Publisher Description

Music and the Commedia dell'Arte narrates the story of the most famous commedia dell'arte troupe of the late Renaissance, focusing in particular on the representation of women on stage and on the role of music-making in their craft. In its thorough integration of the fields of music history, theatre history, performance studies, women's studies and Classics, this is the first comprehensive analysis of the leading actresses of the Compagnia dei Gelosi and their contributions to the Renaissance stage. Including an extensive survey of documents concerning comedians, their patrons, colleagues and audiences, Music and the Commedia dell'Arte provides a rich context for the study of musical-theatrical performance before the advent of opera and re-defines our perceptions of women, music and theatre in the Renaissance.

Author Biography

Anne MacNeil is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and currently holds a faculty appointment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With an extensive background in both scholarship and performance studies, Professor MacNeil makes appearances internationally as both a speaker and
visiting scholar. Her previous academic appointments include the University of Texas at Austin and Northwestern University.

Table of Contents

Preface
1: Prologue
2: Turn About is Fair Play
3: Behold, Now there are Amazons of Learning
4: The Politics of Description
5: Epilogue
Library Sigla
Chronology
Transcriptions
Bibliography
Index

Review

`A vauluable, cross-disciplinary book that will widen the horizons of those performing Italian court music.'
Early Music Review

Long Description

Music and the Commedia dell'Arte narrates the story of the most famous commedia dell'arte troupe of the late Renaissance, focusing in particular on the representation of women on stage and on the role of music-making in their craft. In its thorough integration of the fields of music history, theatre history, performance studies, women's studies and Classics, this is the first comprehensive analysis of the leading actresses of the Compagnia dei Gelosi and
their contributions to the Renaissance stage. Including an extensive survey of documents concerning comedians, their patrons, colleagues and audiences, Music and the Commedia dell'Arte provides a rich context for the study of musical-theatrical performance before the advent of opera and re-defines our
perceptions of women, music and theatre in the Renaissance.

Review Text

`A vauluable, cross-disciplinary book that will widen the horizons of those performing Italian court music.'
Early Music Review

Review Quote

Much of this is in evidence in Anne MacNeil's intriguing study of the Commedia dell'arte, a book that makes an important contribution to our understanding of musical theatre, gender and genre at the northern Italian courts just before and during opera's gestational period.

Promotional "Headline"

Preface 1. Prologue 2. Turn About is Fair Play 3. Behold, Now there are Amazons of Learning 4. The Politics of Description 5. Epilogue Library Sigla Chronology Transcriptions Bibliography Index

Feature

First comprehensive analysis of the representation of women on the Renaissance stage and the role of music-making in their craft.
Narrates the story of the most famous commedia dell-arte troupe of the late Renaissance

Details