City in northern Italy. The earliest references to music in the city occur in the medieval statutes of Parma Cathedral, which indicate that it was traditional for the primicerio to instruct clerics in the art of choral singing. Valuable information may be found in the work of 15th-century theorists, notably Giorgio Anselmi, a teacher, doctor and mathematician; his treatise De musica (1434) was praised by Gaffurius. The presence in Parma of Johannes Legrense, who died there in 1473, was also of some importance; one of his pupils, Nicolaus Burtius of Parma, wrote Musices opusculum (1487), disputing the theories of Ramos de Pareia and affirming those of Guido of Arezzo. Burtius was still guardacore at the cathedral in 1518.
In the mid-16th century, when the Farnese family created a political stability that Parma had previously lacked, cultural development became more significant and continuous. Music, which played an increasingly conspicuous and clearly defined role in this period, was fostered by three important cappelle: at the cathedral, the Chiesa della Madonna della Steccata and the ducal palace. Musicians often served at more than one of these. The cathedral cappella, formally founded in 1564, continued a tradition that had been established by such Italian musicians as Archangelo da Correggio (primicerio in 1479) and by such foreigners as the Flemish Guglielmo Dillen. Musicians who worked there in the 17th century include Giacinto Merulo (nephew of Claudio Merulo), G.B. Chinelli, M. Dionigi, Marco Marazzoli (‘dell’Arpa’) and Giorgio Martinelli.
The Steccata cappella was established in 1528, the same year as the church. Its greatest period was under Giovanni Maria Lanfranco, maestro from 1540 until his death in 1545. Other 16th-century maestri included Stefano Alessandrini, Pietro Pontio, who was equally famous as composer and theorist, Raynaldo Caussin, his son Ernold, highly esteemed in his day as a composer, and Gottfried Palmartz, a Flemish organist and composer. The frequent movement of musicians in Parma is exemplified in the career of Claudio Merulo, who was appointed to the court in 1586, to the cathedral as organist in 1587 and to the Steccata as organist from 1591 to 1604; at the Steccata he built for his own use a 4' positive organ, now in Parma Conservatory. 17th-century developments included the cultivation of instrumental music; but even after 1694, when Duke Francesco granted the musicians the freedom to perform at entertainments outside the church, the cappella continued to embellish the major feasts with customary splendour.
The ducal chapel was the central expression of the Farnese family’s love of music in the 16th century. It was founded in 1545, before Pier Luigi Farnese had moved to Parma, and with the engagement of famous singers and players, especially from the Netherlands (Alessandro Farnese was governor of Flanders), it played an increasingly important part in the city’s life. The most distinguished figures were Claudio Merulo and Cipriano de Rore. Rore was at Parma from 1561 to 1563 and from November 1564 until his death in December 1565; both he and Merulo were buried in the cathedral. Three other Flemish musicians who worked at the court were Baldoino Blondeau, Josquino Persoens and Jean d’Arras. Their colleagues included G.A. Veggio, Giulio Buonagiunta, Orazio Bassani and Santino Garsi; they acted both as composers and as instrumentalists. 17th-century court maestri di cappella included Francesco Manelli, who held the same post at the Steccata, F.A.M. Pistocchi, B. Sabadini and Francesco Corselli. Performances of music by the most important composers of the day enriched the court’s musical life; among those who dedicated works to the duke were D’India (Il quarto libro dei madrigali a cinque voci), Paolo Quagliati (Il primo libro dei madrigali), Domenico Mazzocchi (La catena d’Adone) and Marco da Gagliano (La Flora).
Although instrumental music was followed attentively by the Farnese family, theatrical works became increasingly important in the 17th century. In 1618–19 Duke Ranuccio I commissioned Gian Battista Aleotti to construct the Teatro Farnese on the first floor of the Palazzo della Pilotta; it opened on 21 December 1628 (see fig.1) with the tourney Mercurio e Marte (libretto by Claudio Achillini, intermedi by Monteverdi), which concluded the festivities to mark the marriage of Odoardo Farnese and Margherita de’ Medici (see Reiner). Operas by Manelli, Sabadini (fig.2) and Leonardo Vinci were performed there. The theatre was closed in 1732 and was almost completely destroyed in 1944; it was later reconstructed, but is not in use. There were also smaller theatres. The theatre at the Collegio dei Nobili was founded by Ranuccio I in 1600; the Teatro della Racchetta in Borgo del Leon d’Oro was administered by the Sanoitale family from 1688 to 1832, when it was closed. The Teatrino della Corte was built in 1689 by Ranuccio II and opened with G.F. Tosi’s L’idea di tutte le perfezioni, performed for the duke’s marriage to Dorothea of Neuburg (1690). The Teatro Ducale (1688, also built by Ranuccio II) assumed greater significance because it was more suitable for opera; it opened with A. Giannettini’s Teseo in Atene (libretto by A. Aureli, settings by F. Galli-Bibiena).
The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 assigned the duchy of Parma to the Infante Philip of Bourbon, second son of Elizabeth Farnese, and during the Bourbon domination arts and letters flourished to such an extent that Parma became known as the ‘Athens of Italy’. This was largely because of the general intendant of the royal household, Guillaume du Tillot, who was responsible for theatrical performances. The royal orchestra was employed on these occasions, and a Regia Scuola di Canto was established in 1769 to serve the Teatro Ducale; the school was directed by F.Z. Poncini, organist at the Steccata cappella. It was during this period that Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, the refined Arcadian poet, and Tommaso Traetta, the southern composer whom Philip had appointed maestro di cappella in 1758, attempted their reform of opera. Their aim was to reconcile French taste and Neapolitan spectacle, and they produced several important works, including Ippolito ed Aricia (1759), I tindaridi and Le feste d’Imeneo. There were also performances of opere buffe by Paisiello to librettos by Goldoni (Le virtuose ridicole, Il negligente and I bagni d’Abano), which marked the beginning of the composer’s fame. Others working at the ducal court during the 18th century were Alessandro Besozzi (ii), Gaspare Ghiretti, Giuseppe Colla, G.F. Fortunati and G.S. Mangot (Rameau’s brother-in-law). In 1792, towards the end of the Bourbon period, Duke Ferdinand named Ferdinando Paer honorary maestro di cappella. Although he stayed only a few years in his native city before embarking on his illustrious career in Vienna, Dresden and Paris, Paer occasionally returned to Parma; a visit in 1809 was notable for the first performance of Agnese at the Teatrino in the Villa Douglas-Scotti.
In 1815 political events took Napoleon’s second wife, Marie-Louise of Austria to Parma, and a new period of musical growth began. She instigated the Scuola Canto Corale at the Ospizio delle Arti, which later also provided instrumental tuition and formed the basis of the present conservatory (the Conservatorio di Musica A. Boito). The court orchestra, directed from 1835 to 1840 by Paganini, was also founded at her behest (1816). In 1821, feeling that the Teatro Ducale was no longer adequate, she commissioned the architect Nicola Bettoli to construct a new theatre; it opened in 1829 with Bellini’s Zaira, a success which created bitter controversy. In a century when opera provided the most direct and widespread expression of popular involvement in the aesthetic and political ideals of the day, the new Teatro Ducale, after 1849 called the Teatro Regio, became the centre of Parma musical life. It staged opera performances of the highest calibre from 1829 to 1873 and remains an important centre of operatic activity. Besides Verdi, who was brought up near Parma, many notable composers worked there in the 19th century, among them Ferdinando Orlandi, Ferdinando Melchiorri, G.C. Ferrarini, Giovanni Rossi (ii), Gualtiero Sanelli, Ferdinando Provesi and Emilio Usiglio. Parma also produced such important conductors as Manlio and Gaetano Bavagnoli, Giovanni Bolzoni, Cleofonte Campanini, Giuseppe del Campo and Toscanini. Directors of the conservatory included Ferrarini, Giusto Dacci, Arrigo Boito, Giovanni Tebaldini, Guglielmo Zuelli and Luigi Trecate. The most important 20th-century composer from Parma was Ildebrando Pizzetti.
The music section of the Palatine library comprises some 100,000 printed books and 500 manuscripts, of which the most precious are the treatises of Aaron, Vicentino and Zarlino, and over 400 sonatas by D. Scarlatti. The collection of about 700 volumes and 150 handbills from the house of Bourbon and the music library of Marie-Louise is an invaluable source of information, especially about early 19th-century works for the theatre.
In 1963, under the auspices of UNESCO and the Italian ministry of education, the Istituto di Studi Verdiani was established at Parma; by its publications and research it has given the study of Verdi’s works a new historical and musicological basis. Since 1989 a Verdi Festival has been held annually in September and October.
GroveO (G.P. Minardi) [incl. further bibliography]
G. Negri: Cronologia del Nuovo teatro ducale di Parma (Parma, 1839)
P.E. Ferrari: Spettacoli drammatico-musicali e coreografici in Parma dal 1628 al 1883 (Parma, 1884)
G. Dacci: Cenni storici e stilistici intorno alla Reale Scuola di Musica in Parma (Parma, 1888)
L. Balestrieri: Feste e spettacoli alla corte dei Farnesi: contributo alla storia del melodramma (Parma, 1909)
G. Lombardi: Il Teatro farnesiano in Parma: note a appunti con documenti (Parma, 1909)
C. Alcari: Cinquant’anni di vita del Teatro Reinach di Parma (1871–1921) (Parma, 1921)
C. Alcari: Il Teatro regio di Parma nella sua storia dal 1883 al 1929 (Parma, 1929)
N. Pelicelli: ‘Musicisti in Parma’, NA, viii (1931), 132–42, 196–215, 278–90; ix (1932), 41–52, 112–29, 217–46; x (1933), 32–43, 116–26, 233–48, 314–25; xi (1934), 29–57, 248–81; xii (1935), 82–92, 317–42 [series covering 15th–19th centuries]
G. Drei: L’archivio di stato di Parma (Rome, 1941)
M. Ferrarini: Parma musicale ottocentesca (Parma, 1946)
M. Corradi Cervi: Cronologia del Teatro regio di Parma (1928–1948) (Parma, 1955)
L. Parigi: ‘Una “schola cantorum” quattro-cinquecentesca nel duomo di Parma’, RaM, xxv (1955), 118–27
L. Gambara: Il Conservatorio di musica ‘A. Boito’ di Parma (Parma, 1958)
M. Medici: ‘Osservazioni sulla biblioteca musicale di Parma’, Aurea Parma, xlviii (1964), 119–65
S. Reiner: ‘Preparations in Parma: 1618, 1627–8’, MR, xxv (1964), 273–301
I. Allodi, ed.: I teatri di Parma dal Farnese al Regio (Milan, 1969)
V. Cervetti, C. del Monte and V. Segreto, eds.: Teatro regio: cronologia degli spettacoli lirici (Parma, 1979–82)
M.G. Borazzo: Musica, scenotecnica, illusione nel grande apparato farnesiano dal 1628 a Parma (diss., U. of Parma, 1982)
N. Albarosa and R. Di Benedetto, eds.: Musica e spettacolo a Parma nel Settecento (Parma, 1984)
C. Gallico: Le capitali della musica, Parma (Milan, 1985)
L. Allegri and R. Di Benedetto, eds.: La Parma in festa: spettacolarità e teatro nel ducato di Parma nel Settecento (Modena, 1987)
P. Cirani: Musica e spettacolo a Colorno tra XVI e XIX secolo (Parma, 1995)
M. Cadossi: La vita musicale a Parma nel primo decennio del Novecento (diss., U. of Parma, 1995)
GIAN PAOLO MINARDI
