Interview: Pierpaolo Polzonetti
In this case it was used as a metaphor for unjust taxation, which Beaumarchaisthought to be the initial motivation forthe American Revolution. It is therefore possible to give a symbolic reading of the opera as a tale aboutunjust taxation –reminiscent of the ‘no taxation without representation’ motto –imposed bya Master who wants to restrict the rights and freedoms of others.
For years I have imagined that it was possible to rediscover this repertoire of operas and make them accessible to modern audiences but, even though they were a big hit at the time, unfortunately theywere then hopelessly forgotten, in my opinion for a lack of quality from the musical point of view. Niccolò Piccinni, the author of I napoletani in America,was a great composer: so much so that his forte, La Cecchina ossia La buona figliuola, was one of the first plays ever performed in China. Yet today, Piccinni has no hold on operatic audiences, unlike Mozart or his rivalGluck. Other authors and composers of that time are largely unknown, and so it becomes difficult to represent this kind of repertoire. If anything, I hope that at least now people will be able to conceive Mozart as a man of the Enlightenment who hated the ideals of the French revolution, sharing instead those of the American Revolution.
Has your book been translated into Italian?
No it has not been translated.
Were there Italians then, who had ended up in America for some reason? If so, who were they and what did they do?
At that time, Italians in America were a small number of adventurers. However, they were not desperate. They were from the intellectualvanguard, and also often rich. For example, Filippo Mazzei, a Tuscan physician, translated the Declaration of Independence for Leopold of Habsburg, Duke of Tuscany, who then used thattranslation as inspiration forinnovative reforms that had a great impact, first in Tuscany and then in the Habsburg Empire.
Poor people did not even think of emigrating to America at that time. There is a comedy called Pulcinella da quacquero, written about a school near Naples, where Pulcinella decides to become a Quaker and go to live in Philadelphia, where he could find more opportunities. One of his last lines is "Pennsylvania is worth a thousand Italies: Philadelphia is richer than Naples". Judging by this comedy,it would seem that the idea of migrating to America was already there, and yet mass immigration did not occur yet, even among the lower classes. For wealthy or upper-middle classes with cosmopolitan tendencies, it was an option and one that created some financial opportunities.
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