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THIS MONTH'S BOOK
The Politics of Religion in Napoleonic Italy: The War Against God, 1801-1814, by Michael Broers
French rule in Italy created intense cultural conflict at the start of the nineteenth century. Napoleon's desire for cultural conformity struck at the heart of Italian religious life. Yet the reforms imposed by French rule created resentment and resistance across Italy, finally leading to Napoleon's famous quarrel with Pope Pius VII...
NEW BICENTENARY PAGE
Next week we will have a new page on the site dedicated entirely to bicentenary events 1804-2004 and 1805-2005.
It will be accessible directly from the homepage and will give you the chance to follow the bicentenaries almost live and in pictures!
CHANGE OF OPENING TIMES: BIBLIOTHEQUE M. LAPEYRE-FONDATION NAPOLEON
On Thursday the 12th of February, the library will open exceptionally from 2 to 6pm (instead of the usual 10am-3pm). For further information, ring ++33 (0)1 56 43 46 06.
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO
On the 20th Pluviôse, An XII (11th of February, 1804), the Italian composer Spontini offered to the French public the Paris premier of his opera buffa, La finta filosofa (The pretend philosopheress), at the Théâtre Italien (today's Opéra comique - Salle Favart in Place Boïeldieu - 75002 Paris).
Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini was born into a family of humble origins in the town of Maiolati, near Ancona (Italy) on the 14th of November, 1774. Whilst his family initially pushed him towards the priesthood, they finally gave in to his desire to become a composer and allowed him, in January 1793, to go to the Pietà dei Turchini Conservatoire in Naples. After abandoning his studies in Naples and finding the support of a wealthy Roman patron, he made his debut in Rome in 1796 with the comic opera, Gli puntigli delle donne (The Vanity of Women). He followed this with another Roman piece, entitled Teseo riconosciuto, in the spring of 1798. However, he then returned to study in Naples where he gained the admiration of famous composers of the day such as Cimarosa. Here, the opera entitled L'eroismo ridicolo (first performed in 1798) was reworked to become La finta filosofa, 1799.
In 1803, Spontini arrived in Paris. Entering the Récamier circle, he soon became one of Josephine's protégés. After the initial success of La finta filosofa in February 1804, he produced another comic opera entitled La petite maison (a semi-failure), Milton in November 1804 (dedicated to Josephine), and Julie ou le pot de fleurs in March 1805. As a result of his musical successes he was appointed 'compositeur particulier de la chambre de S.M l'imperatrice'.
In 1806, he composed a cantata in Italian celebrating Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz, entitled L'Eccelsa gara per il ritorno trionfale del gran Napoleone (Exalted fête for the triumphal return of the Great Napoleon).
Perhaps Spontini's best-known work today is the opera, La Vestale, a story set in Roman antiquity. The libretto for it by Etienne de Jouy, future librettist for Rossini, had been refused not merely by composers such as Cherubini and Méhul, but also by the Imperial Academy itself. It was only as a result of Josephine's active support that the work was ever performed. Spontini accepted Jouy's libretto in 1805, but work on the opera proceeded slowly. Although the first performance was initially planned for early 1806 as a celebration of the victory at Austerlitz, complications (notably dislike for the work by the members of the opera cast and orchestra) led to the premier being finally performed in 1807 in celebration of the victorious Polish campaign. Indeed so many changes were forced upon Spontini that simply the copying of them cost 10,000 francs. The first performance on the 11th of November, 1807, was a huge success and the opera was markedly supported by Napoleon - on hearing the principal moments at a private concert at the Tuileries he remarked to Spontini 'Your opera abounds in new motifs; the declamatory parts are true and they match the musical feeling; there are some fine arias, some clearly effective duets; an excellent march to the execution and a engaging finale. It all promises great success for you.'
Spontini following opera was Fernand Cortez (1809 - revised in 1817), but it was not to meet with the same success. Appointed director of the Théâtre Italien and given a gratification of 6,000 francs, Spontini directed the first performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Naturalised French in November 1817 (made Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in May 1818), he left Paris for Berlin at the invitation of King WIlliam Frederick of Prussia in 1819, where he was to remain until 1842. Spontini died, in his native town, on 24 January 1851.
On the 21st Pluviôse, An XII (12th of February, 1804), Emmanuel Kant died in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
Emmanuel Kant was born in 1724 in Königsberg in East Prussia. This university town derived its prosperity from both its maritime commerce and its open attitude towards countries with different customs and languages. His family from Prokuls (now in Lithuania) was poor and followed strict Protestant observances.
In 1740 he entered the University of Königsberg, where he followed courses in philosophy, mathematics and physics. However, the death of his father and the ensuing financial straits in 1747 obliged the young Emmanuel to leave the University to become a private tutor to noble and bourgeois families in the Königsberg region.
In 1755, he returned to Königsberg and received the authorisation of the University to teach as a Privatdozent, in other words, as a lecturer paid by his students and not by the state. In 1770, Kant was finally given the chair of logic and metaphysics after the publication of his "De Mundi Sensibilis atque Intelligibilis Formis et Principiis" (On the Forms and Principles of the Sensible and Intelligible World). In 1797, weakened by illness, he left his post but continued his reflections and discussions with students and intellectuals who came from the world over to meet him.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK:
Press Review
Assorted Napoleonic book reviews online
Just published
- Napoleon (Reputations), by R. S. Alexander
- Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution, by Martyn Lyons
Web sites
Go to the Napoleonic directory and select 'History' in the Web Sites scroll bar menu
- An e-version of the book, A History of The Nations and Empires Involved and a Study of the Events Culminating in The Great Conflict, by Logan Marshall, Napoleon I
- An e-version of the book, A History of The Nations and Empires Involved and a Study of the Events Culminating in The Great Conflict, by Logan Marshall, Napoleon III
- An e-version of the book, Borderlands of Western Civilization: A History of East Central Europe, by Andrew L. Simon (Editor), Oskar Halecki
What's on
- Exhibition: Art booty in the Napoleonic period. The "French gift" to Mainz, 1803
- Exhibition: Napoleon and the sea, a dream of Empire, Paris
- Exhibition: Porphyry. The purple stone, from the Ptolemies to the Bonapartes
The monthly titles
- This month's book: The Politics of Religion in Napoleonic Italy: The War Against God, 1801-1814, by Michael Broers
- This month's painting: François I and the queen of Navarre, by Fleury Richard
- This month's article: 'The Emperor's New Clothes and the Death of Napoleon, back to back'
by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, The Jouy Cloth - bed cover: "Pallas and Venus"
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