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Theatres and Spectacles in Italy: An English Gentleman on Tour, 1838–9
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 January 2009
Extract
Following an exhibition in 1979 on the British theatrical scene-painter and marine artist Clarkson Stanfield R.A. (1793–1867) a previously unseen document came to light in the hands of one of his descendants.
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- Copyright © International Federation for Theatre Research 1985
References
Notes
1. At the Rheinischeslandesmuseum, Bonn, and the Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery; see catalogues The Spectacular Career of Clarkson Slanfield by van der Merwe, Pieter and Took, Roger (Tyne & Wear Museums 1979)Google Scholar, and in German with Krueger, Ingeborg (Bonn 1979).Google Scholar
2. Mems. of a Tour in Italy from Sketches by T.G.F. Esqre … (British Library, pressmark 10131 g. 6).
3. The Milan ‘arena’ is unidentifiable as such in E.d.S. but may be the Teatro dei Giardini Publicci, 1809–65, which for part of its life was open-air; op. cit VII, 565. It cannot be the Roman theatre or amphitheatre which were not then discovered.
4. Teatro alla Scala, Milan; built by Guiseppe Piermarini in 1778. E.d.S. VII, 553Google Scholar, gives 5 tiers of boxes. Later in 1838 the blue hangings of the auditorium which Fonnereau saw were changed to crimson. The director in 1838 was Bartolomeo Merelli.
5. Teatro Gerolamo, Milan. The popular name of the T. Fiando, set up in 1815 by the architect Luigi Canonica in a room of the Oratorio del Bellarmino, for the marionettist Giuseppe Fiando. ‘Gerolamo’ was the name of the popular commedia dell' arte-type puppet character invented by Fiando. The name T. Gerolamo was officially adopted in 1868 when the house transferred to the Beccaria, Piazza: E.d.S. VII, 562–3.Google Scholar
6. This is the Teatro Farnese, Parma; commissioned in 1618–19 from G. B. Aleotti by Ranuccio I Farnese, on the first floor of the unfinished Palazzo della Pilotta. Built of wood and inspired by the Teatro Olimpico, there were 14 rows of seats in the amphitheatre and 2 tiers of boxes; the capacity was about 4500. A magnificently decorated court theatre, it was first used during the wedding celebrations of Ranuccio's son Odoardo in 1628 and for similar occasions up to 1732, when it fell into neglect. It was destroyed in an air raid in 1944: E.d.S. VII, 1685–1686.Google Scholar
7. The Roman amphitheatre, Verona, dates to the mid-ist century A.D. The elliptical arena is 73·7 × 44·45 m; the two entrances, with boxes over them, face each other on the long axis which overall measures 152·5 m; E.d.S. IX, 1601.Google Scholar
8. Astley's Amphitheatre, London; this famous theatre-cum-circus was noted for its ‘hippodramas’ especially those involving the equestrian Andrew Ducrow, who also managed the house from 1830.
9. Teatro di S. Benedetto (or S. Beneto), Venice; built in 1755 and rebuilt in 1773, after a fire, by C. G. Fossati or possibly P. Chezia. The auditorium was on a circular plan with 5 tiers of 31 boxes and it was said in 1830 to be one of the best theatres in Italy: E.d.S. IX, 1549.
10. Lanner, Josef (1801–1843)Google Scholar; celebrated Viennese waltz composer and violinist. He rarely performed outside Austria and this appearance in Venice was connected with his presence at the Imperial coronation in Milan: Grove, , Dict, of Music (1980) X, 456.Google Scholar
11. Teatro Apollo, Venice; formerly the T. Vendramin di S. Salvator, it took this name after its restoration in 1833 when it was lit with gas throughout: E.d.S. IX, 1552.Google Scholar
12. On Venetian regattas see E.d.S. IX, 1642.Google Scholar The place of honour for royal spectators was, as Fonnereau implies, at the volta de canal at the Ca' Foscari.
13. The English romantic poet (1788–1824) who lived in Venice, 1816–19. Fonnereau may have known him earlier through their mutual friend John Murray, Byron's publisher.
14. Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza. After Palladio's death in 1580 it was completed by Scamozzi in 1584–5, especially the three major and two lesser prospettive urbane settings behind the proscenium entries. After long disuse for drama it began to hold performances again in 1847: E.d.S. IX, 1642–1643.Google Scholar
15. Teatro Communale, Bologna; designed by Antonio Galli Bibiena, this house was opened in 1763. By 1818–20 the auditorium was substantially as it appears today: E.d.S. II, 726–7.Google Scholar
16. The Theatre Royal, C. G., London; SirSmirke, Robert's building of 1809 (–1856).Google Scholar
17. Teatro San Carlo, Naples; built in 1737 as the court theatre, it burnt down in 1816 and was rebuilt by order of Ferdinand I under the direction of the architect Antonio Niccolini. It had a new royal box and 184 others in six tiers. A ballet school had been founded there in 1812 and in 1816 the king also instigated a school of scenography, directed by Niccolini. This also supplied scenery for the T. del Fondo, see below: E.d.S. VII, 1016–17.Google Scholar
18. The widow of Francesco I of the Two Sicilies and mother of the reigning Ferrante II (reg. 830–59).
19. Teatro dei Fiorentini, Naples. Originally the Stanza di S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini it dated to 1618 and reopened in 1713 after a fire. In the 1770s its fare was dialect compositions, French comedy and, from 1779, Neapolitan prose drama; in the latter year it was remodelled internally. It was destroyed by bombing in 1941 and later rebuilt as a cinema: E.d.S. VII, 1012–13.Google Scholar
20. Teatro del Fondo, Naples. Built in 1779 by the military administration with money confiscated from the Jesuits, it put on opera, spectacle and prose drama. In 1920 it was restored to its former glory as the T. Mercadante; in 1958 after further restoration of war damage it became the Piccolo Teatro della Citta di Napoli: E.d.S. VII, 1020.Google Scholar
21. Teatro San Carlino, Naples. A theatre of this name – a skit on the San Carlo – existed from 1740 until demolished in 1759 as a den of scandal. In 1770 the title was adopted by Tommaso Tomeo, for a new theatre in converted ground-floor dwellings of his properties in the Largo di Castello; this popular casa di Polcinella lasted for 114 years until demolished in 1884. Its fare was commedia and other comic and musical entertainments: E.d.S. VII, 1019.Google Scholar
22. Teatro Nuovo, Naples; built to a scheme of Domenico Antonio Vaccaro and opened in 1724. Space was restricted and there were 140 seats in the pit and 5 rows of 13 boxes. It played opera buffo, spectacle and similar fare to the T. dei Fiorentini. In 1935 it burnt down and, badly rebuilt, became a cinema: E.d.S. VII, 1015–16.Google Scholar
23. Teatro Apollo, Rome; opened in 1671 and rebuilt in 1789–95. In 1820 it became the property of Prince Giovanni Torlonia and it was subsequently one of the leading Roman theatres. Torlonia's son Alessandro remodelled it in 1829 and from 1839 to 1881 under Jacovacci it saw a splendid era of opera and ballet. It was destroyed in 1889: E.d.S. VIII, 1118–20.Google Scholar
24. Teatro Pallacorda, Rome; built in 1714 and restored by V. Mazzoneschi in 1786. In a ‘deplorable state’ at the beginning of the 19th century, when it was well known for its Roman dialect plays. Rebuilt in 1840 as T. de Metastasio and demolished after 1918: E.d.S. VIII, 1134.Google Scholar
25. Presumably the Teatro della Pergola, Florence; built 1656, rebuilt 1775. It was remodelled in 1789 with 5 tiers of boxes. Among privileges granted to it in 1810–18, as the city's principal opera house, was the sole right to hold masked balls. From 1830 it was managed by Alessandro Lanari. Further improvements were made in 1835: E.d.S. V, 384, 386.Google Scholar
26. While carnival always ends on Shrove Tuesday (mardi gras, 12th 02 in 1839)Google Scholar starting dates vary – Candlemass in this case (2nd February); E.d.S. III, 65.Google Scholar
27. Presumably Leopold II, also King of Tuscany (reg. 1824–1859)Google Scholar of the restored House of Lorraine. The ‘little archduke’ referred to in the entry of 7th February as about 3 years old would thus be Ferrante IV (b. 1835; reg. 1859–60; d. 1908).
28. Not in E.d.S. The Florentine Accademia degli Arrischiati (‘those who have dared’Google Scholar, ‘venturers’) was a body devoted to the drama – accademici dramalurghe – which in 1762 built a small theatre on the Piazza Vecchia di S. Maria Novella. The academy's symbol was a rat about to enter a trap and the motto che non risica, non rosica – ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’. In 1766 under Grand Ducal patronage, Florentine gentry were apparently performing French drama there; there were also tragedie sacre at seasons when other theatrical events were prohibited. The theatre had, inter alia, the privilege of giving morning performances so that those in holy orders could attend or take part. It had a comic company at least as early as 1797, and the last reference in the source quoted is to the benefit first performance there of the Stentorello Amato Ricci in January 1831. Its publicity refers to it at this time as the ‘Reale Teatro degli Arrischiati’: see Maylender, M., Storia delle Accademie d'Italia (Bologna 1926–1930) I, 342–3.Google Scholar My attention was kindly drawn to this by Cesare Branchini of the Biblioteca del Burcado, Rome.
29. See note 25 above.
30. The London fair noted for its varied popular entertainments.
31. Presumably the Teatro Carlo Felice on the Piazza de Ferrari, Genoa; designed by Barabino, decorated by Michele Cazzio and opened in 1828; gas was installed in 1852. Destroyed in 1942: E.d.S. V, 1044–5.Google Scholar