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Salvatore Viganò, born in Naples on 25 March 1769, was first a dancer and later a choreographer. He was born into an artistic family: his father, Onorato, was a dancing master and choreographer; his mother, Maria Teresa Boccherini, herself a dancer, was the sister of the celebrated Luigi Boccherini, and Salvatore studied composition with his uncle.
His debut as a dancer, in a female role, took place in Rome. Shortly thereafter Viganò went to Spain, engaged for the festivities in honour of Charles IV in Madrid (1788), where he met and married the Spanish dancer Maria Medina.
Subsequently, the couple travelled to England with the famous choreographer J. Dauberval, from whom Viganò learned the Noverrian theories and the art of choreography. For a short time he performed at the Paris Opéra (1789), then in Bordeaux and in Venice (1790), where the public was especially enthusiastic about the performances of his wife, who wore very transparent and provocative costumes. This caused an initial rift in the couple, who nevertheless continued to perform together from 1795 to 1799 in Prague, Dresden, Berlin, and Hamburg. In 1799, however, the definitive break occurred, after which Viganò returned to Vienna and became maître de ballet of the theatre until 1803.
In Vienna he created the choreography for many celebrated ballets for the Hoftheater, above all the one considered his masterpiece, Le creature di Prometeo, first performed at the Burgtheater on 28 March 1801. While Beethoven composed the music, Viganò prepared the entire choreography and even danced at the premiere. Although Beethoven was not very satisfied with his contribution, the work was performed no fewer than 14 times in 1801 and 13 times the following year.
Viganò returned to Italy in 1804; his subsequent productions in Milan, Venice, Rome, and Padua marked a development in his approach to the danced drama, based on expressivity closely linked to musical rhythm. He settled permanently in Milan in 1812, when he abandoned dancing in order to devote himself entirely to choreography.
Until his death, which occurred in Milan on 10 August 1821, he held the position of maître at the Teatro alla Scala, staging many of his works with great success.
Creator of the so‑called coreodramma (danced drama, a fusion of dance and dramatic acting, in which ample space is given to the performance of the corps de ballet and less to solos or pas de deux), he was the first to perceive the dramatic potential of the choreutic art.
Viganò reached the summit of his art with Prometeo (a reworking of Le creature di Prometeo) in 1813, at La Scala in Milan. He achieved this above all thanks to the quality of the spectacle, determined by the excellent interpretation of the dancers, by the choice of the music—some of which was composed by himself—and by the grand scenic apparatus of neoclassical tendency. The critics, unanimously, recognized in this “great ballet” the qualities of a masterpiece: Stendhal, Foscolo, and Porta all praised it. With his final coreodramma, I Titani (1819), Viganò reached the highest peaks in spectacular staging, which foreshadowed the oncoming Romantic movement.
As regards the arranger, we report from the Enciclopedia Treccani: BRAMBILLA, Paolo. — Born in Milan in 1786, he completed his musical studies at the conservatory of Naples. He devoted himself to composition, writing operas and numerous ballets, for which he often availed himself of the collaboration of the choreographer S. Viganò, who exercised a decisive influence on his style. As an opera composer, he made his debut with L’apparenza inganna o sia il portantino, composed to a libretto by F. Marconi and performed at the Teatro Sociale of Varese in 1811. This was followed by the operas Il barone burlato, performed at the Teatro Re of Milan in 1816; L’idolo birmanno ossia il trionfo del bel sesso, to a libretto by B. Maselli, given in Verona in 1817; and, the best of all, Il carnevale di Venezia, to a libretto by G. Canestrari, performed in Turin in 1819, revived under the title I viaggiatori burlati at the Teatro S. Benedetto of Venice in the spring of 1820 and, under its original title, in Verona in 1822. In addition to the music—original, lively, and well orchestrated—for the ballets staged at the Teatro alla Scala and for the “divertimenti” of the Casino dei nobili and the Società del giardino of Milan, Brambilla also composed sacred music, achieving respectable success in this field as well. He died in Milan in 1838.
Of the numerous ballets, all performed at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan, the following are to be remembered, with choreography by S. Viganò: Otello (6 February 1818); Cimene (Carnival 1820), with music also by Beethoven, W. R. von Gallenberg, P. Lichtenthal, and Rossini; Alessandro nelle Indie (24 February 1820); and Giovanna d’Arco (3 March 1821). Of the ballets Acbar gran Mogol (26 December 1818), Saffo (13 February 1819), Capriccio e buon cuore (23 February 1819), Gabriella di Vergy (24 August 1822), in collaboration with P. Romani, and Il trionfo dell’amor filiale, the choreography was by F. Gioia; other choreographers were F. Clerici for Maometto (11 June 1822), S. Taglioni for Bianca di Messina (6 November 1824) and for Paria (16 December 1827), L. Henry for Arminio (19 February 1828) and for Camma (26 December 1832), and A. Monticini for the ballets written in collaboration with Donizetti, Sofia di Moscovia and Il tamburo magico, both performed at the Teatro Ducale of Parma (25 January and 10 February 1835).
Fétis also notes the following chamber works composed by Brambilla and printed in Vienna (n.d.) by Artaria: Sei ariette italiane, Opus I; Romanze per canto e pianoforte, Opus II, III, IV, VI, and VII; and 5 Romanze con accompagnamento di pianoforte, Opus IX. According to Eitner, however, these pieces should be attributed to a certain Louis Brambilla, a musician perhaps of the eighteenth century, who lived in Vienna and whom he considers also the author of the mezzo‑soprano cavatina Che il mio nume, il mio diletto, preserved in manuscript at the Library of the Liceo Musicale of Bologna. Among Brambilla’s sacred music, noteworthy is a Tantum ergo for tenor solo with string orchestra and wind instruments, preserved in manuscript in the Archive of the Cathedral of Piacenza.
Of his five children—Amalia, Emilia, Erminia, Annibale, and Ulisse—the most celebrated was Amalia, born in Milan perhaps around 1815. A pupil of her father and of F. Romani, she began to perform in male attire at the age of thirteen, singing in churches under her father’s direction. Having later established herself as an opera singer in numerous Italian and foreign theatres, she gained renown for her vocal qualities and interpretative talent, distinguishing herself both in works of the lighter genre and in those of dramatic character. Among her most celebrated interpretations were those of Lucia, Norma, and Maria Padilla. She retired from the stage in 1842. From her marriage to the tenor G. B. Verger was born a son, Napoleone, who followed in his parents’ footsteps and became a successful baritone. Widowed, she remarried Count A. Lucchesi Palli of the Princes of Campofranco. Brambilla died in Castellammare di Stabia in August 1880.
Of the other members of the family only fragmentary information has come down to us. Emilia was a mediocre singer and retired from the stage in 1842. Erminia possessed a fine mezzo‑soprano voice and sang successfully in many Italian theatres; La Gazzetta privilegiata di Milano of 9 December 1843 (p. 1425) recalls her as an applauded interpreter at the Teatro degli Arrischiati of Florence in La Figlia del reggimento; she later sang in Milan and in Palermo (1847). Annibale was a second‑rank tenor: he is mentioned in the programmes of the performances given at the Court Theatre of Modena in the autumn of 1838 as interpreter of the role of Roberto Devereux in Donizetti’s opera of the same name; in 1839 he sang in Milan, in Piacenza, and in Rome; he was then in Barcelona for four years. Ulisse had a bass voice and sang in small Italian theatres before going to Spain, where he was active at the Teatro di Valenza.
Sources and Bibliography: G. Masutto, I maestri di musica ital. del sec. XIX, Venice 1882, p. 29; P. E. Ferrari, Spettacoli drammatico-musicali e coreogr. in Parma dall’anno 1628 all’anno 1883, Parma 1884, p. 133; G. Gaspari, Catalogo della Bibl. del Liceo musicale di Bologna, III, Bologna 1893, p. 293; V. Tardini, I teatri di Modena, II, Modena 1899, pp. 571 ff. (for Annibale); C. Gatti, Il Teatro alla Scala nella storia e nell’arte, II, Milan 1964, pp. 172–177, 180, 182; F. Bussi, Piacenza. Arch. del duomo. Catalogo del fondo musicale, Milan 1967, p. 125; F. Regli, Diz. biografico…, Turin 1860, p. 96; F. J. Fétis, Biographie univ. des musiciens, II, Paris 1861, pp. 53 ff.; Suppl., ibid. 1881, p. 122; R. Eitner, Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker, II, p. 170; C. Schmidl, Diz. univ. dei musicisti, I, pp. 240 ff.; Suppl., p. 122; Encicl. dello Spett., II, col. 989; Enc. della Musica Ricordi, I, Milan 1963, p. 313.
The Dance and Waltz in the “Ballo degli Ussiti” are part of the project “Research Becomes Art”
A New Life for the Unknown Works of Ludwig van Beethoven: An Artistic Exploration by pianista maestro Sebastiano Mazzoleni
As regards these pieces reduced for piano, the arranger has already been discussed. The first piece is by the choreographer himself, Salvatore Viganò. Composing music to be added to ballets already written was a very frequent practice, and often with debatable results. To Beethoven is entrusted the second piece, namely the “Danza tra le pastorelle e gli Ussiti.” The music is taken from the third movement, Lustiges Beisammensein der Landleute (“Joyous gathering of country folk”), of the Sixth Symphony, called the Pastorale, Opus 68.
The third piece by Maestro Generali is of particular interest: a waltz (here spelled Valtz) taken from the opera giocosa Il servo padrone (with more than one echo of the more famous Serva padrona by Pergolesi, composed eighty years earlier), whose presentation read: “Il servo padrone: dramma giocoso per musica in due atti: da rappresentarsi nell’I. e R. teatro degl’Intrepidi nella primavera dell’anno 1819: sotto la protezione di Sua A.I. e R. Ferdinando III, gran‑duca di Toscana.”
Pietro Generali (Rome, 23 October 1773 – Novara, 8 November 1832) was an extremely prolific composer; for those who wish to understand and explore his vast output, we refer to the page dedicated to the musician on Wikipedia: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Generali_(composer)
To conclude, a brief note on the Ussites (or Hussites), who inspire this ballet: they were the followers of the Bohemian religious reformer J. Hus (born in Husinec, probably around 1369, and died in Constance in 1415). Ordained a priest, he became a preacher in Prague, demonstrating wide philosophical‑theological learning. The themes of his invectives were the accusation of corruption within the clergy and the need for a reform of the moral life of both laity and ecclesiastics. A supporter of the doctrines of J. Wycliffe, he was excommunicated in 1410 and forced to leave Prague; condemned by the council as a heretic for the theses upheld in his writings, he was burned at the stake in 1415.
Hus’s doctrines were taken up by the Czech national movement, which was called Hussitism. After his execution, his followers rose up in Bohemia and opposed the succession to the throne of Emperor Sigismund (1419). They divided into Utraquists (moderates) and Taborites (radicals). The latter were defeated by the former in the battle of Lipany (1434); in 1436 the Utraquists reached an agreement with the Church of Rome (permission to establish a Utraquist Church in Bohemia).
