Isabella Colbran | L'Ulisse errante

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Italian language | the fourth most spoken in the world thanks to music

Everywhere in the world, Italian language is popular thanks to music; not just Opera but also pop hits such as Volare or Mamma. Common Italian words are increasingly used in other languages while notation on music scores is traditionally in Italian (piano, forte, crescendo, rallentando etc…). So much so that many Italian terms used for music are now truly international, representing a substantial part of the international Italian vocabulary.

December

Therapeutic art: A British Health initiative

An initiative, unveiled this week by British Health Secretary Matt Hancock, may soon enable the country’s doctors to prescribe therapeutic art- or hobby-based treatments for a wide range of mental health conditions. Therapeutic art- or hobby-based treatments for dementia, psychosis and mental health issues The medical benefits of engaging with the arts are well-recorded. According to the Telegraph “Dementia patients should be prescribed personal playlists to trigger happy memories Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/british-doctors-may-soon-prescribe-art-music-dance-singing-lessons-180970750

September

Opera | A Renaissance creation

The main difference between Opera and the previous polyphonic vocal music is the unique melodic line, resulting from the merging of bass and singing. In polyphonic music different vocal lines work independently, overlapping one another and making a text often incomprehensible. Opera instead offered a new way for making words expressive and intelligible, by creating a single melodic line, supported by an accompaniment.

February

The Servant turned Mistress | La Serva Padrona

La Serva Padrona, composed on a libretto by Gennaro Antonio Federico in 1733, is an intermezzo divided into two interludes. It was originally designed to be performed between the acts of the opera seria Il prigioniero superbo by Pergolesi himself, staged at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples on the occasion of the birthday of the empress Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick, wife of the emperor Charles VI and mother of the empress Marie Therese of Augsburg. That very same libretto had been used by almost every composer in Naples and therefore was already popular in a number of successful versions. The definition of believable characters and the solid realism of the short story, revolving almost entirely around the characters’ psychology made of the libretto a success. Pergolesi’s genius turned it into a masterpiece.