The Music of

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

flourished in the 19th century for a number of reasons. The capital city of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, a major port, aspired to recognition as a cultural center more in keeping with its role as a major city in the history of the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

, the political, social, and military movement that eventually led to the unification of the modern nation state of Italy. (After all,

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

had sailed from that very port on his famous expedition against the Kingdom of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in 1860.)

Genoa

{{Main, Music of Genoa The

Teatro Carlo Felice The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the side of Piazza De Ferrari. The hall is named for King Carlo Felice, and dates fr ...

, built in 1828 in Genoa, and named for the monarch of the then kingdom of Sardinia (which included the present regions of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and

). The theater was the center of music and social life in the 1800s. On various occasions in the history of the theater, presentations have been conducted by Mascagni,

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

and

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

. On the occasion of the

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

celebration in 1992, new musical life was given to the area around the old port, including the restoration of the house of Paganini and presentations of the ''

Trallalero Trallalero is a kind of polyphonic folk music from the Ligurian region of Genoa, in northern Italy. It is traditionally performed by men, though there have been some female performers in the modern era. The name derives from the monosyllabic vo ...

'', the traditional singing of Genoese dock workers. Additionally, the city is the site of the Teatro Gustavo Modena, the only theater to have survived the bombings of World War II relatively intact. The city is the site of the Niccolò Paganini music conservatory. In the town of

Santa Margherita Ligure Santa Margherita Ligure ( lij, Santa Margaita) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about southeast of Genoa, in the area traditionally known as Tigullio. It has a port, used for b ...

, the ancient

Abbey of Cervara Cervara Abbey ( it, Abbazia della Cervara or ''Abbazia di San Gerolamo al Monte di Portofino'') is a former abbey in Santa Margherita Ligure, Liguria region, northern Italy. It is on the coastal road to Portofino. The abbey complex is a designa ...

is often the site of chamber music concerts.

Other parts of Liguria

The town of

Sanremo Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivie ...

is best known for the annual

Sanremo Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian culture, Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longes ...

Italian popular music The expression Italian popular music refers to the musical output which is not usually considered academic or Classical music but rather has its roots in the popular traditions, and it may be defined in two ways: it can either be defined in terms o ...

, the largest venue for new pop music in Italy. Opera in San Remo is staged at the Theater of the Municipal Casino, a large gambling palace built in the early 1900s to take advantage of increased tourism along the French and

Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( it, Riviera ligure; lij, Rivêa lìgure) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinall ...

. Also, the town of Cervo has hosted for 40 years one of the most prestigious chamber music festivals in Europe. The Teatro Civico of

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, originally from 1848, was recently rebuilt into a 1000-seat multi-function theater. Increasingly, it now hosts live various music of various kinds. The Teatro Chiabrera theater in the town of

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

has historically been the main venue for almost all musical and stage productions in the city. It has undergone recent restoration and has reopened.

References

*''Guide Cultura, i luoghi della music'' (2003), ed. Touring Club Italiano.

External links

Nicolò Paganini music conservatory Teatro Carlo Felice, Genova San Remo Festival, official website Concerts today in Liguria