{"id":2939,"date":"2018-09-26T15:56:16","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T15:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/?p=2939"},"modified":"2018-09-26T15:56:16","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T15:56:16","slug":"early-reviews-of-fanny-tacchinardi-persiani-in-lucia-di-lammermoor-from-tribulations-to-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/?p=2939","title":{"rendered":"Early Reviews of Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani &nbsp;<br>in <i>Lucia di Lammermoor<\/i>&nbsp;<br>from Tribulations to Triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On 26 September 1835 (note today&#8217;s date), Donizetti\u2019s tragic masterpiece <em>Lucia di Lammermoor <\/em>premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy<em>.\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Much of this opera\u2019s enduring popularity rests on the climax of its third act, the so-called \u201cMad Scene,\u201d in which the heroine Lucia, who has been coerced into an arranged marriage, kills her new husband on their wedding night, and reenters the accompanying celebratory festivities disoriented, and covered in blood.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NYm7oJXVeks?rel=0&amp;start=1\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Singing the title role in the work&#8217;s premiere was Italian soprano Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani (1812-1867).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2941 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Lucia-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"593\" height=\"771\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Lucia-1.jpg 593w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Lucia-1-546x710.jpg 546w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Lucia-1-231x300.jpg 231w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Lucia-1-177x230.jpg 177w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 593px) 100vw, 593px\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><em>Strenna Teatrale Europea,\u00a0<\/em>Vol. 3 No. 1 (1840): [1p] 81\/82.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Tacchinardi Persiani received much attention in the musical press for her creation of the role of Lucia. Tracking the reception of her performances in the work&#8217;s premiere in Venice at the Teatro Apollo, in Paris at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre-Italien, and in London\u2019s Her Majesty\u2019s Theater, reveals some interesting inconsistencies and difficulties she confronted in some performances.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In fact, as reported in an extensive review of the 1837 Venice premiere, the soprano apparently encountered stress-related struggles, or possibly stage-fright, that led to the critic to describe her performance as nerve-wracking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2942 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-2.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"802\" height=\"164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-2.1.jpg 802w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-2.1-650x133.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-2.1-300x61.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-2.1-540x110.jpg 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 802px) 100vw, 802px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Another understandable insult to fortune was the presence in Tachinardi\u2019s spirit of an uncontrollable nervousness\u2026[This was] produced by her concern about the great task of meriting the reputation that she, in her modesty, has depicted as exaggerated.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #000000;\"><em>Censore Universale dei teatri,<\/em>\u00a0Vol. 9 No. 2 (7 January 1837): 7.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Also in the Venice premiere review, one reads that Tacchinardi Persiani\u2019s Mad Scene \u201cdid not rise to the level of her reputation\u201d (non si alz\u00f2 al livello della sua rinomanza nell\u2019aria), but, as the reviewer continues with comments concerning subsequent performances, the singer appears to have improved dramatically.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2944 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-3.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"806\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-3.1.jpg 806w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-3.1-650x157.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-3.1-300x73.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-3.1-540x131.jpg 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 806px) 100vw, 806px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u2026that aria which she had [previously] performed ineffectively, [now] struck the audience with such surprise that they were constrained to applaud the cabaletta most enthusiastically, and [gave] its repetition a most resounding reception, and then demanded that she take a curtain call. To such an extent has she risen in the public&#8217;s esteem.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #000000;\">Ibid., 8.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In December 1837, Tacchinardi Persiani premiered the role of Lucia in Paris at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre-Italien. There, a London correspondent from <em>The Musical World <\/em>also notes that, as in Venice, she initially suffered from an indisposition. However, also as in Venice, she apparently recovered, and her subsequent performances were more than acclaimed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2945 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-4.1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"753\" height=\"271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-4.1.jpg 753w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-4.1-650x234.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-4.1-300x108.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-4.1-540x194.jpg 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 753px) 100vw, 753px\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #000000;\"><em>The Musical World,\u00a0<\/em>Vol. 7 No. 93 (22 December 1837): 232.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">By the time <em>Lucia di Lammermoor <\/em>made its way to London, premiering in April 1838, Tacchinardi Persiani had firmly established herself in the role.\u00a0 This time, in a report entitled, \u201cA Galaxy of Talent,\u201d a New York correspondent for the <em>The Musical Review<\/em> reported from London on her stellar performances at Her Majesty\u2019s Theater:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2946 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"502\" height=\"166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-5.jpg 502w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-5-300x99.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 502px) 100vw, 502px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2947 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"497\" height=\"424\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-6.jpg 497w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-6-300x256.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/lucia-6-270x230.jpg 270w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 497px) 100vw, 497px\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #000000;\"><em>The Musical Review and Record of Musical Science, Literature, and Intelligence,\u00a0<\/em>Vol. 1 No. 5 (6 June 1838): 60.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There are of course no recordings of Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani\u2019s performance, but the longstanding popularity of <em>Lucia di Lammermoor<\/em> has obviously led to numerous recordings of prominent sopranos past and present taking on the role.\u00a0 How about listening to forty-nine of them singing the high Eb (its only thirty-six minutes long&#8230;) in the famous aria from the Mad Scene, \u201cSpargi D\u2019amaro Pianto\u201d? Which do <u>you<\/u> prefer?<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VSNWnaA5Ku4?rel=0&amp;start=1\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If one were to judge Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani from reviews of her first Venetian and Parisian performances, one would gain a less than a favorable impression.\u00a0 However, reading accounts of subsequent performances clearly alter an appreciation of her talents. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 2em;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The moral of the story: do not necessarily limit your perception of a singer&#8217;s talents to reviews of premieres.\u00a0 Where can you find others? In RIPM, of course!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><u>RIPM search tip<\/u>: For more on <em>Lucia di Lammermoor, <\/em>access RIPM\u2019s Combined Interface and keyword search \u201cLucia di Lammermoor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Click<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"http:\/\/ripm.org\/?page=cncsubscribe\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0subscribe to RIPM\u2019s\u00a0<em>Curios, News, and Chronicles!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>When is our next posting?\u00a0To find out, follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RIPMCenter\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RIPMCenter\/\">Facebook<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">***<\/p>\n<p>RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein.\u00a0 Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, RIPM European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 26 September 1835 (note today&#8217;s date), Donizetti\u2019s tragic masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy.\u00a0 Much of this opera\u2019s enduring popularity rests on the climax of its third act, the so-called \u201cMad Scene,\u201d in which the heroine Lucia, who has been coerced into an arranged marriage, kills [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-curioschronicles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2939"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3084,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2939\/revisions\/3084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}