa in Italy, 1831–1 848 /
Francesco Izzo.
pages cm — (Eastman studies in music, ISSN 1071-9 989 ; v. 106)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1 - 58046- 293-8 (hardcover : alkaline paper) 1. Opera—I taly— 19th cen-
tury. I. Title. II. Series: Eastman studies in music ; v. 106.
ML1733.4.I9 2013
782.10945'09034— dc23 2013027974
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
This publication is printed on acid-f ree paper.
Printed in the United States of America.
For Valeria
And false be every truth which hath not had laughter along with it!
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Comedy in an Age of Tragedy 1
1 Opera Buffa in 1832: Il nuovo Figaro and L’elisir d’amore 21
2 The Ricci Supremacy and the Celebration of
Italian Comedy: Un’avventura di Scaramuccia (1834) 57
3 Old Librettos Revisited: Gaetano Rossi and Luigi Ricci’s
Le nozze di Figaro (1838) and Other Remakes 89
4 Genre in Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (1843) 139
5 Genre in Giovanni Peruzzini and Lauro Rossi’s
Il borgomastro di Schiedam (1844) 165
6 “Evviva la Francia”? Nationality, Censorship, and Donizetti’s
La figlia del reggimento (1840) 199
Conclusion: The Ricci Legacy, Crispino e la comare (1850),
and Post-1 848 Opera Buffa 231
Notes 241
Selected Bibliography 283
Index 297

Figures
1.1 Catone Lonati as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore 31
1.2 Giuseppe Frezzolini as Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore 55
2.1 Fanny Wyndham as the Contino di Pontigny in
Un’avventura di Scaramuccia 69
2.2 Print of an arrangement of the waltz from Don Pasquale,
presumably depicting Luigi Lablache 78
3.1 Title page of Andrea Passaro’s libretto Il marito disperato
(first edition) 92
5.1 Title page of Giovanni Peruzzini’s libretto for Il borgomastro
di Schiedam (first edition) 167