Citizendia

Carlo Goldoni

Carlo Goldoni
Occupationdramatist, librettist
NationalityVenetian
Spouse(s)Nicoletta Conio

Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (25 February 1707 – 6 February 1793) was a celebrated Venetian playwright and librettist, whom critics today rank among the European theatre's greatest authors. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty The Most Serene Republic of Venice ((Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia Serenissima Repubblica Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor Year 1707 ( MDCCVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio Year 1793 ( MDCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Most Serene Republic of Venice ((Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia Serenissima Repubblica A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or Drama. A libretto is the text used in an extended Musical work such as an Opera, Operetta, Masque, sacred or secular Oratorio and His works, along with those of the modernist Luigi Pirandello, include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Luigi Pirandello ( June 28, 1867 — December 10, 1936) was an Italian Dramatist Novelist, and short Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty. His plays offered his contemporaries images of themselves, often dramatizing the lives, values, and conflicts of the emerging middle classes. The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. Though he wrote in French and Italian, his plays make rich use of the Venetian language, regional vernacular, and colloquialisms. Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken by over two million people mostly in the Veneto region of Italy.

Contents

Biography

Memoirs

There is an abundance of autobiographical information on Goldoni, most of which comes from the introductions to his plays and from his Memoirs. However, these memoirs are known to contain many errors of fact, especially about his earlier years.

In these memoirs, he paints himself as a born comedian, careless, light-hearted and with a happy temperament, proof against all strokes of fate, yet thoroughly respectable and honorable. Such characters were common enough in Italy.

Early life and studies

Goldoni was born in Venice in 1707, the son of Margherita and Giulio Goldoni. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the In his memoirs, Goldoni describes his father as a physician, and claims that he was introduced to theatre by his grandfather Carlo Alessandro. A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health In reality, it seems that Giulio was an apothecary; as for the grandfather, he had died four years before Carlo's birth. In any case, Goldoni was deeply interested in theatre since his earliest years, and all attempts to direct his activity into other channels were of no avail: his toys were puppets, and his books, plays.

His father placed him under the care of the philosopher Caldini at Rimini but the youth soon ran away with a company of strolling players and returned to Venice. Rimini is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. In 1723 his father matriculated him into the stern Collegio Ghislieri in Pavia, which imposed the tonsure and monastic habits on its students. Pavia (pronounced Pavìa,) the ancient Ticinum, is a town and Comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south Tonsure is the practice of some Christian churches mystics Buddhist novices and Monks and some Hindu temples of cutting the Hair from the MONK is a Monte Carlo software package for simulating nuclear processes particularly for the purpose of determining the neutron multiplication factor or k-effective However, he relates in his Memoirs that a considerable part of his time was spent in reading Greek and Latin comedies. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. He had already begun writing at this time; and, in his third year, he composed a libellous poem (Il colosso) in which he ridiculed the daughters of certain Pavian families. As a result of that incident (and/or of a visit paid with some schoolmates to a local brothel) he was expelled from the school and had to leave the city (1725). He studied law at Udine, and eventually took his degree at Modena. Udine ( Friulian Udin, Slovene Videm, German Weiden, Latin Utinum) is a city in northeastern Modena (ˈmɔːdena Mòdna in Modenese dialect is a city and a Comune ( Municipality) on the south side of the Po valley, in the He was employed as law clerk at Chioggia and Feltre, after which he returned to his native city and began practicing. Chioggia ( Venetan: Cióxa, Latin: Clodia) is a coastal town and Comune of the Province of Venice in the Veneto Feltre is a town and Comune of the Province of Belluno in Veneto, northern Italy.

Educated as a lawyer, and holding lucrative positions as secretary and councillor, he seemed, indeed, at one time to have settled down to the practice of law, but an unexpected summons to Venice, after an absence of several years, he changed his career, and thenceforth he devoted himself to writing plays and managing theatres. His father died in 1731. In 1732, to avoid an unwanted marriage, he left the town for Milan and then for Verona, where the theatre manager Giuseppe Imer helped him on his way to becoming a comical poet as well as introducing him to his future wife, Nicoletta Conio. Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. Goldoni returned with her to Venice, where he stayed until 1743.

Theatrical career

He entered the Italian theatre scene with a tragedy, Amalasunta, produced at Milan. The play was a critical and financial failure. Submitting it to Count Prata, director of the opera, he was told that his piece "was composed with due regard to the rules of Aristotle and Horace, but not according to those laid down for the Italian drama. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Quintus Horatius Flaccus, ( Venosa, December 8, 65 BC - Rome, November 27, 8 BC known in the English-speaking world as Horace " "In France", continued the count, "you can try to please the public, but here in Italy it is the actors and actresses whom you must consult, as well as the composer of the music and the stage decorators. Everything must be done according to a certain form which I will explain to you. " Goldoni thanked his critic, went back to his inn and ordered a fire, into which he threw the manuscript of his Amalasunta. His next play, Belisario, written in 1734, was more successful, though of its success he afterward professed himself ashamed.

During this period he also wrote librettos for opera seria and served for a time as literary director of the San Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice's most distinguished opera house. A libretto is the text used in an extended Musical work such as an Opera, Operetta, Masque, sacred or secular Oratorio and Opera seria (usually called dramma per musica or Melodramma serio) is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" The Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, now known as the Teatro Malibran, is an Opera house in Venice. An opera house is a theater building used for Opera performances that consists of a stage an orchestra pit audience seating and backstage facilities for costumes [1]

He wrote other tragedies for a time, but he was not long in discovering that his bent was for comedy. Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and He had come to realize that the Italian stage needed reforming; adopting Molière as his model, he went to work in earnest and in 1738 produced his first real comedy, L'uomo di mondo ("The Man of the World"). Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his Stage name, Molière, ( January 15, 1622 – February 17 1673) was a French During his many wanderings and adventures in Italy, he was constantly at work and when, at Livorno, he became acquainted with the manager Medebac, he determined to pursue the profession of playwriting in order to make a living. "Leghorn" redirects here For the breed of chicken see Leghorn chicken. He was employed by Medebac to write plays for his theater in Venice. He worked for other managers and produced during his stay in that city some of his most characteristic works. He also wrote Momolo Cortesan in 1738. By 1743, he had perfected his hybrid style of playwriting (combining the model of Molière with the strengths of Commedia Dell'Arte and his own wit and sincerity). Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his Stage name, Molière, ( January 15, 1622 – February 17 1673) was a French Commedia dell'Arte ( Italian: "the comedy of artists" is a form of Improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century This style was typified in La Donna di garbo, the first Italian comedy of its kind.

After 1748, Goldoni collaborated with the composer Baldassare Galuppi, making significant contributions to the new form of 'opera buffa'. Year 1748 ( MDCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Baldassare Galuppi ( October 18, 1706 &ndash January 3, 1785) was an Italian Composer from Venice, noted The term Opera buffa (plural Opere buffe) was at first used as an informal description of Italian Comic operas variously classified by their authors as Galuppi composed the score for more than twenty of Goldoni's librettos. As with his comedies, Goldoni's opera buffa integrate elements of the commedia dell'arte with recognisable local and middle-class realities. Commedia dell'Arte ( Italian: "the comedy of artists" is a form of Improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century His operatic works include two of the most successful musical comedies of the eighteenth century, Il filosofo di campagna (The Country Philosopher), set by Galuppi (1752) and La buona figliuola (The Good Girl), set by Niccolò Piccinni (1760). La Cecchina ossia La buona figliuola ( Cecchina or The Good-Natured Girl) is an Opera buffa in three Acts by Niccolò Piccinni. Niccolò Piccinni ( January 16, 1728 - May 7, 1800) was an Italian Composer of symphonies sacred music chamber music [1]

Move to France and death

In 1757, he engaged in a bitter dispute with playwright Carlo Gozzi, which left him utterly disgusted with the tastes of his countrymen; so much so that in 1761 he moved to Paris, where he received a position at court and was put in charge of the Theatre Italien. Carlo Count Gozzi ( 13 December 1720 &ndash April 4, 1806) was an Italian Dramatist. He spent the rest of his life in France, composing most of his plays in French and writing his memoirs in that language.

Among the plays which he wrote in French, the most successful was Le Bourru bienfaisant, produced on the occasion of the marriage of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in 1771. Louis XVI ( 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen (November 2 1755 &ndash October 16 1793 known to history as Marie Antoinette ( pronounced /maʀi ɑ̃ntwanɛt/ He enjoyed considerable popularity in France; when he retired to Versailles, the King gave him a pension. Versailles (vɛʀsaj in French) formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important He lost this pension after the French Revolution. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an The Convention eventually voted to restore his pension the day after his death. It was restored to his widow, at the pleading of the poet André Chénier; "She is old", he urged, "she is seventy-six, and her husband has left her no heritage save his illustrious name, his virtues and his poverty. André Marie Chénier ( October 30, 1762 &ndash July 25, 1794) was a French Poet, associated with the events of the "

Goldoni's impact on Italian theatre

Goldoni relates in considerable length in his Memoirs the state of Italian comedy when he began writing. At that time, Italian comedy revolved around the conventionality of the Commedia dell'Arte, or improvised comedy. Commedia dell'Arte ( Italian: "the comedy of artists" is a form of Improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century Goldoni took to himself the task of superseding the comedy of masks and the comedy of intrigue by representations of actual life and manners. He rightly maintained that Italian life and manners were susceptible of artistic treatment such as had not been given them before.

His works are a lasting monument to the changes that he initiated: a dramatic revolution that had been attempted but not achieved before. Goldoni's importance lay in providing good examples rather than precepts. Goldoni says that he took for his models the plays of Molière and that whenever a piece of his own succeeded he whispered to himself: "Good, but not yet Molière. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his Stage name, Molière, ( January 15, 1622 – February 17 1673) was a French " Goldoni's plays are gentler and more optimistic in tone than Molière's.

It was this very success that was the object of harsh critiques by Carlo Gozzi, who accused Goldoni of having deprived the Italian theatre of the charms of poetry and imagination. Carlo Count Gozzi ( 13 December 1720 &ndash April 4, 1806) was an Italian Dramatist. The great success of Gozzi's fairy dramas so irritated Goldoni that it led to his self-exile to France.

Goldoni gave to his country a classical form, which, though it has since been cultivated, has yet to be cultivated by a master.

Themes

Goldoni's plays that were written while he was still in Italy ignore religious and ecclesiastical subjects. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Ecclesiology (from Greek grc ἐκκλησίᾱ ekklēsiā, "congregation church" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of the This may be surprising, considering his staunch Catholic upbringing. No thoughts are expressed about death or repentance in his memoirs or in his comedies. After his move to France, his position became clearer, as his plays took on a clear anti-clerical tone and often satirized the hypocrisy of monks and of the Church. Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes Religious (generally Catholic institutional power and influence real or alleged in all aspects of public and political

Goldoni was inspired by his love of human kind and the admiration he had for his fellow men. He wrote, and was obsessed with, the relationships that humans establish with one another, their cities and homes, the Humanist movement, and the study of philosophy. Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing to universal Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language The moral and civil values that Goldoni promotes in his plays are those of rationality, civility, humanism, the importance of the rising middle-class, a progressive stance to state affairs, honor and honesty. Goldoni had a dislike for arrogance, intolerance and the abuse of power.

Goldoni's main characters are no abstract examples of human virtue, nor monstrous examples of human vice. They occupy the middle ground of human temperament. Goldoni maintains an acute sensibility for the differences in social classes between his characters as well as environmental and generational changes. Goldoni pokes fun at the arrogant nobility and the pauper who lacks dignity.

Venetian and Tuscan

As in other theatrical works of the time and place, the characters in Goldoni's Italian comedies spoke originally either the literary Tuscan variety (which became modern Italian) or the Venetian dialect, depending on their station in life. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken by over two million people mostly in the Veneto region of Italy. However, in some printed editions of his plays he often turned the Venetian texts into Tuscan, too.

Works

Tragedies

Tragicomedies

Comedies

Operas

Opéra bouffe

Cantatas and serenades

Oratorios

Religious plays

Performances

Poetry

Intermezzos

Books

Translations

Archifanfaro translated by W. H. Auden with an introduction by Michael Andre in Unmuzzled OX. Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973 ˈwɪstən ˈhjuː ˈɔːdən who signed his works W Michael Andre (born August 31, 1946) is a Canadian Poet, Critic and editor living in New York City. Unmuzzled OX, started by poet Michael Andre, edited in New York City and Kingston Ontario, was a late-twentieth-century quarterly of Poetry,

References

  1. ^ a b Banham (1998, 433).

External links

The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia
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