Libretti Housed at the Anderson Music Library of the University of Louisville John Karr (bio) The rare libretto collection at the Anderson Music Library of the University of Louisville contains over three hundred individual libretti (a number which does not include duplicate copies), two hundred of which are for Tuscan performances (Florence and Siena), forty-seven of which are for Italian performances outside of Tuscany (Naples, Milan, Bergamo, Lucca, etc.), thirty-two of which are for publication (mostly by Ricordi and Barion), and the remaining that represent a mixed lot from non-Italian presses and performances. The Tuscan libretti are focused mainly on the period from the 1780s until the mid-nineteenth century for productions primarily at the Pergola and Cocomero theaters in Florence and for the various academies of Siena. While not rare in the sense of being unica, they do present a marvelous picture of the Tuscan theater in the period encompassing the end of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the protectorship of Napoleon up until the Unification of Italy. Italian opera in the late eighteenth century tends to be overshadowed in the general histories of the period by the Viennese court and the operas of Gluck, Mozart, and Salieri. Even when Italian opera of this period is discussed, it is usually focused on Venice and Naples, with lesser mention of Milan, Bologna, and sometimes Rome. Dennis Libby celebrated Naples and Venice as the two most influential opera centers; Naples ascendant with the foundation of the Teatro San Carlo and the musical direction of Jomelli and Paisiello, and Venice gently declining into obscurity but nonetheless vital in its embrace of opera, and culture more generally, to replace its increasing political irrelevance.1 John Rice would focus his writing on Italian opera only in the first half of the eighteenth century (chapters three and four) with Naples and Venice before turning for the [End Page 524] bulk of his book to music outside of Italy.2 John Rosselli notes the theaters of Naples, Milan, Rome, and Bologna, but does not mention Florence at all. For him, late eighteenth-century Italian opera serves as an appetizer (with the exception of the opera buffa by Paisiello and Cimarosa, standing out from a period characterized by the increasing rigidity of the form of opera seria) to the real operatic explosion that is begun by Rossini in the post-Napoleonic period.3 The Tuscan libretti, which form the bulk of the collection in this catalog, are important for shedding light on the largely-ignored flowering of opera that took place in Florence in the period lasting from the reign of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo (1765–90) to the establishment of the modern Italian state in 1859. According to Robert L. Weaver, during the last days of Pietro Leopoldo's reign, Tuscan theaters (again, primarily the Pergola and the Cocomero) surpassed Milan and rivaled Venice, Naples, and Rome in the production of new Italian operas.4 In addition to this reinvigoration of Tuscan opera, Pietro Leopoldo also established rules that would promote Tuscan composers and performers over imported ones and set standards for quality in the compositions and the performances.5 His generous support of opera was continued by his son Ferdinando III (reigned 1791–1800). Even when Napoleon's invasion and conquest placed Florence under French control, the theater maintained an active schedule, albeit with more imported composers and directors. Ferdinando III would be restored to the Grand Duchy upon the abdication of Napoleon in 1814 and would reign another ten years before his son Leopoldo II (reigned 1824–59) assumed the Grand Duchy up until the establishment of the modern Italian State (and expulsion of the Austrian Grand Dukes) in 1859. During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Milan and Naples would become the dominant centers for opera production in Italy, eclipsing Florence. The libretti cataloged herein are a wonderful resource, not only for Tuscan composers and productions of this period, but also for the inclusion of cast lists and lists of the musicians who participated in the performances. Of particular interest is the evidence of families of Tuscan (both Florentine and Sienese) singers who began to dominate the stages...
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Nov 3, 2024
Barbara Pistoresi + 2
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