Preface to "Il poeta di campagna"

Abstract

This publication provides the first critical revision and modern transcription of Il poeta di campagna, a commedia per musica by Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (1728-1804), a mature work (No. 85 in the chronological catalogue from 1757), composed at the end of his prolific Neapolitan period and staged at the Teatro Nuovo sopra Toledo (Naples) in spring 1792. The edition is based on a manuscript score copy held in the private library of the Principi Massimo (Rome), made available through Francesco Ermini Polacci and the permission of an heir to the collection. Evidence from RISM and CORAGO strongly suggests that this manuscript is the actual performing copy used for the 1792 production, increasing its documentary significance, also in relation to the 1795 royal decree requiring deposit copies for works performed in Neapolitan theatres. The study reconstructs the profile of the Massa-born composer, trained in Naples under Francesco Durante and active in London, Dresden, Vienna, Eszterháza, and at the court of Catherine II of Russia. In particular, the opera’s stylistic peculiarities are examined, and the philological criteria and editorial choices adopted in the transcription are illustrated, together with a synopsis of the plot of the two acts. The modern transcription of the score is edited by Salvatore Ivan Emma. The modern edition of the libretto is edited by Francesco Ermini Polacci.