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Beethoven and Viganò – a Neoclassical Partnership: “Raccolta Di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Forte Piano del Ballo Prometeo”

Inventato e posto sulle scene del R° Teatro alla Scala dal Signor Salvatore Viganò

The texts and documents on this page are by Luigi Bellofatto.

The musical examples on this page are by Graziano Denini.

On 22 May 1813 Salvatore Viganò staged the ballet Prometheus, regarded by critics as his masterpiece. Viganò—dancer, choreographer, and composer among the foremost of the century—had, in 1801, at the Court Theatre in Vienna, mounted the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus (Opus 43), for which Beethoven had composed an Overture and sixteen numbers.

Although Beethoven was not particularly satisfied with Viganò’s contribution (he wrote as much to the publisher Hoffmeister on 22 April 1801: “the choreographer has not fulfilled his task in the best manner”), nevertheless The Creatures of Prometheus was performed no fewer than 14 times in 1801 and 13 times the following year.

Viganò moved to Italy in 1804, and, through stays in various cities, matured his new idea of ballet as danced drama; and according to this conception, in 1813, when he had by then secured his position at La Scala, he returned to the subject of Prometheus, radically altering its episodes in accordance with the plot of an epic group‑drama inspired by Aeschylus’ tragedy and by the poem of the same name by Vincenzo Monti. The most famous version was the one that premiered at La Scala on 22 May 1813, achieving great public success and arousing the admiration of men of letters and artists such as Appiani, Foscolo, and Stendhal. It is the ballet that marked the beginning of Salvatore Viganò’s full artistic maturity.

Indeed, by reading the plot of the 1801 Viganò–Beethoven ballet and comparing it with that of the 1813 Prometheus, we realize that from an Arcadian fable there had been fashioned a moral spectacle—that is, a sublime and astonishing expression of poetic ideas and dramatic situations, as Ritorni defines it in his book Commentaries on the Life and Choreodramatic Works of Salvatore Viganò (1813). In Ritorni’s ample and meticulous description one can perceive the complete difference in conception from the original myth set to music by Beethoven.

By changing the subject and characters of the work, Beethoven’s music too was for the most part abandoned, and Viganò himself employed various pieces by different artists in order to “compose” its music. In the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (AMZ), No. 26 of 30 June 1813 (pp. 434–436) and No. 31 of 4 August 1813 (pp. 514–519), the names of the musicians are listed: Haydn: the Introduction and Ariel’s aria from The Creation, for the episode of Chaos; the Overture from The Seasons; and a scene from The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross.

And then again Weigl, a piece by Viganò himself, and finally Beethoven. Of Beethoven, as Lichtenthal tells us, there are some of the most beautiful pieces of the first and third acts. In particular, the scene most beloved by the Milanese was that of the falling‑in‑love of Eone and Lino. These characters, as Ritorni observes, are savages who, in the clearing of the chaos, discover love, and in them is awakened pity for Prometeo, collapsed upon the ground.

The success of Prometeo at La Scala led to roughly 18 performances, to its remaining in the repertory for about a year, and the publisher Ricordi issued several pieces reduced for piano under the title: “Raccolta di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Fortepiano del Ballo Prometeo inventato e posto sulle Scene del R°. Teatro alla Scala dal signor Salvatore Viganò.”

As we have said, among these are two numbers taken from the 1801 ballet. Such success aroused an extraordinary enthusiasm, of which Porta himself has transmitted the memory: “Quand per vedè el Prometti tri mes fa e correva alla Scala tutt Milan e vegveevan giò a tropp de là e de scià i forestee de tanti mia lontan.” Immediately there appeared the Lettere Critiche Intorno al Prometeo, Ballo del Sig. Viganò, which reiterated that the strongest point lay in the parts relating to the civilizing process and to the wedding of Lino and Eone.

The year 1813 thus also marks the date of the first Italian edition of Beethoven’s music. It is an important date for Beethoven and for Italy.

Indeed, in the first catalogue that the publisher Ricordi issued the following year, 1814, there appeared, among the “Musiche per il Forte‑Piano,” Beethoven’s name beside that of Weigl for the music of Viganò’s Prometeo. The first Catalogo della musica stampata della nuova calcografia di Giovanni Ricordi, Editore dell’I. e R. Conservatorio di Musica appeared as an attachment to various Ricordi scores of 1814. In the second column of the first page appear the names of Weigl and Beethoven, with the four pieces from Prometeo: Sortita di Eone e Lino, Zuffa de’ selvaggi, Cupido alla fucina di Vulcano, Innamoramento di Eone e Lino. In reality this “Raccolta di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Forte Piano del Ballo Prometeo Inventato e portato sulle scene del R° Teatro alla Scala dal Signor Salvatore Viganò” contains five pieces: the first two are taken from Beethoven’s Le creature di Prometeo, precisely the scene of the first act and No. 5 of the second act.

The six movements are the following:

  1. “Sortita di Eone e Lino ed i selvaggi” (Beethoven, Act I, Scene I, No. 1)
  2. Adagio (Beethoven, Act II, No. 5)
  3. “Zuffa de’ selvaggi” (anonymous)
  4. “Cupido alla fucina di Vulcano” (Joseph Weigl)
  5. “Innamoramento di Eone e Lino” (anonymous)
  6. Cantabile (anonymous)

The German AMZ (Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung) returned several times to the subject of Prometeo, comparing Viganò to a Raphael of the scenic tableau, and extolling—significantly—the pieces of the “great Beethoven” as the most moving. Still in 1813, in the January issue of the same gazette, Lichtenthal speaks of the operatic season at La Scala, during which he had made the acquaintance of a young pupil of Padre Martini named Rossini, who had presented a new opera entitled La pietra del paragone.

In the list (which may be consulted on this page) appears the name of Giuseppe Moller (born in Milan in 1738, violinist in the orchestra of La Scala and friend of the violinist Alessandro Rolla, already encountered as the author of the violin part of the extremely rare transcription for violin and piano of the Opus 101 published by Ricordi, to which the website has devoted an article in WP).

Among the group of composers programmed by Rolla and financed by the host Moller appear Mozart, Beethoven, Winters, Gyrowetz, Méhul, Dalayrac. It was the first time that Beethoven’s name, at least in the printed newspapers, appeared as that of the new composer who had entered the Milanese symphonic programmes.

Beethoven and Viganò – a Neoclassical Partnership: “Raccolta di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Forte Piano del Ballo Prometeo”

Inventato e posto sulle scene del R° Teatro alla Scala dal Signor Salvatore Viganò
The “Marcia d’Ercole” composed by E. Soliva as an introduction to the ballet.

Beethoven and Viganò – a Neoclassical Partnership: “Raccolta di varj e migliori pezzi di musica per Forte Piano del Ballo Prometeo”

Invented and set upon the stage of the Royal Theatre alla Scala by Signor Salvatore Viganò The “Marcia d’Ercole” composed by E. Soliva as an introduction to the ballet.

We thank Yuval Dvoran, researcher and scholar at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, for having pointed out to us this “forgotten” score. In reality there exist two versions: the one shown, published by “Francesco Mantegazza e Vincenzo Fazzino Fabbricatori d’Istrumenti e Negozianti di Musica Corsia de’ Servi,” preserved at the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria of Turin — and we thank the institution for having granted permission for publication.

A further edition was issued by Giovanni Ricordi, “Presso il Negoziante GIO. RICORDI Editore del R.o Conservatorio. Il Medesimo tiene Stamperia, e / Magazzino [sic] di Musica d’ogni genere, nella Contrada di S.a Margherita al N.o 1065,” with the same title (a copy is preserved at the Biblioteca di Ostiglia, which we thank for having sent us the scan). Ricordi was established at No. 1065 of Contrada Ricordi between the years 1812–1816.

It is a piece that was meant to form part of the collection for the Ballo Prometeo, yet this two‑page score bears no plate number and was no longer included. Why?

The matter has been investigated, and several hypotheses are possible; but perhaps the most plausible is that it may have been used as an “ouverture” to the Ballo Prometeo and then subsequently omitted. A further reason may be inferred from the review of the performance of the ballet Prometeo that appeared in Il Corriere Milanese of 13 October 1813, where it is reported that Viganò introduced modifications and removed certain incongruities, taking away “all the majesty from the sublime tableau of the triumphant descent of Hercules, which was one of the best‑conceived and best‑executed parts of the composition.” It is possible that Viganò eliminated it, and therefore it no longer appeared in Ricordi’s reduced piano edition (the one with plate numbers 154, 157, and 165).

Thus one may suppose that the Marcia was included in the first performance and perhaps later removed, and consequently the same occurred with the piano part. Or perhaps Ricordi intended to include it and then did not insert it in the “Raccolta … Pezzi del Prometeo,” published in 1814. This also explains why Ricordi added no PN to the score. The Elenco manoscritti of the Archivio discografico — which lists all works published by Ricordi with year, number of copies, etc. — has also been checked, but no Marcia d’Ercole has been found.

But why two publishers? We contacted the Archivio Ricordi to inquire whether they had further information, but this small score appears neither in the catalogue, nor in the libroni, nor in the mastrini.

Ricordi may simply have resold it, yet it is strange that he printed it without a plate number, although this would not be the only case. If Ricordi had received the plate from Mantegazza and Fazzino, he would have inserted his own number, or would have written “stampata” and not “incisa”; the opposite could also be true — although indeed rather unlikely — namely that he engraved it in order to have it printed by others, and therefore did not assign his own number. The differences in Ricordi’s plate are minimal and chiefly correct some material errors of the other plate.

Francesco Mantegazza, eldest son of Pietro Giovanni (the principal Milanese luthier of the second half of the eighteenth century), was born in Milan on 29 July 1762. He began signing his own instruments in 1787, still working in contrada S. Margherita (probably in his father’s workshop); in 1811 he is found in contrada de’ Meravigli, and in 1823 in contrada de’ Servi. His instruments reflect the characteristics of his father’s; he too followed the Amati model, seeking to imitate that master. The varnish is predominantly brown, rarely reddish, and the sonority very good. Francesco died in Milan on 9 November 1824.

There is a Giovanni Mantegazza who was an engraver for Casa Ricordi from 1830 to 1842 (with renewal in 1836); his contract with the firm is among the documents preserved in the archive, but we have no further information. It is certainly a curious coincidence.

Nothing is known about the Milanese Vincenzo Fazzino or about his collaboration with Mantegazza, nor of any other publications of theirs.

We note that at the Biblioteca di Casale Monferrato there exists a manuscript copy of this piece, probably later than the two Milanese editions.

Further research — and thanks to the assistance of Yuval Dvoran — allows us to confirm that Viganò took the music for the Marcia d’Ercole from the ballet Die Spanier in Peru by Joseph Weigl. In the piano arrangement of Weigl’s ballet (published in Vienna by the k. k. Hof Theater Music Verlag, plate number 64), the number is entitled Einzug der Spanier und der Indianer über die Berge; Soliva’s arrangement differs from the one published in Vienna.

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