Strumenti della ricerca storica. Gli 'altri' libretti: 'Il barbiere di Siviglia' a Roma dopo il 1816.

Abstract

In the Papal States, publications of an opera libretto after the first season needed a reimprimatur, permission confirming ecclesiastical approval of the publication. In historical research, these reimprimatur are of fundamental use for dating printed documents which otherwise lack meaningful temporal references. They are particularly useful in the case of librettos prepared for revivals of an opera, at a historical moment when a standard repertoire was just beginning to be established. These new 'editions' appear to be simple reprints of the libretto from the first production, but they were actually prepared subsequently. Given the problems with dating these 'editions', as well as in tracing the transmission of the text of an opera, these subsequent 'editions' present crucial difficulties: many inconsistencies, omissions, and mistakes in library catalogues as well as in the musicological literature reflect our inability to deal effectively with these subsequent 'editions'. This article addresses the dating of librettos with reimprimatur in Rome during the first part of the XIX century. A case study is offered by three librettos for Almaviva ossia l'inutile precauzione or Il barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini, which had its premiere in Rome during the Carnival season of 1816. At that time it was customary in Rome to prepare new editions of a libretto for subsequent revivals without changing the front matter of the original. Two of the three librettos were published years later, but they share date, title page and cast of singers with the original libretto, and they lack any reference whatsoever to the actual season for which they were printed. The very first libretto of Almaviva, which has noreimprimatur, was —like many other librettos in those years —printed by the Roman firm of Crispino Puccinelli. In the absence of a manuscript in the hand of the librettist, this Puccinelli libretto is the main literary source for the text of Rossini's opera. The text actually set to music by Rossini and his collaborators in the composer's autograph manuscript (found in the library of the Museo della musica in Bologna) differs in many details, some substantial, with the elimination and especially the addition of new verses. The later two printed librettos, published respectively in 1824 and 1826, differ slightly from the original libretto: spellings and evident mistakes are corrected, but sometimes new mistakes are introduced. By coordinating various kinds of information, it is possible to develop a dated list of the censors who gave permissions for reprinting librettos in Rome during the first 30 years of the XIX century. This article dates the two later 'editions' of the Barbiere libretto and establishes a methodology for dealing with similar problems for other operas.