3. Ambassadors' Operas

 

This constitutes perhaps the most crucial, even the central part of the entire project. It is the part where the two research fields of opera and diplomacy join together. The relevance and the relation of the opera works with diplomacy and diplomats are diverse: research shows not only that (European) ambassadors acted as impresarios, opera producers, artistic directors, and even as singers, actors and composers in history, but also that there are numerous opera and ballet pieces composed/performed to be dedicated to ambassadors. Therefore this study is the core of our research in diplomacy.

With the study of Ambassadors' Operas, Don Juan Archiv Wien is leading the undiscovered territory of opera and diplomacy in academia. This study will serve as a reference not only for repertoire research, but also for specific field research of opera and diplomacy.

To obtain a scientific result of "ambassadors" and "opera", initially information of all the italian operatic works which are related to ambassadors were searched and brought together from Claudio Sartori's. I libretti italiani a stampa dalle origini fino al 1800. Con 16 Indici. (7 voll. Cuneo: Bertola & Locatelli, 1990-1994) This was done by a search in the digitalized Sartori-database of Don Juan Archiv Wien. In order to construct a scientific layout of Ambassadors' Operas, it was also essential to categorize the existing information of the opera libretti; therefore new criteria were needed. So, the study is conducted in 32 criteria) which enable future researchers to examine the study in all aspects.

 

a. Data on States of the Performances

The 247 works in the table are staged in the following countries, cities and between the following years, and across each state the number of the works associated by that state is denoted:

 

Italy 222 works during the period 1612-1798

Cities: Alessandria, Ancona, Arezzo, Benevento, Bergamo, Bologna, Brescia, Monferrato, Città di Salerno, Cortona, Crema, Cremona, Faenza, Ferrara, Firenze, Foligno, Genova, Livorno, Lucca, Lugo, Macerata, Mantova, Messina, Milano, Napoli, Padova, Palermo, Parma, Pavia, Pergola, Perugia, Piacenza, Reggio, Roma(*), Torino, Trieste, Velletri (in Roma), Venezia, Verona, Vicenza.

Vatican 16 works during the period 1610-1792

Portugal-Lisbon 7 works during the period 1728-1799

Germany-Hamburg 1 work in 1746

Spain-Madrid 1 work in 1750

Austria-Vienna 2 works during the period of 1726-1727

Great Britain-London 2 works during the period 1710 and 1799

Belgium-Brussels 1 works in 1728

Bohemia-Prague 1 work in 1730

Greece-Corfu 1 work in 1790

Poland-Gdansk 1 work in 1646

Russia-St. Petersburg 2 work in 1788 and 1798

 

 

b. Data on Represented States

In the entire 247 works in the table, the following historic states appear as represented through attribution to their ambassadors. Across each state, the number of the works associated by that state is denoted:

A

Ancona- Stati della Chiesa 1

Arezzo-Granducato di Toscana 1

B

Bari / Padri Capuccini 1

Baviera/S.R.I. 1

Berna' 1

Bologna-Stati della Chiesa 1

C

Castelfranco Veneto/ Repubblica di Venezia 1

Città di Bologna 2

Comune di Macerata 1

Comune di Zagarolo 1

Comunita d' Alessandria 1

Comunità di Piacenza 1

Comune di Livorno 1

Cortona /Toscana 1

D

Ducato di Milano 4

Ducato di Modena e Reggio 5

Ducato di Parma e Piacenza 1

Ducato di Mantova 1

Ducato di Ferrara 2

F

Faenza 2

Firenze/ Granducato di Toscana 4

Foligno-Stati della Chiesa 2

Francia 23

G

Gli Stati Generali 1

Grande Bretagna 8

Granducato di Toscana 7

I

Impero Ottomano 2

L

La Santa Ordine Di Gerusalemme 1

M

Malta 2

Monreal 1

O

Ordine dei Minori Conventuali 2

Ordine di S. Stefano 1

P

Polonia 6

Portogallo 18

R

Regno di Napoli 10

Regno di Sardegna 1

Regno delle due Sicilie 11

Repubblica Cispadana 1

Repubblica di Francese 3

Repubblica di Genova 4

Repubblica di Lucca 3

Repubblica di Venezia 18

Russia 5

S

Sassonia 2

Spagna 55

Svezia 2

S.R.I. 53

S.M.I.R.A. 3

Stati della Chiesa 8

 

c. The Table of Diplomats' Operas

This tableau compiles operas which are performed in honour of, or in the presence of the diplomat/ambassador; there are also operas where an ambassador appears as a plot character, and also operas where ambassadors themselves appear as actors.

 

It enlists libretti information of Italian opera and ballet works which feature diplomats, namely ambassadors and ministers, and, as said, is based on Claudio Sartori's Catalogue. The compilation covers a total of 247 opera and ballet works, with the initial item on the tableau dated 1615 and the final one dated 1799.

 

The tableau opens with the researched keywords, and is divided into four sections as follows:

i. Preambulante Commediante Teatrante Itinerante: This section compiles the opera/ballet works which are presented in the presence of an ambassador, and also incidences where an ambassador contributes as an actor himself.

ii. Ambasciatori/AmbasciatariciDedicatarij: This section compiles the opera/ballet works which are dedicated to ambassadors or which are performed in honour or in presence of the ambassadors.

iii. Ambasciatori Inpresarij is the section which features opera/ballet works where an ambassador acts as an impresario, an initiator, or a producer in the realization of the performance; so to say the works which are performed or produced with the "patronage" of ambassadors.

iiii. Ambasciatori/Ambasciatrici Dramatis Personæ: This fourth section covers the opera/ballet works where an ambassador contributes as an actor and/or appears as a character in the plot.

 

The tableau ends with an additional part which illustrates the operas (20) written in memory of Inês de Castro (1325-1355), the Galician noblewoman, daughter of Pedro Fernandez de Castro (n.s.), who came to Portugal on King Afonso IV (1291-1357) court as a princess' (Constance of Castile, wife of prince Pedro) maid, steals the heart of the heir to the throne prince Pedro (later king Pedro I, 1320-1367/r.1357-1367), thus is unfortunately destined to be denounced all her life by the until he orders her death and has her murdered. Posthumously King Pedro I declared her his lawful wife, and therefore Queen of Portugal. Her tragic story immensely inspired playwrights, poets and composers.

 

We employed currently 32 criteria to sort the information out featured in the table. These criteria analyze the following characteristics of the libretti prints:

01-02 Numbering & State of representation: The section and number of the work in the table, as well as the current and the old names of the country or state where performance took place

03 State represented: The represented country or state represented through the ambassador in question, the name and rank of the ambassador

04 Event and Dedication: The occasion for performance, dedication of the performance

05 Representation Data: City, location, year as well as the impresario of the works

06 Opera/ Ballet: Title of the work, article to the title as well as the genre of the work

07 Artists: the artists, who created and produced the work including poet, composer, conductor, choreographer, composer of the ballet-music, stage designer and costume designer

08 Print Data: City and year of print, as well as the printing house, and illustrator(s) where available

09-11a Bibliography: Bibliographical data of the libretti prints including Schatz number, Sartori number and the original Sartori file card