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Abstract
The main archival sources related to the Italian ballet of the nineteenth century give insight into a period both rich in documentation and important to the history of Western theatrical dance.Footnote* A well-established historiographical tradition retains its focus on the French Romantic ballet, about which many valuable reference texts have been published in English, for example those representing Ivor Guest's lifelong achievements.Footnote 1 The paradigms elaborated on the basis of the French ballet, however, cannot be applied to the whole of nineteenth-century Europe. Much has yet to be discovered, as shown by research published in the last thirty years. It cannot be denied that the Italian ballet had distinct features of its own, or that it deserves a definite place in the historical study of nineteenth-century theatrical dance. Although a full bibliographical list of research on this subject cannot be provided here, some important publications based on primary sources will be given in the course of this report.Footnote †
More than forty years ago, Peter Brinson, in Background to European Ballet: A Notebook from Its Archives (Leyden: Sijthoff, 1966), was clearly conscious of the richness of Italian archives and recognized that contemporary evaluations of nineteenth-century ballet had been based almost exclusively on French sources (see, in particular, chapter 2, “Southern Europe—Italy,” 23–48). I am grateful to José Sasportes for this reference.
Two journals, La Danza Italiana (initiated in 1984 by founding editor José Sasportes), and Chorégraphie (begun in 1993 by founding editor Flavia Pappacena), have greatly spurred research into Italian dance history.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank Francesca Falcone for reading this article in manuscript and Patrizia Veroli for her editing and translation.
Notes
More than forty years ago, Peter Brinson, in Background to European Ballet: A Notebook from Its Archives (Leyden: Sijthoff, 1966), was clearly conscious of the richness of Italian archives and recognized that contemporary evaluations of nineteenth-century ballet had been based almost exclusively on French sources (see, in particular, chapter 2, “Southern Europe—Italy,” 23–48). I am grateful to José Sasportes for this reference.
Two journals, La Danza Italiana (initiated in 1984 by founding editor José Sasportes), and Chorégraphie (begun in 1993 by founding editor Flavia Pappacena), have greatly spurred research into Italian dance history.
1. See, for example, among Ivor Guest's many relevant works, The Ballet of the Enlightenment: The Establishment of the Ballet d'action in France, 1770–1793 (London: Dance Books, 1996), The Paris Opéra Ballet (London: Dance Books, 2006), and The Romantic Ballet in Paris (London: Dance Books, 1980). However, Guest also researched nineteenth-century Italian ballet: “L'Italia e il balletto romantico. Balli presentati tra il 1845 e il 1854,” La Danza Italiana, nos. 8–9 (Winter 1990): 7–25, in an issue devoted to “Il ballo romantico in Italia,” edited by José Sasportes; and The Divine Virginia: A Biography of Virginia Zucchi (New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1977).
2. In 2006 Lynn Garafola and Patrizia Veroli co-curated the New York Public Library's exhibition, Five Hundred Years of Italian Dance. A few images and all captions are still online at http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/lpa/italiandance. On the Fornaroli Collection, see Patrizia Veroli, “Walter Toscanini, Bibliophile and Collector, and the Cia Fornaroli Collection of the New York Public Library,” Dance Chronicle, vol. 28, no. 3 (2005): 323–62 (also published online at the website given above). Harvard Theatre Collection materials can be accessed at http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/collections/htc/. For the Allison Delarue Collection at Princeton University, see http://libweb5.princeton.edu/Visual_Materials/Delarue/Htmls/index.html. On the Sowell Collection, see Madison U. Sowell, Debra H. Sowell, Francesca Falcone, and Patrizia Veroli, Il Balletto Romantico: Tesori della Collezione Sowell (Palermo: L'Epos, 2007).
3. See Kathleen Kuzmich Hansell, “Il ballo teatrale e l'opera italiana,” in Storia dell'opera italiana, vol. V (La spettacolarità), eds. Lorenzo Bianconi and Giorgio Pestelli (Torino: EDT, 1988), 175–302; Claudia Celi, “L'epoca del coreodramma (1800–1830),” in Musica in scena. Storia dello spettacolo musicale, vol. V (L'arte della danza e del balletto), ed. Alberto Basso (Torino: UTET, 1995), 89–116, and Claudia Celi, “Percorsi romantici nell'Ottocento Italiano,” in Musica in scena, 117–38.
4. The work of creating a music registry has been undertaken by Comitato Nazionale Italiano Musica/Unesco (CIDIM, http://www.cidim.it), which co-edits and co-publishes the large Italian music database together with Società Italiana di Musicologia, and also published the periodical Fonti Musicali Italiane (1996–2009, 14 vols.). Also active in these endeavors is the Istituto di Bibliografia Musicale (Ibimus) (http://www.ibimus.it). See also Guida alle biblioteche e agli archivi musicali italiani, ed. Giancarlo Rostirolla (Rome: Ibimus, 2004).
5. See the website for La Scala at http://www.teatroallascala.org/it/scopri/museo-teatrale/museo-teatrale.html, and for the Burcardo at http://www.burcardo.org. For the Civico Museo Teatrale C. Schmidl of Trieste, see http://www.retecivica.trieste.it/triestecultura/new/musei/museo_schmidl/. The website of the Museo del Teatro Argentina is http://www.060608.it/en/cultura-e-svago/beni-culturali/musei/museo-del-teatro-argentina.html.
6. Websites for some of these institutions are: http://www.bertarelli.org/ita/index.asp, http://archiviteatro.napolibeniculturali.it/, and http://www.grafica.beniculturali.it/gabinett.htm. See also Paolo Arrigoni and Achille Bertarelli, Ritratti di musicisti ed artisti di teatro conservati nella Raccolte Bertarelli delle stampe e dei disegni. Catalogo descrittivo (Milano: Tipografia del Popolo d'Italia, 1934).
8. Ballet librettos are held in many collections and libraries; research can be undertaken through www.sbn.it, the main portal of the Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale Italiano. A few regions, like Veneto, have their own portals.
9. Many of these are currently available at www.actingarchives.iunior.it.
10. The catalog of the Archivio Storico del Teatro alla Scala di Milano is available at http://www.teatroallascala.org/it/scopri/museo-teatrale/biblioteca-simoni.html.
11. On some of these works, see Giampiero Tintori, “Alcune note su un manoscritto di Carlo Blasis, conservato al Museo Teatrale alla Scala di Milano,” Proceedings of the IX International Conference of Libraries and Museums for Arts and Performance, Genoa, 5–7 April 1970, in Bollettino del Museo Biblioteca dell'Attore di Genova, vol. I, nos. 2–3 (1970): 27–32; Flavia Pappacena, “Due trascrizioni inedite dagli archivi Cecchetti: Caterina la figlia del bandito di Enrico Cecchetti, Lo spirito maligno di Cesare Cecchetti,” in Recupero, ricostruzione, conservazione del patrimonio coreutico italiano del XIX secolo, Atti del Convegno, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, December 10, 1999 (Rome: Associazione Cultural Chorégraphie, 2000), 165–202; and Flavia Pappacena, ed., Excelsior. Documenti e saggi/Excelsior. Documents and Essays (Rome: Di Giacomo, 1998), with a videorecording of Manzotti's Excelsior, directed for the screen by Luca Comerio (1913).
12. This archive can be consulted at http://www.teatrolafenice.it/static/archivio_storico.php.
13. See Archivio Storico del Teatro Regio di Parma, http://www.teatroregioparma.org/archivio/archivio.htm.
14. Access to the Archivio Storico del Teatro di San Carlo is available at http://www.teatrosancarlo.it/it/museo-e-archivio.html.
15. The Francesco Pasta archive is accessible at http://www.burcardo.org/altrifondi.htm. On Alessandro Lanari's material, see Marcello De Angelis, Le cifre del melodramma. L'Archivio inedito dell'impresario teatrale Alessandro Lanari (1815–1870) nella Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (Firenze: La Nuova Italia, 1982). On Gioacchino Coluzzi, see Ornella Di Tondo, “Madamigella de La Vallière: Appunti coreografici di Gioacchino Coluzzi (1878). La distribuzione della scena e le indicazioni drammaturgiche, mimiche e scenotecniche del ballo,” Chorégraphie. Studi e ricerche sulla danza, new series, vol. 1, no. 2 (2004): 43–92; and Gloria Giordano, “Madamigella de La Vallière. Appunti coreografici di Gioacchino Coluzzi (1878). L'analisi delle fonti edite e della trascrizione,” Chorégraphie. Studi e ricerche sulla danza, 93–130.
16. The Braidense Library website is http://www.braidense.it/risorse/ricordi.php. See also Ornella Di Tondo, “Italian Operas' Staging Manuals (Disposizioni sceniche) and Ballet. An Example: Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (1877), in Die Beziehung von Musik und Choreographie im Ballet,” ed. Michael Malkiewicz and Jörg Rothkamm, Bericht vom Internationalen Symposium, Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Leipzig, March 23–25, 2006 (Berlin: Vorwerk 8, 2007): 163–175.
17. See Concetta Lo Iacono, “Manzotti e Marenco. Il diritto di due autori,” Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana, vol. 3 (1987): 421–46.
18. On the collections mentioned in this section, see the following resources: Alberto Testa, “Una storia curiosa,” in Alberto Basso, ed., L'arcano incanto. Il Teatro Regio di Torino 1749–1990 (Milano: Electa, 1991), 625–31; Alberto Basso, ed., Storia del Teatro Regio di Torino (Torino: Cassa di Risparmio di Torino, 1988); Rosa Maresca, “Le scuole di Ballo del Teatro San Carlo dal 1812 al 1840: i documenti dell'Archivio Storico di Napoli,” Chorégraphie. Studi e ricerche sulla danza, anno 5, no. 10 (1997): 85–112; Nadia Scafidi, “La Scuola di ballo del Teatro alla Scala: I parte: L'ordinamento legislativo e didattico nel XIX secolo,” Chorégraphie. Studi e ricerche sulla danza, anno 4, no. 7 (1996): 51–72; “II parte: L'allievo,” Chorégraphie. Studi e ricerche sulla danza, anno 5, no. 8 (1997): 27–48; “III parte: Il maestro,” Chorégraphie. Studi e ricerche sulla danza, anno 6, no. 12 (1998): 95–121, reprinted in Nadia Scafidi, Ricerche di storia della danza (Rome: Associazione Culturale Chorégraphie, 2009), 43–113; Rita Zambon, “1832–1862: La breve storia della Scuola di Ballo del Gran Teatro la Fenice,” in Chorégraphie. Studi e ricerche sulla danza, anno 5, no. 10 (1997): 113–31; and Rita Zambon, “Una scuola per due teatri: gli allievi della Fenice a Trieste,” in Recupero, ricostruzione, conservazione del patrimonio coreutico italiano del XIX secolo, 65–73. The Pergola school has not been investigated fully yet, but some information on it can be found in Giannandrea Poesio, “Il maestro Giovanni Lepri e la sua scuola fiorentina,” Chorégraphie. Studi e ricerche sulla danza, anno 1, no. 1 (1993): 69–75.
19. Ornella Di Tondo, “Disordini alla Scuola di Ballo della Scala (1818–1825),” Choreola, anno 5, no. 13 (1995): 64–76. About the state ballet schools, see also the articles mentioned in note 18.
20. Ornella Di Tondo, La censura sui balli teatrali nella Roma dell'Ottocento (Torino: Utet, 2008).
21. See http://www.archivi.beniculturali.it.
22. Claudia Celi, “Quando Cecchetti incontrò Cecchetti alla Fenice,” in Recupero, ricostruzione, conservazione del patrimonio coreutico italiano del XIX secolo, 107–23.
23. About the ballet masters teaching in noblemen's colleges and at Modena's Military Academy, see two works by Fabio Mollica: Tre secoli di danza in un collegio italiano. Il Collegio San Carlo di Modena 1626–1921 (Modena: Associazione Culturale Società di Danza, 2000) and Danza di Società a Modena nell'Ottocento (Modena: Associazione Culturale Società di Danza, 2007).
24. Ornella Di Tondo, “‘Pe' insegnare a ballare sui teatri': una tipologia di contratto per l'apprendimento del ballo teatrale (XVIII–XIX secolo),” Chorégraphie. Studi e ricerche sulla danza, anno 6, no. 12 (1998): 79–94.
25. Ornella Di Tondo, “I balli negli allestimenti rossiniani a Milano,” in Paolo Fabbri, ed., Di sì felice innesto. Rossini, la danza e il ballo teatrale in Italia (Pesaro: Fondazione Rossini, 1996), 41–109; Kathleen Kuzmic Hansell, “Gaetano Gioia, il ballo teatrale e l'opera del primo Ottocento,” in Giovanni Morelli, ed., Creature di Prometeo. Il ballo teatrale (Firenze: Olschki, 1996), 191–203.