español | français Vicente Martín y Soler Paul McCreesh Paolo da Col 10 CDs for a desert island: Claudio Cavina Jongleurs: music and a way of life in the middle ages Arcadia Questioned: Martín y Soler’s Dramme Giocoso and Scenic Cantatas   54 - 53 - 52 - 51 - 50 - 49 - 48 - 47 - 46 - 45 - 44 - 43 - 42 - 41 - 40 - 39 - 38 - 37 - 36 - 35 - 34 - 33 - 32 - 31 - 30 - 29 - 28 - 27 - 26 - 25 - 24 - 23 - 22 - 21 - 20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16 - 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 09 - 08 - 07 - 06 - 05 - 04 - 03 - 02 - 01 - ARCADIA QUESTIONED: MARTÍN Y SOLER’S DRAMME GIOCOSO AND SCENIC CANTATAS By Juan Bautista Otero. Translated by Yolanda Acker Joseph II gave the following description of the artistic scene in Italy in 1793, the year in which Martín composed the last of his opere serie: “There are no spectacles of any kind drawing one to Italy. Opera and instrumental music, singers and ballerinas are all worse than mediocre… The palace [in Milan] is beautiful and comfortable; the opera, bad; the ballet, long and fairly mediocre”. Prior to leaving the Italian peninsula, Martín created four comic works during an initial period devoted to this genre that overlapped with his last opere serie. Apart from his last two commissions for Naples –L’amore geloso (1782), subtitled azione teatrale comica and the dramma giocosa La vedova spiritosa (1785)–, he premiered another two works at the Mecca of opera buffa, the San Samuele Theatre in Venice. The leading role in the first, In amor ci vuol destrezza (1782), with a libretto by Carlo Giuseppe Lanfranchi-Rossi, was performed by the prestigious soprano Rachele d’Orta. Le burle per amore with a libretto by another great buffa specialist, Marcello Bernardini, followed in 1784. Both of these commissions, which were perhaps due to the intervention of the Austrian ambassador in Venice, Count Durazzo, were central to the composer’s definitive move to the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1785 and the beginning of his period of maturity there. Discography Goldberg Articles Order your copy of issue nº 29 now! ABOUT US | CONTRIBUTE   web map - home page - cover Legal warning Copyright 2003, Goldberg. info@goldberg-magazine.com