Massimo Zicari - Verdi in Victorian London

ZICARI, Massimo. Verdi in Victorian London. New edition [online]. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2016 (generated 27 fvrier 2019). Available on the Internet: . ISBN: 9782821881648.

Frontispiece: Giuseppe Verdi, from a picture reproduced in Frederick Crowest, Verdi: Man and Musician (London: John Milton, 1897). x

1. James William Davison from a picture reproduced in Joseph Bennett, Forty Years of Music, 18651905 (London: Methuen & Co., 1908). Image from https://archive.org/details/fortyyearsmusic01benngoog

2. Mr. Ap Mutton, alias James William Davison. From a drawing by Charles Lyall published in Joseph Bennett, Forty Years of Music, 18651905 (London: Methuen & Co., 1908). Image from https://archive.org/details/fortyyearsmusic01benngoog

3. Benjamin Lumley, in a portrait from the frontispiece of his Reminiscences of the Opera (London: Hurst & Blackett, 1864). Image from https://archive.org/details/cu31924022334563

4. Giuseppe Verdi in The Illustrated London News , 30 May 1846. 44

5. Scene from I due Foscari at the Royal Italian Opera. The Illustrated London News , 26 June 1847. 60

6. Jenny Lind (as Amalia) and Luigi Lablache (as Massimiliano) in scene VI from I masnadieri at Her Majestys Theatre. The Illustrated London News , 31 July 1847. 71

7. Jenny Lind (as Amalia), Italo Gardoni (as Carlo, to the left) and Luigi Lablache (as Massimilano, to the right) in the last scene of I masnadieri at Her Majestys Theatre. The Illustrated London News , 31 July 1847. 76

8. Scene from Attila at Her Majestys Theatre, London. The Illustrated London News , 15 April 1848. 83

9. Scene from La traviata at Her Majestys Theatre. Violetta faints after Alfredo flings her portrait at her feet. The Illustrated London News , 31 May 1856. 142

10. In reporting on Marietta Piccolominis success, the London Journal portrayed her as a real beauty, a charming singer, an impressive actress, and the daughter of a noble family. The London Journal , 23 August 1856. 159

11. Marietta Piccolomini. The Illustrated London News , 31 May 1856. 161

12. Adelina Patti, the first Aida in London in 1876, as seen by the American satirical magazine Puck in 1881. Image from Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adelina_Patti,_the_everlasting_prima-donna_LCCN2012647299.jpg

13. Giuseppe Verdi, illustration by Thobald Chartran, Vanity Fair , 15 February 1879. Image from Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giuseppe_Verdi_1879_Vanity_Fair_illustration_by_Thobald_Chartran.jpg

14. Joseph Bennett, from the frontispiece of his Forty Years of Music, 18651905 (London: Methuen & Co., 1908). Image from https://archive.org/details/fortyyearsmusic01benngoog

15. Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi by Giovanni Boldini (1886). Image from Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A Giuseppe_Verdi_by_Giovanni_Boldini.jpg

16. Otello in Milan from Blanche Roosevelt, Verdi: Milan and Othello (London: Ward and Downey, 1887), p. 192. 286

17. A painting by Achille Beltrame portraying Verdi at the piano in his study at SantAgata on his 86th birthday. La Domenica del Corriere , October 1899. Image from Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verdi_at_the_piano_at_Sant'Agata.png

The publication of this book was made possible thanks to the support of the Fondazione Fabio Schaub. My special thanks go to Mrs. Pia Schaub, whose generosity was pivotal in funding this book.

I want to express my gratitude to Hubert Eiholzer, Head of Research and Vice Director of the Scuola Universitaria di Musica (Lugano, Switzerland) for granting me the intellectual freedom necessary to carry out the research which has kept me deeply absorbed for many years.

Although a lonely enterprise, this volume was brought to a close with the help of many people. I would like to thank Alessandra Tosi and the editorial team of Open Book Publishers for the unflagging enthusiasm with which they welcomed my proposal and guided me through the challenges that such an undertaking involved. My thanks go to Katherine Ellis, who was director of the Institute of Musical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London in 2009, when I started investigating this topic as Visiting Fellow there. Other musicologists have provided me with invaluable help, even unwittingly, by giving me advice on sources, singers and many other related questions. Special thanks go to Marco Capra, Director of CIRPeM (Centro Internazionale di Ricerca sui Periodici Musicali), Emanuele Senici, Marco Beghelli and Dorottya Fabian.

This book originates from a doctoral dissertation completed at the Facult des Lettres, lUniversit de Fribourg (Switzerland) which I defended on 12 March 2015. I am grateful to my supervisor Luca Zoppelli, to the second referee Alessandro Roccatagliati and to the president of the jury, Dimiter Daphinoff, for their incisive comments.