Much Applauded

The Joy of Marionette Operas,
by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

We very seldom deal with marionette operas. And when we do, we review 'normal' operas adapted to the marionette theatre — eg 'Very Scrupulous', 3 September 2013, when the full Wagner Ring was reduced to a two and a half hour marionette show.

We forget that marionette opera was a style of its own during the latter part of the seventeenth century, especially for operas with many characters, frequent scene changes and complicated plots where there are tragic and comic elements: an anticipation of semi-seria operas, very popular one hundred and fifty years later, at the time of Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti...

ITALY