Francesco Tortoli (or Tortolj) (1790 – 20 May 1824) was an Italian scenographer, active in Naples from 1808 at the city's principal theatres—Teatro San Carlo, Teatro del Fondo and Teatro dei Fiorentini. He was the creator of sets for numerous productions including those for the world premieres of Rossini's La gazzetta, Otello, Armida, Mosè in Egitto, and La donna del lago. Tortoli was born in Florence and died in Naples of cholera at the age of 35.
Life and career
Born in Florence in 1790,[1] Tortoli was the nephew and student of Antonio Niccolini, a Tuscan architect who later had a substantial career in Naples. Niccolini rebuilt the interior of the Teatro San Carlo after it burned down in 1816 and was also the theatre's chief scenographer. Tortoli was active as a scenery painter under the direction of Niccolini by 1808 when he worked on the sets for the first performance of Antonio Sacchini's Edipo a Colono at the Teatro San Carlo.[2]
The Teatro San Carlo, rebuilt after the fire of 1816
By the time Rossini arrived in Naples in the summer of 1815, Niccolini, at the height of his prestige and over-committed on multiple projects, was getting ready to concede the titular post of the San Carlo's chief scenographer to Tortoli.[3] After the San Carlo had been destroyed by fire in February 1816, opera productions were held in other Neapolitan theatres during the rebuilding period. Tortoli was the scenographer for the premieres of Rossini's La gazzetta (Teatro dei Fiorentini, 26 September 1816) and Otello (Teatro del Fondo, 4 December 1816).[2] When the newly rebuilt San Carlo was inaugurated on 12 January 1817, Tortoli was one of the scenographers for the gala performance of Simone Mayr's Il sogno di Partenope. By February of that year, when he designed the production of Carlo Saccenti's Aganadeca, Tortoli was the titular scenographer at the San Carlo, a post he would hold until his death, although Niccolini continued to provide overall artistic supervision of the productions there.[4]
When the impresario Domenico Barbaja was nearing the end of his management of the Neapolitan royal theatres, Tortoli also had the authority to sign contracts on the theatres' behalf. Shortly after the success of Donizetti's opera L'ajo nell'imbarazzo in 1824, Donizetti signed a contract with Tortoli to adapt the work for Naples as Don Gregorio, although it was not staged there until 1826.[5] Both Barbaja and Tortoli had found themselves under suspicion in February 1824 after a fire broke out beneath the stage. While it was quickly put out, suspicion arose because Barbaja's management contract was about to run out (and with it, a loss of several forms of revenue). With the discovery of accounting irregularities on Barbaja's part, it was felt that the intendant had deliberately set fire to the opera house. Also accused as being part of the plot were Scipione Cerrone (the theatre's fireworks expert) and Luigi Corazza (the head of stage machinery). Barbaja was placed under house arrest, but Tortoli was incarcerated in the Santa Maria Apparente prison where he contracted cholera. On the request of Niccolini, he was taken under guard from the prison to the Barbaja's villa in Mergellina on the Neapolitan coast where he died on 20 May 1824.[6][7] A hearing two months later cleared both men for lack of evidence.[8]
World premiere productions
World premieres for which Tortoli was the scenographer include:[9]
Operas
Rossini, La gazzetta, Teatro dei Fiorentini, 26 September 1816
Rossini, Otello, Teatro del Fondo, 4 December 1816
Mayr, Mennone e Zemira, Teatro San Carlo, 2 March 1817
Rossini, Armida Teatro San Carlo, 1 November 1817
Morlacchi, Boadicea, Teatro San Carlo, 13 January 1818
Rossini, Mosè in Egitto, Teatro San Carlo, 5 March 1818
Domenico Tritto, Il trionfo di Trajano, Teatro San Carlo, 30 May 1818
Carafa, Berenice in Siria, Teatro San Carlo, 29 July 1818
Rossini, La donna del lago, Teatro San Carlo, 24 September 1819
Raimondi, Ciro in Babilonia, Teatro San Carlo, 19 March 1820
Luigi Carlini, Solimano secondo ovvero Le tre sultane, Teatro San Carlo, 30 May 1820
Mercadante, Anacreonte in Samo, Teatro San Carlo, 1 August 1820
Rossini, Maometto II, Teatro San Carlo, 3 December 1820
Luigi Carlini, Adelaide di Baviera, Teatro San Carlo, 12 January 1821
Generali, Elena ed Olfredo, Teatro San Carlo, 9 August 1821
Francesco Sampieri, Valmiro e Zaida, Teatro San Carlo, 26 September 1821
Generali, La sposa indiana, Teatro San Carlo, 12 January 1822
Rossini, Zelmira, Teatro San Carlo, 16 February 1822
Mayr, Atalia, Teatro San Carlo, 10 March 1822
Generali, Argene e Alsindo, Teatro San Carlo, 30 May 1822
Pavesi, Ines d'Almeida, Teatro San Carlo, 11 December 1822
Mercadante, Gli Sciti, Teatro San Carlo, 18 March 1823
Donizetti, Aristea, Teatro San Carlo, 30 May 1823
Donizetti, Alfredo il Grande, Teatro San Carlo, 2 July 1823
Raimondi, Argia, Teatro San Carlo, 6 July 1823
Sapienza, Rodrigo, Teatro San Carlo, 28 August 1823
Mercadante, Costanzo ed Almeriska, Teatro San Carlo, 22 November 1823
Raimondi, Le nozze dei sanniti, Teatro San Carlo, 24 February 1824
Ballets
Wenzel Robert von Gallenberg. Atalanta ed Ippomene (choreography by Salvatore Taglioni), Teatro San Carlo, 30 May 1817
Mercadante, Il servo balordo (choreography by Salvatore Taglioni), Teatro San Carlo, 1 February 1818
References
Notes
Mancini and Ragni p. 102
Casaglia
Bucarelli p. 294
Casaglia; Bucarelli p. 294
Ashbrook p. 31 and note 72 p. 606
Ragghianti p. xcii
According to Mancini and Ragni p. 89, Tortoli died in the prison. Original Italian :"Coinvolto nella vicenda assieme a Domenico Barbaja, all'esperto di fuochi artificiali Scipione Cerrone e al capo macchinista Luigi Corazza, il Tortolj venne rinchiuso nel carcere di Santa Maria Apparente dove morì di colera il 20 maggio di quello stesso anno."
Eisenbeiss p.129
Unless otherwise indicated, all entries are sourced from Casaglia.
Sources
Ashbrook, William (1983). Donizetti and His Operas. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521276632
Bucarelli, Mauro (1992). Rossini. Electa (Italian)
Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Francesco Tortolj". Almanacco Amadeus (Italian).
Eisenbeiss, Philip (2013), Bel Canto Bully: The Life of the Legendary Opera Impresario Domenico Barbaja. London: Haus Publishing. ISBN 1908323256
Mancini, Franco; Sergio Ragni (1997), "La scenografia sancarliana all'epoca di Donizetti", in Donizetti e I teatri napoletani. Naples: Elektra. (Italian)
Ragghianti, Carlo Ludovico (ed.) (1969). Critica d'arte, Vol. 16, Issues 101-108. Vallechhi (Italian)
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