Céline Frigau Manning, Chanteurs en scène
Giuseppe Montemagno
Abstract
After Jean Mongrédien’s chronology of the Théâtre-Italien in Paris, the study reviewed proposes an in-depth analysis of scenic practices during the July Monarchy, an history of gestures, as interpreted by Italian singers and as perceived by the audience of the theatre. Focusing an impressive amount of heterogeneous sources (archival material, iconography, reviews, memories and anecdotes), the author retraces the evolution of sets, costumes and «expressive gestures», all over the carrier of many singers (among others Angelica Catalani and Marietta Alboni, Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibran, Mario and Giovanni Battista Rubini), and underlines the importance of Vincenzo Bellini’s operas (especially Norma and I Puritani) in this context. A specific attention is paid to Domenico Ferri, engaged in 1829 under Édouard Robert’s direction in order to find an Italian way of conceiving the stage and its new relationships with the audience.
Keywords
Théâtre-Italien – Paris – July Monarchy – History of gestures – Italian singers – Giuditta Pasta – Maria Malibran – Norma – I Puritani – Domenico Ferri – Review
Full Text
PDF