Entre o modelo italiano e o drama romântico - Os compositores portugueses de meados do século XIX e a ópera

Abstract

From a musical viewpoint nineteenth­-century Portugal, especially during its first half, is characterized by the supremacy of the Italian vocal tradition inherited from the previous century. Between the thirties and the fifties, as a fixed repertoire began to assert itself, the S. Carlos in Lisbon attempted to present a few operas written on purpose for the theatre. For this it resorted to the hired maestros, preferably the foreign ones - such as Francesco Schira, Pietro A Coppola, etc. - who had proved their worth. Portuguese composers active in this period, such as António Luís Miró, Manuel Inocêncio dos Santos or Francisco Xavier Migone, some of whom also worked in the theatre, were not required to compose operas, but they did it on occasion. This article attempts to analyse the motivations and the way in which these composers wrote operas, of which very few scores survive, while also studying the conditions in which the S. Carlos produced them.