Part 3

From 1584 to 1585 the troupe called the _Confidenti_ was in France. Fabrizio di Fornaris gave a pastoral play and then a comedy (_Angelica_), which was first performed impromptu in Italian at the house of the Duke of Joyeuse. The author himself played the rôle of Captain Crocodile, who spoke only Spanish. This new troupe established itself at the Hôtel de Cluny, but it was driven out by the Confraternity of _la Passion_.

In 1588 there was a fresh attempt by the Italians to establish themselves in Paris. On the subject M. Charles Magnin says:

“One may read in a remonstrance addressed to the king on the occasion of the opening of the _Seconds Etats_, at Blois, amongst many other plaints, ‘that the performances of the Italian strangers are a great evil which it is wrong to tolerate.’ Further, a warrant of the 10th of August of this year renews the inhibition to all comedians, whether Italian or French, to give any performance anywhere but at the Hôtel de Bourgogne. Evil times rather than this inhibition compelled the Italian actors to return beyond the Alps. During this sad epoch, indeed, there was no room in France for the blithe frolics of Harlequin, Pantaloon, the Bolognese Doctor, Franca-Trippa, Franceschina, and Captain Spavento. The Sixteen and their adherents were giving very different spectacles to France.”

In 1600 Henry IV., after the peace of Savoy, at the time of his marriage with Mary of Medicis, introduced from Italy a new troupe which, according to some authors, was none other than that of the _Gelosi_, under the direction of Flaminio Scala. They were lodged in the Rue de la Poterie at the Hôtel d’Argent, and were salaried by the king. They came to an arrangement with the comedians at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and played alternately with them in the theatre of the Rue Mauconseil.

The beautiful and famous Isabella Andreini was the queen of this troupe, and her death in 1604 was the signal for its disbandment. Flaminio Scala retired, worn out by twenty-eight years of work, and occupied himself thereafter with the publication of scenarii.

In the beginning of the seventeenth century Italy possessed several companies of comedians: the _Comici Uniti_, a troupe formed in 1583 by Adriano Valerini of deserters from the camp of the _Gelosi_; the _Confidenti_, who were slowly disappearing; the _Gelosi_, whom we have seen disbanded after the death of Isabella, and a new troupe, inheritor of the glory of the _Gelosi_, which was known and applauded for forty-seven years throughout Europe under the name of the _Comici Fedeli_ (the faithful comedians). Giovanni Battista Andreini, the son of Isabella, assumed in 1605 the direction of this company, which, several times renewed, did not disband until 1652. Its principal actors were: Gian-Paolo Fabri, who had already performed under the name of Flaminio in the troupe of the _Uniti_; Nicolò Barbieri, known by the name of Beltrame, who became in 1625 joint director of the troupe with G. B. Andreini; Virginia Ramponi, married to G. B. Andreini in 1601, and known by the name of Florinda; Girolamo Gavarini of Ferrara, known by the name of Captain Rhinoceros (Capitan Rinoceronte); Margarita Luciani, his wife; Lidia, an actress of great merit, who married G. B. Andreini in 1635, after the death of Virginia Ramponi; and Eularia Coris.

In 1613, Mary of Medicis summoned to Paris the troupe of the _Fedeli_, under the direction of G. B. Andreini, who had just dedicated his religious piece _L’Adamo_ to the queen. He remained there until 1618, presenting the old repertory of the _Gelosi_ and playing now at Court and now in the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne by arrangement with the French comedians.

In 1621 Andreini was again called to Paris and he remained there, according to M. Ch. Magnin, “until the end of carnival of 1623, having, during these two years, performed to great applause and published five or six pieces of his own in Paris. After a short journey beyond the Alps, he comes yet again to spend the year 1624 and the beginning of 1625 in Paris.”

The performances given by his various troupes consisted of comedies, both improvised and memorised, tragedies, and plays of the comic opera and pastoral variety. The dialects of Venice, Naples, Bergamo or Genoa, besides French, German and Castilian, were sometimes employed, in certain pieces of his, such as _La Ferinda_. It is fairly certain that the French public cannot have understood them to any great extent, and the author himself would have to compensate them on the morrow of such performances by giving them such works as _La Centaura_ (dedicated to Mary of Medicis).

This equestrian piece presented an entire family of centaurs, father, mother, son and daughter. In the first act they prance in a comedy, in the second they graze happily in a pastoral and in the third they gallop and rear in a tragedy. Numerous and picturesquely bizarre adventures pivot about the father, the son and the mother centaurs, in the course of their combat to recover the crown of the island of Cyprus. Despairing of success in their design, they resolutely kill themselves. This accomplished, the offer of that crown so ardently desired is made to them. The little female centaur, an orphan, sees herself compelled to ascend the throne, which she does at the gallop.

The influence of these Italian comedies, farces and buffooneries, the picturesqueness of the costumes, the impromptu of this class of play, soon begat in France comedians and buffoons who sometimes even surpassed their models. Whilst borrowing the mask, the mantle and the liveries of the Italians, the French comedians very quickly created in the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne—fallen into discredit on account of the tiresome pieces presented there—characters, half-French, half-Italian, full of originality, wit and mirth, such as Gros-Guillaume, Turlupin, Gaultier-Garguille, Guillot-Gorju and Jodelet, whilst from 1618 to 1625 Tabarin performed in the Place Dauphine, in company with Mondor, his farces in Italian, in Spanish or in French according to the types presented. This was a field in which Molière had the ability to glean as well as in that of the Italian comedy.

In 1639 Louis XIII. summoned from Italy a troupe of players, half singers, half improvisers, which remained but a little while in France. It included the celebrated Tiberio Fiurelli, who went by the name of Scaramouche. These short visits were several times repeated, as we gather from the works of Andreini and Beltrame. They tell us that these troupes of Italian comedians were not settled in Paris. They were sent for and the expenses of their journeys were defrayed; they remained in Paris or attached to the Court for as long as they afforded entertainment, and, after some years, they were given a sum sufficient to meet the expenses of their return journey.

A company summoned to Paris in 1645 by Cardinal Mazarin played at the Petit-Bourbon Theatre. It was made up of Pantaloon, Harlequin, Mezzetin, Trivelino, Isabelle, Columbine, the Doctor, Scaramouche, Aurelia, Gabriella Locatelli, Giulia Gabrielli, and Margarita Bartolazzi.

Here is the title of a piece performed in this theatre:

“Explanation of the scenery and action of the piece entitled _La Folle Supposée_ (_La Finta Pazza_), the work of the celebrated Giulio Strozzi, most illustrious Italian poet, to be performed by the grand royal troupe of Italian comedians, entertained by his Majesty at the Petit-Bourbon, by command of the Queen Mother of the Very Christian King [Louis XIV.] printed in Paris, November 1645.

“Flore will be played by the graceful and pretty _Louise Gabrielle Locatelli_, named Lucile, who by her vivacity will prove herself a true light of harmony....

“Thétis will be played by the signora _Giulia Gabrielli_, named Diane, who will marvellously portray her choler and her love.

“The prologue of this piece will be spoken by the very excellent _Marguerite Bartolazzi_, whose voice is so ravishing that it is impossible worthily to praise it.”

Further on we read on the subject of another scene:

“_Note_: This scene will be entirely without music, but so admirably performed that the harmonies dispensed with will not be missed.

“The first act of the piece concludes with a ballet by four bears and four apes, performing a very amusing dance to the sound of little drums.

“And ostriches will appear and in the course of lowering their necks to drink at a fountain will perform a dance.”

Here is the argument of the eighth and last scene of the third act:

“Nicomedes recognises Pyrrhus for his grandson, and meanwhile there arrives an Indian, who, having made his bow to the king, announces that among the merchandise aboard his ship which the tempest has driven into port, there are five parrots, of which he makes offer, causing them to be brought on in a cage.

“At the same time four Indians go through a Moorish dance; finally the parrots take flight from the hands of their owners and leave these in despair at the loss; after which the piece concludes and all take ship for the war in Troy.”

In 1653 a new troupe appeared, in which again we find some actors who had already visited France several times, such as Tiberio Fiurelli (Scaramouche), Locatelli (Trivelino), and Brigida Bianchi (Aurelia). This troupe was the first to settle definitely in Paris. The Petit-Bourbon Theatre was assigned to them, as well as to the troupe of Spanish comedians who, from 1650 to 1672, played concurrently with the Italians.

The following is an announcement by Loret, who published his letters in verse every Saturday:—

_The Historic Muse of Loret, for the 10th August 1653_

Une troupe de gens comiques. “Venus des climats italiques. Dimanche dernier, tout de bon. Firent dans le Petit-Bourbon. L’ouverture de leur théâtre Par un sujet assez folâtre. Où l’archiplaisant Trivelin, Qui n’a pas le nez aquilin. Fit et dit tout plein de folies Qui semblèrent assez jolies. Au rapport de certains témoins. Scaramouche n’en fit pas moins. Mais pour enchanter les oreilles, Pâmer, pleurer, faire merveilles, Mademoiselle Béatrix Emporta ce jour-là le prix.”

N. Turi (of Modena) played the parts of Pantaloon; Angelo-Agostino-Constantino Lolli (of Bologna) the parts of Doctor Baloardo; Marco Romagnesi, under the name of Orazio, the parts of first lover; Turi the son, under the name of Virginio, those of second lover; Beatrice Adami, under the name of Diamantina, the parts of soubrette; Jean Doucet appeared in the character of a zany; Tiberio Fiurelli in that of Scaramouche; Brigida Bianchi played the parts of leading lady or _amoureuse_ under the name of Aurelia, and Domenico Locatelli was seen as Trivelino.

The performances were held between two and five o’clock in the afternoon, the choice of hour being governed by consideration of the mud and thieves encumbering the badly lighted streets of Paris after dark.

This troupe left the Petit-Bourbon in 1660 and found accommodation, by order of the king, together with Molière’s company, at the theatre of the Palais-Royal. Performances were given on alternate days and the company, reinforced by several other actors and actresses from Italy, was made up as follows:—

VALERIO, OTTAVIO, Andrea Zanotti. EULARIA, Orsola Corteze, wife of Domenico. DIAMANTINA, Patricia Adami, wife of Angelo Lolli. HARLEQUIN, Giuseppe-Domenico Biancolelli, called _Domenico_. CINTHIO, Marco-Antonio Romagnesi. SCARAMOUCHE, Tiberio Fiurelli. FLAUTINO, Giovanni Gherardi (1675). MEZZETINO, Angelo Constantini (1682). COLUMBINE, Catarina Biancolelli, daughter of Domenico. PIERROT, Giuseppe Giaratone (1684). PASQUARIELLO, Giuseppe Tortoretti (1685). AURELIO, Bartolomeo Ranieri (1685). MARINETTA, Angelica Toscano, wife of Tortoretti. PULCINELLA, Michel-Angelo da Fracassano (1685). GRADELINO, Constantino Constantini (1687). OTTAVIO, Giovanni-Battista Constantini (1687). HARLEQUIN, Evaristo Gherardi. LEANDRO, Charles-Virgile Romagnesi de Belmont. SPINETTA, BRIGHELLA and the CAPTAIN, whose real names are not known. LA CANTATRICE, Elisabeth Danneret, called _Babet_.

In 1697 the troupe was expelled from Paris, and the theatre closed as the result of a comedy (_La Fausse Prude_) in which Constantini, who filled the rôle of Harlequin, permitted himself satirical allusions to Madame de Maintenon.

Under the designation of _Théâtres de la Foire_ were comprised, down to the end of the eighteenth century, the performance halls established on the sites of the markets of Saint-Germain and Saint-Laurent, which had begun their existence with rope dancers, trained dogs, etc. It was then that the actors of the forain theatres appropriated the Italian repertory, establishing themselves upon that suspension of privileges and upon the exemptions granted to the traders of the fairs of Saint-Germain and Saint-Laurent.

But the actors of the Comédie-Française, anxious to secure the maintenance of their rights, obtained from M. de la Reynie, the Lieutenant of Police, a sentence including “prohibition to all excepting the French comedians to perform in comedy or farce in the city of Paris under pain of fine.”

The forain[2] players appealed against this sentence, and continued their performances pending judgment. There was renewed opposition from the French comedians. M. de la Reynie again forbade the forain players to perform “any spectacle in which there is dialogue.”

Obedient to this mandate they declared that they would perform no more dialogues, and two or three days later they announced: _Scaramouche and the Scrupulous Pedant_, a comedy in three acts entirely in _monologues_. When a comedian had spoken his part he withdrew to the wings, and he who was to deliver the answer came to take his place to disappear again in his turn and make room for the first one. In this fashion seven actors took part in this comedy.

Derided by the public, and exasperated by the forain players, the actors of the Comédie-Française and the magistrates, accompanied by several squads of the watch, by forty archers, two parliamentary ushers and two constables, invaded the forain theatres on the 20th February 1709, destroying the booths, the benches and the scenery, after which they withdrew extremely proud of having made an end of these recalcitrant folk.

But the forain players did not account themselves beaten. No sooner had the archers departed than, with the aid of the public, they restored the damage in a few hours, and on the morrow they billed a play and performed it as if nothing had happened. But on the next day the ushers and archers reappeared, and this time they did not confine themselves to breaking up and pulling down; they delivered everything to the fire, and for several days twelve archers were on guard over these ruins of farce with no other occupation but that of burning and annihilating.

The forain actors were therefore compelled to submit; but they again found means to re-establish themselves, for some years later they were to be heard singing the following verses of Panard in their theatres:—

“Les lois ne sont qu’une barrière vaine Que les hommes franchissent tous; Car, par-dessus, les grands passent sans peine, Les petits, par-dessous.”

The directors of the Opéra soon came to understand that no successful opposition could be made to the development of these little theatres, and they sold the right to sing to the theatre of the fair of Saint-Laurent since the Théâtre-Français denied it the right to speak. That theatre thereupon assumed the title of the Opéra-Comique.

Amid the enterprises of the forain theatres were the performances of Bertrand, Alard, the widow Maurice and Decelles, associated and primarily the sole proprietors of the shows given at the fairs. Later on they admitted Dolet and Laplace to share this right with them. Then came Ottavio and Domenico, to be succeeded by Saint-Edme and Madame Baron who, in rivalry with the Chevalier Pellegrin, came to replace Francisque and Lalauze, and finally by Ponteau, who obtained the privilege of the Opéra-Comique from the Royal Academy of Music in 1728, and kept it until 1742.

A large number of more or less celebrated French authors worked for the forain theatre, such as Lesage, Fuzelier, d’Orneval, Panard, Favart, Diderot, Piron, Vadé, Carolet, Sedaine, Dorville, Laffichard, Gallet, Fagan, Dallainval, Boissy, Taconet.

“Who would believe,” asks Grimm, in 1772, “that the opera and the two comedy troupes, the French and the Italian, should be perpetually united to persecute by virtue of their privilege, the theatre of the fairs? From the moment that a manager conceives a good idea to attract the public, and from the moment that he attempts something which is tinted by success, that successful thing is forbidden. In the hope of hindering the better classes from patronising these performances, the managers have been forbidden to charge more than twenty-four sous for the best seats, so as to compel decent people to be mingled and confounded with the populace. Preach tolerance and flatter yourselves to see it reign in a country in which Henry IV. and Polichinelle were persecuted with equal fury!”

The theatre of the fairs introduced actors and actresses of recognised merit to the public, and the public have applauded these—the comical and singular performances of Domenico, the son of Harlequin, the naïveté of Belloni as Pierrot, the voice and the slyness of Mademoiselle de Lisle in soubrette rôles, the amusing gibberish of Desgranges as Scaramouche, the grimaces of Paghetti in the rôles of Pantaloon and Cassandre, and the modest air of Mademoiselle Molin as leading lady.

Harlequinades and pantomimes were also played from 1759 to 1771 at the Ambigu-Comique, which was situated then on the Boulevard du Temple, whilst at the Théâtre Gaudon, in 1769, were to be seen performances by Polichinelle, Harlequin, Isabella and other Italian characters.

The four halls of the fair of Saint-Germain were open from the 3rd of February to Palm Sunday. Those of the fair of Saint-Laurent were open from the 1st July to the 30th September, as was also that of the fair of Saint-Ovide, which was made up chiefly of mountebanks and marionette shows.

Some of the Italian types preserved their original form, and were played in costumes adopted long since and remaining invariable. Others, however, underwent changes of name, of character and of costume. Pierrot became Gilles, Pantaloon came to be called Cassandre, Leandro became a ridiculous lover, a coxcomb, a poltroon, a sort of Captain; Jeannot, which in the Italian companies had been no more than a very sketchy character, became a complete and important rôle, and attracted all Paris. Nor yet had the forain actors hesitated to borrow types from the Théâtre-Français; thus Crispin, Harpagon, Sganarelle, and Gros-René came to be mingled with the Italian types, a further happy amalgamation which endured until the closing of the fairs of Saint-Laurent and Saint-Germain, fallen into desuetude and out of fashion, in 1789.

The last of the Italian troupes seen in France was that which the regent, Philippe of Orléans, summoned in 1716, under the direction of Louis Riccoboni (named _Lelio_); it was housed at the old Hôtel de Bourgogne in Rue Mauconseil, and was composed as follows:—

LELIO, Luigi Riccoboni. MARIO, Giuseppe Baletti. HARLEQUIN, Vicentini, called _Thomassin_. PANTALOON, Alborghetti. THE DOCTOR, Matterazzi. SCAPINO, Bissoni. SCARAMOUCHE, Giacopo Rauzzini. FLAMINIA, Elena Baletti. SILVIA, Gianetta Benozzi. VIOLETTA, Margarita Rusca. COLUMBINE, Teresa Biancolelli (1739). LELIO, Giovanni-Antonio Romagnesi (1725) and Francesco Riccoboni (1726). HARLEQUIN, Carlo Bertinazzi (1741). LELIO, Antonio-Luigi Baletti (1741). CORALINE, Anna Veronese (1744). CAMILLE, Antonia Veronese (1744); Elisabetta Constantini; Mademoiselle Belmont and Mademoiselle Dehesse (1730); Marie Laboras de Mézières (1734); Madame Riccoboni (1762); Madame Favart (1749); Madame Bognioli (1758). ANGÉLIQUE, Mademoiselle Foulquier, named _Catinon_ (1753); Mesdames Vesian, Bacelli, Zamarini, Billoni.

The company of 1716 was called the New Comédie-Italienne, or the Regent’s Company, to distinguish it from that of 1653, which it was agreed to name the Old Comédie-Italienne.

The several Italian troupes that played in France, down to that of 1716 inclusive, presented plays of various kinds. They gave a medley of scenes that had been committed to memory, of others that were entirely improvised, of scenes that were played throughout in dumb show, and of dances and singing, all with scenery and such _mise-en-scène_ as was then possible. Fireworks were never absent from the opening of a season, the Italians being anxious to preserve their ancient pyrotechnic reputation.

That which in Italy was called _opera_ (a work) was nothing more than this intermingling of various genres, of which an instance is afforded by _Le Gelose Politiche e Amorose_, of Pietro Angelo Zaguri, performed in the house of Giovanni Battista Sanuto, in Venice, in 1697. The prologue of this opera took place in an entirely imaginary country, inhabited by Eolus, to whom the Tiber, accompanied by Nymphs, came to pay a visit; it was at once a ballet, a drama, and a tragedy, mingled with couplets and dances.

The troupe of 1653 was chiefly concerned with the performance of pieces without much production, in which music played but a very minor part. The actors were very soon compelled to abandon their improvisations in Italian, as the spectators could not grasp the point of their pleasantries. It was thanks to this compromise that they were able to maintain themselves in France; for we see that the troupe summoned in 1639 by Richelieu—who was a great lover of Italian music and the Italian language—after having performed, danced and sung _L’Ercolano Amante_, was compelled to depart for lack of audiences.

That of 1645, summoned by Mazarin, which performed among other pieces _La Finta Pazza_ and _La Rosaura_, would not have enjoyed very much more success but for the spectacular operas (such as _Orpheus_) which roused enthusiasm. In this there were twelve changes of scenery and these represented: a city besieged and defended; a temple surrounded by trees; the banqueting hall on the occasion of the nuptials of Orpheus; a palace interior; the temple of Venus; a forest; the palace of the Sun; a horrible desert; Hades; the Elysian Fields; a wood on the edge of the sea; Olympus and the heavens. The expense of production, the properties and the scenery, designed and painted by Giacomo Torelli, amounted to five hundred and fifty thousand livres.

The pieces played in France by the Italians consisted of bare scenarii, upon which the dialogue was improvised, but into which the actors would also interpolate scenes written for them and learned by heart. Regnard, Palaprat, Delorme, de Montchenay, Lenoble, Mongin, Fatouville, Dufresny, de Bois-France, etc., supplied this theatre with scenarii, some of the scenes of which were written in full and others left entirely to the impromptu wit of the actor. Thanks to Gherardi, who has collected a number of these scenarii (designated _à la françoise_), we are able to judge what French wit could accomplish crippled by a sort of half-and-half language, whose French and Italian components were alike incorrect, offering, consequently, a piquant babble, which combined perhaps better than would have been possible to any other form of speech the fantastic gaiety of both nations. Even in the parodies of the dramas and tragedies of the epoch in which the verse and the rhymes forbade improvisation, the Italian actor would cut into the middle of an act to introduce an entirely irrelevant scene of _lazzi_ and of pantomime.

Nevertheless, towards the middle of the eighteenth century, and probably in consequence of the lack of good actors, singing came little by little entirely to displace dialogue. The Comédie-Italienne was no more than a theatre presenting comic operas or written pieces from the pens of Marivaux, d’Alainval, Laffichard, Legrand, Boissy, Delisle, Favart, Sedaine, Desportes, Lanoue, Fuselier, Anseaume, Vadé, etc. French actors were not slow to invade a theatre in which no one any longer spoke Italian.

In 1762 the Comédie-Italienne was amalgamated with the theatre of the Opéra Comique (the old fair of Saint-Laurent), and the troupe was made up as follows:—

Dehesse, _A Lackey_; Ciaverelli, _Scapin_; Carlino Bertinazzi, _Harlequin_; Baletti and Lejeune, _Lovers_; Champville, _A Ridiculous Lover_; Zanucci, _Lelio_; Colalto, _Pantaloon_; Caillot, _Colus_; Laruette, _Cassandre_; Clairval, _Leading Lady_; Madame Favart, _Soubrette_; and Mesdames Rivière, Desglands, Bognioli, Laruette, Bérard, Beaupré, Carlin and Mandeville.