Search

Salvatore Viganò's last completed work is based on the figure of the Maid of Orleans. When Giovanna d'Arco was first performed, on 3 March 1821 at La Scala, Italy was shaken by one of the most violent upheavals of the Risorgimento, the Constitutional revolt of 1820-1. Written in Milan at the peak of that turbulent season, while Viganò's coreodramma was being admired at La Scala by a number of exceptional spectators, March 1821 is one of the most inflammatory patriotic poems by Alessandro Manzoni. Moving from this intriguing coincidence, the present article aims to ascertain the role of Viganò's output in the stimulating milieu of 1821 Milan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]