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The Political Implications of „Deranging”: Subverting Caesar in Spanish Naples, Cesare in Alessandria (1699)
Abstract
This essay analyzes the previously unrecognized relationship between Cesare in Alessandria (Napoli, 1699), by Francesco Maria Paglia and Giuseppe Aldrovandini, and Giulio Cesare in Egitto, by Francesco Antonio Bussani and Antonio Sartorio (Venetia, 1677). I argue that Paglia and Aldrovandini developed intertextual resonances with the Venetian source that allowed them to “derange” Caesar by consistently reversing his portrayal in parallel scenes. In 1699, Naples was alight with discontent against Spanish occupation, and critiques of imperial Spain were often disguised as critiques of imperial Rome. The opera’s “deranging” of Caesar thus connects to a network of critiques against Spanish rule that were circulating at the time, confirmed by the libretto’s reference to the polemic text “Dell’imperio romano.” Situated in the liminal space between adaptation, arrangement, and the creation of a new work, Cesare in Alessandria offers a window into the political implications of “deranging.”
Keywords:
seventeenth-century Naples, Spanish imperial rule, dramma per musica, adaptation, political role of baroque opera, libretto analysis, Francesco Maria PagliaDetails
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.