THE CREMONA VIOLIN.
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villainous chords by way of accompaniment. Krespel laughed outrageously and screamed: "Ha! ha! methinks I hear our German-Italians or our Italian-Germans struggling with an aria from Pucitta,[1] or Portogallo,[2] or some other Maestro di capella, or rather schiavo d'un primo uomo"[3] Now, thought I, now's the time; so turning to Antonia, I remarked, "Antonia knows nothing of such singing as that, I believe?' At the same time I struck up one of old Leonardo Leo's[4] beautiful soul-stirring songs. Then Antonia's cheeks glowed; heavenly radiance sparkled in her eyes, which grew full of reawakened inspiration; she hastened to the piano; she opened her lips; but at that very moment Krespel pushed her away, grasped me by
- ↑ Vincenzo Pucitta (1778-1861) was an Italian opera composer, whose music "shows great facility, but no invention." He also wrote several songs.
- ↑ Il Portogallo was the Italian sobriquet of a Portuguese musician named Mark Anthony Simâo (1763-1829). He lived alternately in Italy and Portugal, and wrote several operas.
- ↑ Literally, "The slave of a primo uomo" primo uomo being the masculine form corresponding to prima donna, that is, a singer of hero's parts in operatic music. At one time also female parts were sung and acted by men or boys.
- ↑ Leonardo Leo, the chief Neapolitan representative of Italian music in the first part of the eighteenth century, and author of more than forty operas and nearly one hundred compositions for the Church.
