The essay on Pietro Metastasio’s Melodrama by tenor Luca Lupoli will soon be published
Rome, February 22nd, 2024 – The publication of the essay on Pietro Metastasio, entitled “Il Melodrama di Pietro Metastasio” (The Melodrama by Pietro Metastasio) The primacy of the text written by Maestro Luca Lupoli, Neapolitan tenor and musicologist for the publishing house “Pagine”, is nearing completion. supported by consultancy for biobliographical research by Maestro Olga De Maio, a Neapolitan soprano. After the first editorial experience of great success and satisfaction, the two representatives and guides of the historic Cultural Artistic Association Noi per Napoli return to writing, after the beautiful essay dedicated to the figure by composer Mario Persico last year. In a few months the official presentation will be announced in Naples and on the web.
In the meantime, here is a preview of the evaluation of the publishing house that selected him:
“In this challenging and praiseworthy historical-cultural essay Luca Lupoli, after a brief presentation of the work in question and his strong bond with it, since it was part of the period of his life in which he was finishing his studies and in which he decided to dedicate his time.
Even after a period of his life it was very difficult, because it was marked by tragic events that had marked him, the death of both parents, one after the other, examples of life for him that had always encouraged him to make his passions the his life.
Music, art, entertainment, theatre, piano, art in all its many forms, so much so that it led him to present as his degree thesis the treatment of the great Metastasio and the theme of melodrama connected to it, which was born with him.
Lupoli analyzes everything and does an excellent job from a different perspective than that followed by essayists and musicologists since he does so by analyzing in an alternative way, that is, exploring the affective, intimate and private side, the emotions, the habits if we want the oddities of great Metastasio.
The reformer of melodrama and he does so by analyzing his rich and demanding correspondence.
A different idea and perspective from which to frame an essay on melodrama which at times is also entertaining due to the verses, the way of writing that the author faithfully reproduces and the writing method, underlining and confirming the importance that the great Metastasio credited writing over music in the production of a melodrama.
In this work Lupoli has words of remembrance and sweetness for his father who had always encouraged him to write, probe, search and never stop his desire for knowledge for his Olga, his work and life partner, always beside him!
His work concerns the birth of melodrama, of opera in music. Metastasio was the advocate of the importance of the predominance of text over music, so much so that he was then able to define the concept of Metastasian theory.
The work is very well written, detailed and with a notable bibliography which denotes a notable commitment on the part of the author and clearly shows his great commitment to demonstrating and spreading his thesis almost as a document, which attests to how Metastasio’s contribution is was fundamental for the growth and improvement of opera and for its diffusion on stages and theaters, good work!
The work introduces one of the most important figures of the eighteenth-century theatrical panorama: Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet and librettist, considered one of the greatest exponents of melodrama, a form of opera characterized by the fusion of music and drama.
The text ranges through the author’s thoughts and personality, knowable thanks to his famous letters, known as Metastasio’s correspondence, through which a deeper understanding of his personal and professional relationships and his aesthetic ideas is possible.
The epistolary documents, cited throughout the essay, address a wide range of topics, from artistic and literary discussions to the political and social issues of the time, including his opera Didone Abbandonata, a melodrama scripted in Naples known for his writing refined and lyrical, through which the emotional intensity and internal conflicts of the characters are explored.
Finally, the author’s service as court poet to the Habsburgs in Vienna is recounted, with the awareness of having to continue the role of poet-reformer of his predecessor and illustrious colleague Apostolo Zeno.
The literary-theatrical work is precise in the description of events and thoughts linked to the author’s life.”
