Female voices in Portuguese America: dialogues and intersections in the Colonial performance of La modista raggiratrice by Paisiello

Author(s)

Alexandra van Leeuwen

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Artes
• Defense date: 2014-07-03

Examining board members

Edmundo Pacheco Hora; Silvana Ruffier Scarinci; Lucas Robatto; Angelo José Fernandes; Paulo Mugayar Kuhl

• Advisor: Adriana Giarola Kayama; Edmundo Pacheco Hora

Abstract

The significant presence of mulatto women in the music of Colonial Brazil and her professional activity in contrast to participation of castrati in the Lusitanian scene inspired us to propose this specific study. Therefore, this research looks into the women in Rio de Janeiro¿s lyrical-musical environment in order to identify the particularities of their presence according to the information contained in the musical manuscripts of the period. Initially, we contextualized the female presence in the arts, taking into consideration an interdisciplinary reading. Afterwards, we focused on the activity at the Theatre of Manuel Luís ¿ Casa da Ópera also known as the Ópera Nova, or even Royal Theatre or Teatro Régio, operating from the last decades of the eighteenth century until the year of 1813 ¿ and more specifically, its repertoire. Recent studies have identified the use of Luso-Brazilian dramatic music manuscripts in colonial lands belonging to the Ducal Palace¿s Library at Vila Viçosa (Portugal). This material ¿ possibly deposited in Bragança family¿s palace after the return of D. João VI to the Lusitanian lands in 1821 ¿ includes Italian operas, music comedies, entremezes/farças and other occasional works, among which we selected the manuscripts of the opera La modista raggiratrice, composed by Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816), due to the unique information related to its performance on the Carioca stage. We also developed an analytical study of these manuscripts and made some considerations in regard to ornamentation and technical-vocal issues, seeking to define the role of the female singers in the Carioca stage in the proposed period not only as supportive musicians, but rather as transformative agents of musical aesthetics in the Colony. We include the transcription of the musical numbers from the opera La modista..., in which there are female characters, according to the Colonial performance given by the female singers Joaquina Lapinha, Maria Candida and Francisca ¿ three of the singers/actresses of the Theatre of Manuel Luís (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/01147-7 - Female singing in Portuguese America: dialogues and intersections in the colonial representation of Paisiello's La modista raggiratrice
• Grantee: Alexandra van Leeuwen
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate