The Last Troubadours: Poetic Drama in Italian Opera, 1597-1887

253 Pages·2018·39.549 MB·English

by  Deirdre O'Grady

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
ART AND CULTURE IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
Volume 8
THE LAST TROUBADOURS

THE LAST TROUBADOURS
Poetic Drama in Italian Opera,
1597–1887
DEIRDRE O’GRADY
Firstpublishedin1991byRoutledge
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ISBN:978-1-138-35894-2(Set)
ISBN:978-0-429-42671-1(Set)(ebk)
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THE LAST
TROUBADOURS
Poetic drama in Italian opera 1597-1887
Deirdre Q'Grady
London and New York
To my mother
First published 1991
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1991 Deirdre O'Grady
Typeset in 10/12pt Garamond by
Input Typesetting Ltd, London
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
TJ Press (Padstow) Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
O'Grady, Deirdre
The last troubadours: poetic drama in Italian opera, 1597-1887.
1. Opera in Italian, history
I. Title
782.10945
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
O'Grady, Deirdre.
The last troubadours: poetic drama in Italian opera 1597-1887/
Deirdre O'Grady.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Libretto. 2. Librettists—Italy. 3. Opera—Italy. I. Title.
ML2110.04 1991
782.1'026'80945-dc20 90-32869
ISBN 0-415-05459-1

CONTENTS
List of illustrations ix
Introduction xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Part I Baroque, Arcadian and Enlightenment influences
1 ARISTOCRATIC BEGINNINGS IN FLORENCE,
MANTUA AND ROME 3
2 POPULAR SUCCESS AND MATURITY IN VENICE:
BUSENELLO, BADOARO AND CICOGNINI 28
3 INNOVATION AND REFORM: ZENO,
METASTASIO AND CALZABIGI 42
4 OF SERVANTS AND MASTERS: FEDERICO,
GOLDONI AND DA PONTE 64
Part II The expression of individualism
5 A CRY FOR FREEDOM: HIGH PRIESTS AND
PATRIOTS 99
6 OF REASON AND DELIRIUM 128
7 JESTER, TROUBADOUR AND COURTESAN 152
8 THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE: EVIL IN THE WORKS
OF ARRIGO BOITO 180
Notes 202
Select bibliography 223
Index 228
Vll