Tag: Sgricci

Thomas Medwin, Conversations of Lord Byron Noted During a Residence with His Lordship at Pisa, in the Years 1821 and 1822

A recorded conversation between Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, in which the two touch on Kemble and Hook briefly, and then speak about Sgricci at greater length. Shelley mentions Sgricci’s improvised performance of Iphigenia at Tauris in Lucca, which very much impressed him. Byron notes the marked difference between the arts of written poetry and improvisation. In the second passage, Medwin describes Byron’s incredible memory, focus, and the perfection of his manuscripts, likening his skills to those of an improvisatore.

Thomas Medwin, The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley

Medwin discusses Shelley’s relationship with Tommaso Sgricci, noting Shelley’s enthusiasm for the improvisatore. Medwin himself holds Sgricci in lower esteem, mentioning the inferiority of the latter’s poetry in written form, and recounting the end of his career.

Wilhelm Waiblinger, “La donna ambiziosa”

A humorous fictional tale narrated by a German gentleman (Guglielmo), intended as proof that the works of Italian playwright Goldoni are not in fact exaggerated caricatures of Italian life. Guglielmo describes how his friend, an improvisatore, introduces him to an Italian marchesa who is as mellifluously beautiful as she is dull-witted and narcissistic. The two friends conclude that she is a fool.

Wilhelm Waiblinger, “Rosa Taddei, unter den Arkadiern Licori Partenopea”

In an article specifically focused on Taddei, Waiblinger discusses the poetical talents and education of Italian improvisatori, and names the former among the most skilled improvisatori of her time. Waiblinger provides written records of a number of Taddei’s improvised poems to illustrate the different poetic forms the improvisatrice commands, and to show how she incorporates the mandatory rhymes she is given by the audience.

Wilhelm Waiblinger, Dichtungen aus Italien

Three short poems on Taddei, Sgricci, and relatively unknown Italian improvisatori of the lower classes are accompanied by Waiblinger’s detailed notes describing some of the performances he witnessed and references in the poems.