The Improvisation of Poetry, 1750 – 1850
A database of commentaries on improvisational performance
The anonymous critic gives a brief history of some of the best known improvisers in Italy, both men and women. He also describes some of the tricks they used to make their work appear more improvised than it was.
The article provides a brief history of the origins of improvisation and its rise to popularity in Italy, followed by a detailed account of a performance given by Sgricci in Rome. The author concludes that improvisation is an impressive art, even if it does not lend itself to serious poetic production.
A detailed article describes and explains the Italian art of improvisation, first comparing it to similar arts in different nations, then describing the famous improvisatori Corilla and Sgricci, and their manner of performing. The more popular forms of improvisation in public squares and in casual settings are also discussed, as is the peculiarity of the gift of improvisation to the Italian language and people.
Improvisation is described as an unstudied and spontaneous art, a form of inspiration. Much of the article is devoted to an account of the talents of Corilla Olimpica, whose improvisation is posited as a perfect unification of art and nature.
A report of a lecture on improvisation delivered at the Royal Institution by the Marquis Moscati, who is himself an improviser. Moscati gives a historically and culturally wide-ranging account of extemporaneous poetry and performs his own improvisations on the topics of music and Poland.
Evaluating the fame and ability of Taddei in light of the enthusiasm of the press, the reviewer compares her to Corilla and Bandettini. He emphasizes her youth and inexperience, yet she shows much promise: her verse flows, her rhymes are spontaneous, and she keeps to the given subject.
The author gives a romanticized biography of La Bandettini’s education and travels, and describes how one of her performances saved her country from peril.
Partially translating Fernow’s German treatise, this article provides an extended history of improvisatori in Italy.
Ademollo criticizes General Miollis for exploiting the reputation of Corilla Olimpica, expressing exaggerated and prejudiced enthusiasm for her talent in order to take revenge on Vittorio Alfieri. Ademollo expresses a negative judgment of Corilla Olimpica's improvised poetry and instead defends Bandettini’s art as well as her reputation in private and public life.
Ademollo describes how theatrical performances of improvisation by male and female improvisatori evolved in Florence between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Corilla's performances were never paid; Bandettini was the first woman to accept money for her public performances.
Jameson recounts her experience watching the improvisatore Sestini perform in Rome, describing the various subjects and forms he used, as well as the success and failure of each of Sestini’s efforts. She reflects upon Sestini’s rather plain appearance, and opines that his career will likely be short in duration, even if his skill is remarkable.
In a letter to the editor, the writer describes how the 16-year-old Taddei was inspired, by listening to Pistrucci, to commit herself to improvised verse. Her performance and her verses resemble the enthusiasm of the Pythia, without being exaggerated. However, the writer reports that at a performance she gave near Cremona, ignorant listeners criticized improvised poetry and the innocent pleasures it arouses as pure folly.
Burney describes his meeting with Corilla and mentions her musical talent as well as her skill in poetic improvisation.
Bonstetten describes the famous improvisatrice Corilla. He writes that Corilla’s difference from other improvisatori consists in her knowledge of people, and her ability to make witty jokes for and about them. He also mentions other select details about her life and character, including her crowning at the capital in 1776.
Bonstetten describes meeting Corilla in Florence, and praises her touching performance at a dinner – although he also quotes her as saying that real poets don’t improvise, but write.
Wynn describes her dissatisfaction with Gabriele Rossetti’s improvisation and recalls Spinetto’s high estimation of improvisatori, including Corilla and Taddei. Wynn also comments on the relative difficulty of improvisation in different languages.
Piozzi describes her experience of poetic improvisation in Italy. While visiting Ferrara, she recalls the performance of the improvisatore Talassi in London in 1770, which brings about reflections on the practice of poetic improvisation in general. In Florence, she notes the fading voice of the aging Corilla, whose character however remains as sharp and humorous as ever, and emphasizes the charm of the younger and more beautiful Fantastici. Piozzi also praises the talents of the Abate Lorenzi and the Abate Bertola and comments on written and oral improvisation of Latin verses.
Reprinted from a literary journal that Suard co-edited in the 1760s, this comprehensive essay surveys forms of the word “improviser” in French and other languages, the nature of poetic improvisation and its history in Italy, and exponents of improvisation elsewhere in Europe. Foremost among these is Anna-Louisa Karsch, of whom the essay includes a brief biography.
Sismondi provides a description of the art of improvisation as part of a more general exposition of Italian literature. He describes the type of talent required for improvisation, the typical subjects and form of the art, and then names some of Italy’s most accomplished improvisatori.
A series of extracts from Sismondi’s widely read work on the literature of the south of Europe. The extracts from volume one describe the origins of improvisation in the commedia dell’ arte and the dramas of Goldoni. The longer excerpt from the second volume describes contemporary improvisation in Italy, outlining its relation to literature and poetry, and providing an overview of some of the famous Italian improvisatori.