“Literary and Scientific Intelligence, Foreign and Domestic (Great Britain)”
Performances in Paris by the Italian improvisatore Pistrucci are a hot topic of discussion in London.
Tag: London
“Sights of London: Improvisation” (The Literary Gazette)
The author describes Sgricci’s public reading of his improvised tragedy on the Fall of Missolonghi, which has been published since he first improvised it in Paris.
Hester Lynch Piozzi, Observations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany
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.
Hester Lynch Piozzi, The intimate letters of Hester Piozzi and Penelope Pennington, 1788-1821
Piozzi refers to Thomas Moore as a pleasing public performer, an “English Improvisatore.”
Jane Carlyle, The Carlyle Letters Online
Two letters from Jane Carlyle, which recount (somewhat disparagingly) humorous episodes of improvised, or purportedly improvised, performances by Pistrucci, Rossetti, and Pepoli. A note to another letter mentions that Pistrucci was nicknamed Heraclitus.
Thomas Carlyle, The Carlyle Letters Online
Two excerpts from Thomas Carlyle’s letters which mention improvisatori: in the first, he mentions a performance by Pistrucci, an Italian, and in the second he recounts seeing a performance by Madam Lyser from Germany. Both are treated as strange (and rather naive) foreign curiosities.