Masaniello

There are a number of plays and operas that use the name Masaniello as main (abbreviated) title:

The character

Masaniello (i.e. Tommaso Aniello, 1622 – 1647)[1] was an Italian fisherman who became leader of the revolt against the rule of Habsburg Spain in Naples in 1647.

The plays

Masaniello, The Fisherman of Naples by Henry M. Milner (1824)

Masaniello, the Fisherman of Naples is an historic play in three acts by Henry M. Milner.

First performed at the Royal Coburg Theatre, London, and published in London by John Lowndes in 1824. Besides being the source of Milner's own musical drama of 1829, Griffel ( p. 308) suggests that the play was the basis for the 1825 five act opera by Soane.

Masaniello, The Fisherman of Naples (1825)

Masaniello, the Fisherman of Naples is an historic play in five acts by George Soane, with incidental music by Henry Rowley Bishop. First performed in English at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, on February 17, 1825. Published in London by J. Miller, 1825. One source (Griffel, p. 308) suggests that the play is based on the eponymous play by Milner (1824).

Masaniello, or The Dumb Girl of Portici by Thomas S. Cooke and Barham Livius, with libretto by James Kenney (1829)

Masaniello, or The Dumb Girl of Portici is an opera in three act by Thomas S. Cooke and Barham Livius, with libretto by James Kenney. Based on the French opera, La Muette de Portici[2] by Auber, Scribe and Lavigne, which had been first performed at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris Opéra on 29 February 1828.[2]

The English version of the it was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, on May 4, 1829 and the Kenney libretto published by E. Moxon, London, 1831.

Masaniello, or The Dumb Girl of Portici by Henry M. Milner (1829)

Masaniello, or The Dumb Girl of Portici is a musical drama in three acts by Henry M. Milner ()[3], based on his own play of 1824 and using the music of the Auber opera (some editions credit both), it was first performed at the Royal Theatres , London, and published by Davidson in 1829, as well as by R.H. Elton in 1830, Cumberland's Minor theatre (Vol. 1 no. 9) in 1835 and French's Standard Drama, acting edition, no. 194.

Masaniello, or The Fish-o'-Man of Naples by R.B. Brough (1857)

Masaniello, or The Fish-o'-Man of Naples is a burlesque by Robert Barnabas Brough (1828–1860)[4]. It is uncertain which of the original versions is being burlesqued, but it was first performed at the Olympic Theatre, London, in on 2 July, 1857.

Performance history of "Massielo" in South Africa

We list ALL the performances in their titles below.

1859: A play called simply Masaniello (and billed as a "Splendid Musical Extravaganza") was performed in the Harrington Street Theatre, Cape Town, by the Cape Town Dramatic Club on 27 May, with Retribution (Taylor) and a performance of the brass band of the 59th Regiment. The text used may have been any of the versions discussed above, but it is most likely to have been Brough's burlesque version, given the nature of the work done by the Club at the time.

1859: The extravaganza Masaniello was once more performed in the Harrington Street Theatre, Cape Town, by the Cape Town Dramatic Club on 6 June, with Heads or Tails? (Simpson) and a performance of the brass band of the 59th Regiment.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaniello

Facsimile version of the 1825 edition of Masaniello, the Fisherman of Naples, Hathi Trust Digital Library[5]

F. Burwick. 2011. Dante and Italy in British Romanticism Springer[6]

Margaret Ross Griffel. 2012. Operas in English: A Dictionary. Scarecrow Press: p. 308 By [7]

Allardyce Nicoll. 2002. A History of English Drama 1660-1900: Late 19th Century Drama 1850-1900 Cambridge University Press[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Barnabas_Brough

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_M._Milner

http://www.worldcat.org/title/masaniello-or-the-dumb-girl-of-portici-a-musical-drama-in-three-acts/oclc/40197364?referer=di&ht=edition

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.145

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