Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Music Criticism
- The Cambridge History of Music
- The Cambridge History of Music Criticism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Music Examples, Figures and Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I The Early History of Music Criticism
- Part II The Rise of the Press
- 7 French Music Criticism in the Nineteenth Century, 1789–1870
- 8 Gatekeeping, Advocacy, Reflection: Overlapping Voices in Nineteenth-Century British Music Criticism
- 9 Constructing a Musical Nation: German-Language Criticism in the Nineteenth Century
- 10 Music Criticism in Nineteenth-Century Italy
- 11 Music Criticism in Imperial Russia
- Part III Critical Influence and Influences
- Part IV Entering the Twentieth Century
- Part V New Areas
- Part VI Developments since the Second World War
- Postlude
- Bibliography
- Index
10 - Music Criticism in Nineteenth-Century Italy
from Part II - The Rise of the Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 August 2019
- The Cambridge History of Music Criticism
- The Cambridge History of Music
- The Cambridge History of Music Criticism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Music Examples, Figures and Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I The Early History of Music Criticism
- Part II The Rise of the Press
- 7 French Music Criticism in the Nineteenth Century, 1789–1870
- 8 Gatekeeping, Advocacy, Reflection: Overlapping Voices in Nineteenth-Century British Music Criticism
- 9 Constructing a Musical Nation: German-Language Criticism in the Nineteenth Century
- 10 Music Criticism in Nineteenth-Century Italy
- 11 Music Criticism in Imperial Russia
- Part III Critical Influence and Influences
- Part IV Entering the Twentieth Century
- Part V New Areas
- Part VI Developments since the Second World War
- Postlude
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
‘Unfortunately, music criticism does not exist in Italy.’ Such a sweeping statement, uttered in 1900 by the writer Michele Virgilio within the context of a damning critique of Puccini’s Tosca, might seem to negate the need for the present chapter. It is, of course, not true. There was plenty of music criticism in nineteenth-century Italy, published in newspapers, in cultural periodicals of a general nature and in numerous specialist music journals and magazines. What Virgilio’s comment reveals, however, is a frustration felt by many turn-of-the-century Italian intellectuals about the prevalence of what might be called ‘dilettante’ criticism, characterised by descriptiveness, venality and provincialism, and the perception that Italian music criticism was lagging behind that of neighbouring France and, in particular, Germany.
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- Information
- The Cambridge History of Music Criticism , pp. 190 - 207Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019