Luigi Riccoboni (1 April 1676 – 6 December 1753)"Riccoboni, Luigi" Notice d'autorité personne
at the BnF website. was an Italian actor and writer on theatre, who was director of the

Comédie-Italienne Comédie-Italienne or Théâtre-Italien are French names which have been used to refer to Italian-language theatre and opera when performed in France. The earliest recorded visits by Italian players were commedia dell'arte companies employed b ...

in Paris from 1716 to 1731. In France he was known as Louis Riccoboni and his stage name was Lélio.Forman 2010, pp. 150–151.

Early life and career

Born Luigi Andrea Riccoboni in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

, he was the son of Antonio Riccoboni, who played

Pantalone Pantalone , spelled Pantaloon in English, is one of the most important principal characters found in . With his exceptional greed and status at the top of the social order, Pantalone is "money" in the commedia world. His full name, including fam ...

in London in 1678–1679. In 1699 Luigi Riccoboni established a ''

commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

'' troupe in the French style in northern Italy, since in his view the Italian tradition had become overly decadent.Senelick 1995b. He also translated some of the plays of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

and

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

into Italian.

Paris

In the spring of 1716 the French

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

, Philippe d'Orléans, asked his cousin, the

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except ...

, to send him a troupe of Italian actors to revive the

in Paris, which had been disbanded nearly twenty years previous. To avoid some of the difficulties of the earlier troupe, he specified that its leader should be a man of good character and manners. Riccoboni was chosen, and in a few weeks he assembled a group of ten actors, all of whom were devout Christians. The troupe was meant to perform in the Hôtel de Bourgogne, which had been vacant since 1697, but that theatre needed renovation, so they initially played at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal on days when the

Opéra This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

was not performing. Even after moving to the Bourgogne, the troupe continued to perform at the Palais-Royal on Mondays and Saturdays until the death of the Regent in 1723. Nouveau Théatre Italien par Riccoboni chez A

Nouveau Théatre Italien par Riccoboni chez A

As a director, Riccoboni initially had difficulty retaining audiences with improvised plays in Italian. More and more he turned to written texts and a style of presentation that was tailored to local tastes, along with an ever increasing use of the French language.Hartnoll 1983. In February 1718 he successfully revived some of the old plays of Évariste Gherardi, the director of the Comédie-Italienne in the years prior to 1697.Brenner 1961, p. 4; Senelick 1995a. He himself wrote several plays, including ''L'Italien à Paris'' and ''L'Italien francisé'' in which Italian and French manners were juxtaposed. He also began to produce plays by French playwrights, such as

Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine Pierre Rémond de Sainte-Albine (29 May 1699 – 9 October 1778) was an 18th-century French historian and playwright. He collaborated with ''L'Europe savante'', the ''Gazette de France'' (1733–1749 and 1751) and the ''Mercure de France'' of whi ...

, whose scenario ''L'Amante difficile'' was performed in Italian. The first play entirely in French was ''Le Naufrage au Port à l'Anglais'' by Jacques Autreau. Riccoboni achieved his greatest acclaim for his expressive acting, particularly in the plays of

Marivaux Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist. He is considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th century, writing nume ...

Other aspects of his career

Riccoboni appeared in London in 1728–1729. He wrote several books on theatre in Italian and French. One was translated into English in 1741.

Personal life

Riccoboni married twice, first to actress Gabriella Gardellini (stage name

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

), and second to Elena Balletti (1686–1771; stage name Flaminia). His son

Antoine-François Riccoboni Antoine-François Riccoboni (1707 – 15 May 1772)"Riccoboni, An ...

(1707–1772) was an actor who used the stage name Lélio ''fils'' and in 1734 married

Marie-Jeanne de La Boras Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni (25 October 1713 in Paris - 7 December 1792 in Paris), whose maiden name was Laboras de Mézières, was a French actress and novelist. Early years She was born in Paris in 1713. Career In 1735, she married Antoine Fra ...

Writings

* 1723: ''La surprise de l'amour, comédie'' (with

Pierre Marivaux Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist. He is considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th century, writing nume ...

). Paris: Veuve Guillaume
Copy
at Gallica. * 1726: ''Arcagambis tragedie en un acte'' (with Pierre-François Biancolelli and Antoine-François Riccoboni). Paris: Pissot; Flahault
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at Gallica. * 1728: ''Histoire du theatre italien''
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at Google Books. * 1730–1731: ''Histoire du theatre italien'', 2 volumes. Paris: André Cailleau. Vols
1
an
2
at Google Books. * 1736: ''Observations sur la comédie et sur le génie de Molière''. Paris: Pissot
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at Gallica. * 1741: ''An Historical and Critical Account of the Theatres of Europe'' (as Lewis Riccoboni). London: R. Dodsley
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at Google Books. * 1743: '' De la Réformation du Théâtre '' sans nom d'imprimeur. 337 pp. Copie
1
an
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at Google Books. * 1761: ''Les caquets, comédie en trois actes en prose'' (with Antoine-François Riccoboni). Paris:Ballard
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at Gallica.

Notes

Bibliography

* Banham, Martin, editor (1995). ''The Cambridge Guide to the Theatre''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . * Brenner, Clarence D. (1961). ''The Théâtre Italien: Its Repertory, 1716–1793''. Berkeley: University of California Press. . * Courville, Xavier de (1943–1958). ''Luigi Riccoboni dit Lélio (un apôtre de l'art du théâtre au XVIII^e siècle)'', 3 volumes. Paris: L’Arche. * Forman, Edward (2010). ''Historical Dictionary of French Theater''. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press. . * Hartnoll, Phyllis, editor (1983). ''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre'' (fourth edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. . * Heartz, Daniel (2004). ''From Garrick to Gluck: Essays on Opera in the Age of Enlightenment''. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. . * Riccoboni, Louis (1730). ''Histoire du Théâtre Italien'', 2 volumes. Paris: André Cailleau. Vols
1

2
at

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. * Senelick, Laurence (1995a). "Gherardi family", in Banham 1995, p. 427. * Senelick, Laurence (1995b). "Riccoboni, family", in Banham 1995, p. 918. * Smith, Winifred (1912). ''The Commedia dell'arte: A Study in Italian Popular Comedy''. New York: Columbia University Press
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at

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; 1964 reprint (with added illustrations): New York: Blom. {{DEFAULTSORT:Riccoboni, Luigi 17th-century Italian male actors Commedia dell'arte 1676 births 1753 deaths 18th-century Italian male actors