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ITALY (TRAVELS.) 



for his solfeggios in church music ; Leo ; Pergolesi, 

 whose music is always delightful, from its simple 

 beauty (e. g. his Stalal Mater) Pater Martini, at 

 Bologna ; the sweet Piccini, rival of Gluck ; An- 

 fossi ; Uie agreeable Sacchini ((Edip.); Sarti. ()i 

 a later date are Paesiello, Cimarosa, the ornament of 

 the opera buffa, aiid Zingarelli (Romeo mid Juliet), 

 Nasolini, l'aanini, Niccoliui, Pavesi, and the now 

 much celebrated Generali and the copious Rossini. 

 More like the Germans were Salieri, and the 

 thorough Righiui (he like wise has written solfeggios). 

 Cherubini and Spontini have more of the French 

 character. Among the celebrated male and female 

 ' singers of Italy, since the eighteenth century, are 

 Francesca Cuzzoni Sandoni, and her rival Faustina 

 Bordoni (afterwards the wife of Hasse), and the 

 Allegrandi, the sopranists Farinelli, Cafiarelli, Gen- 

 esino, Caristini, Marchesi : in later times, the cele- 

 brated Crescentini and Veluti ; also the singers 

 Baldassore Ferri, Siface Matteuce ; the tenorists 

 Millico, Pacchierotti, Brixi Benelli ; the female 

 singers Tesi, Mingotti, Gabrielli, Todi, Vandi,Mar- 

 ciietti, the sisters Sessi, particularly Imperadrice and 

 Mariana Sessi, Angelica Catalani, Camporesi, Bor- 

 gondio. The Italian school is yet unequalled in what- 

 ever depends upon the mere improvement of the voice; 

 but the slavish imitation of their manner leads to af- 

 fectation ; therefore the German singers employ it no 

 farther than they can without losing the spirit and 

 poetical expression which the German song aims at. 



Travels in Italy. No part of Europe has been so 

 much visited as Italy, and none deserves to be visited 

 more than this cliarming country, where a cloudless 

 sky sheds perpetual brilliancy on the monuments of 

 ancient greatness, and the relics of ancient art, which 

 conspire with the finest works of modern genius, to 

 delight the eye, and to carry back the mind to the 

 great men and great events of former times. The 

 sight of modern Italy led Gibbon to write the sad 

 story of the decline of her ancient grandeur ; and 

 how many poets have owed to Italy their inspira- 

 tion ! It is impossible to see Italy, and not feel the 

 grave monitions of history, or to pass through her 

 happy vineyards without being cheered by the scene, 

 or to gaze on her works of genius without feeling the 

 worth and the dignity of the fine arts. No wonder, 

 then, that Italy is visited from all quarters. During 

 the general peace in Europe, from 1815 until 1830, 

 crowds of foreigners, particularly Englishmen, hasten- 

 ed to the beautiful peninsula. The latter were so 

 numerous, that the lower classes of Italy called every 

 foreigner un Inglese. Among these there were, of 

 course, great numbers who, without capacity for 

 enjoying what they saw, hurried through the country 

 according to the direction of their guide-books, in 

 order to be able to say, at the tea-tables in London, 

 How beautiful the view from Monte Pincio is ! 

 Every one who has been in Rome must have met 

 with such a traveller, his P'asari in his hand, work- 

 ing his way with servile conscientiousness, through 

 the beauties of the place. Expedition being an ob- 

 ject with many of them, the shortest process for 

 seeing all that was to be seen was soon found out, 

 and flocks of travellers, at particular seasons, 

 migrated to particular places. The average period 

 of a jaunt through Italy is six months. The end of 

 the journey is usually Naples, from which travellers 

 advance south as far as the ruins of Paestum. The 

 Alps must be passed early in the autumn. The fairy 

 islands of the Lago Maggiore, at that time, still wear 

 their delightful drapery of fruits and leaves. The 

 traveller then enters, at once, the south of Europe, 

 so different from the north. For visiting the principal 

 places in Upper Italy, the Bolognese, and Tuscany, 

 there are two months before the beginning of the 



carnival, which, of course, must be enjoyed in Rome. 

 After having visited the galleries and monuments in 

 and about Rome, the traveller proceeds, during 

 Lent, to Naples, to see the spring awaken in the 

 Campagna. At Easter, he returns to Rome. Who 

 could visit Italy without hearing the heavenly music 

 in the Capella Sistina, during Passion week ! There 

 will perhaps be time, on the return, to make an ex- 

 cursion to the Mark of Ancona ; if not, no one, who 

 has been to Rome through Sienna, will now fail to 

 take the road through Terni, Perugia, and Arezzo. 

 Genoa and Venice, as the most western and eastern 

 points, are convenient to begin or close the journey 

 with. It may be better, however, to begin with 

 Lombardy and Genoa, in the autumn, and not to 

 extend the period of return far into the hot season. 

 Lombardy attracts but little, after Rome, Florence, 

 and Naples, have been visited ; but Venice, silent, 

 melancholy Venice, still remains an object of interest, 

 even in her decrepitude under the Austrian sway. 

 Such a journey will occupy from the beginning of 

 October until the middle of May, and will enable the 

 traveller to see the finest parts of the country and 

 the most remarkable works of art. But to become 

 thoroughly acquainted with Italy, as it is and as it 

 was, no one can stay long enough. Rome alone will 

 fully occupy a man's life. He who wishes to become 

 particularly acquainted with the middle ages, and to 

 form a lively picture of them, will remain longer in 

 Florence and Pisa. Late in a moonshiny night, when 

 every thing is quiet, walk through the streets of 

 Florence, and you may easily imagine yourself a 

 contemporary with the Medici. He who wishes to 

 devote himself to the antique or to Roman history, 

 will stay longer in the alma citta. Here he will 

 also find himself at the fountain head of sacred 

 music. He who desires to enjoy the beauties of a 

 bountiful nature, will remain longer in Naples, lying 

 like a paradise surrounded by the fields of Campagna, 

 where the gigantic vine twines round the lofty pop- 

 lars, and forms an embowering shade over the luxu- 

 riant grain. He who prefers to see a country where 

 nature and man have not been much influenced by 

 civilization, will proceed to Calabria and Sicily, 

 which afford also the richest harvest to the botanist 

 and mineralogist. He who wishes to become more 

 fully acquainted with the history of the fine arts in 

 the middle ages, will go to the smaller places, distant 

 from the great roads, where he will find innumerable 

 treasures, often unknown to most Italians themselves; 

 as the historian finds rich treasures in the manuscripts 

 stored up in the monasteries, illustrative of the con- 

 tests of Italian powers among themselves in the 

 middle ages, as well as of the great contest between 

 the secular and ecclesiastical powers, the emperor 

 and the pope : and what a boundless field is spread 

 before the scholar in the Vatican ! There are two 

 ways of travelling in Italy, with post-horses (in 

 which case a carriage belonging to the traveller is 

 almost indispensable), or with the vetturino (in a 

 hired coach). He who travels without a family, 

 and wishes to become acquainted with the people, 

 will do best to adopt the latter mode. The traveller 

 makes his bargain with the vetturino, not only for 

 conveyance, but also for supper and lodging. The 

 general price for the conveyance, from thirty-five to 

 forty miles a day, together with the meal and lodg- 

 ing, is about a ducat per day. As the reputation of 

 a vetturino depends upon the good treatment of his 

 travellers, it is his interest to procure a good meal 

 and a clean bed ; thus travellers are spared the 

 trouble of bargaining with the host. That the inn- 

 keepers in Italy have a general disposition to fleece 

 the traveller, is certain ; and this leads many travel- 

 lers, particularly English, not to touch a trifle in any 



