Prima di Norma.
Itinerari della classicità romana in Italia tra Impero napoleonico e prima Restaurazione
Eleonora Di Cintio
Abstract
During the Napoleonic Empire operas set in the ancient Rome were frequent not only in France, but also in the Italian kingdoms ruled by the French. In this essay I observe how one of those works in particular – La Vestale by De Jouy-Spontini – became an identifying symbol of the Neapolitan community during the reign of the Murats, also thanks to the massive government plan to valorize the site of Pompeii. Furthermore, I notice how the same opera and others indirectly derived from it – L’ultimo giorno di Pompei by Tottola and Pacini and L’esule di Roma by Gilardoni and Donizetti – maintained a prominent role in the Neapolitan cultural life even in the early years of the Restoration, becoming emblems of the new course of local politics. From a different perspective, I finally observe how the “Vestal theme” influenced Milanese spectacular production after 1815, particularly with respect to La vestale by Salvatore Viganò and Norma by Romani and Bellini, and I examine the symbolic investment to which those works were subjected even in that geopolitical context.
Keywords
Operas set in Rome – Opera in Naples and in Milan after the Restoration – Pompeii archeological site – Bellini’s Norma – Soumet’s Norma – Spontini’ s La Vestale – Vigano’s La vestale – Pacini’s L’ultimo giorno di Pompei – Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma
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