Christina och musiken i Rom

Anna Zilli

Christina of Sweden became the Queen of Music in the Rome of the second half of the 17th century. The years she spent in the capital of the Catholic world – about twenty if we exclude those in which the queen was away – were enriched by the cultural and musical activities promoted by her.
Christina’s stay in the Eternal City from her arrival at the end of 1655 to her death on April 19, 1689, was always accompanied by music. Her triumphal entrance to Rome through the Porta del Popolo was accompanied by Iste est speciosa and by a Te Deum for six choirs by Orazio Benevoli. In order to express the city’s enthusiasm for the arrival of the newly converted Catholic queen from the North, the Carnival of 1656 was dedicated to Christina and was a succession of great musical performances: La vita humana overo il trionfo della Pietà, Dal male il bene by Marco Marazzoli with libretto by Giulio Rospigliosi – the future Pope Clemens IX – and Il Daniele, oratorio by Giacomo Carissimi, to name but a few. During Christina’s stay at her first residence, Palazzo Farnese, she founded the Accademia Reale, a cultural gathering in which music played a very important role. Each session was closed by a concert directed by some of the great names of the Roman musical scene: Bernardo Pasquini, Marco Marazzoli or Giacomo Carissimi, the latter being the first of a series of great composers she chose as Chapel Masters.
The Accademia Reale moved with Christina to Palazzo Riario on the Via della Lungara, the palace in which she resided permanently until her death. Music opened and closed each session. Her Chapel Masters were drawn from the greatest names of the time: Alessandro Scarlatti, Loreto Vittori, Marco Marazzoli, Arcangelo Corelli. Palazzo Riario became an incredible centre of musical performance of the highest quality. But music, especially opera, needed larger spaces and Palazzo Riario could never host a proper opera house. It was thanks to the Swedish queen that Rome got its first public opera house in 1671, the Teatro Tordinona, built on the same spot where the old jail Tor di Nona used to stand.
Christina even managed to obtain an extraordinary license, thanks to the tolerance of Pope Clemens X, to let women singers perform in a public theatre and not only on the private stages of the many aristocratic palaces. This was one of the most important innovations that Christina introduced in Rome. Despite the bans and restrictions that the papal administration imposed periodically, Christina succeeded in standing as the propeller, promoter and protector of the Arts – from music, to poetry, to literature. She had a deep passion for music and truly appreciated singers; thanks to her they had the possibility to perform at her private theatre and at the prestigious Teatro Tordinona as well as to enjoy the favors of an extraordinary patroness. Christina was also a forerunner of what was to be the reform of the opera seria in the eighteenth century, since the seeds of her Accademia Reale gave life to the Accademia d’Arcadia, which was a propulsion in that direction. In the Palazzo Riario she also created a remarkable music school for “canterine” (women singers).
Christina was also an enthusiastic promoter and organizer of oratorios, performances of sacred music that were played throughout the whole year without restrictions (opera performances in Rome were only permitted during the Carnival season). She was authorized to employ male singers from the Sistine Chapel, most of which were castrati. She even commissioned a “Serenata” from Alessandro Stradella – Damone e Clori o la forza delle stelle, complete with the queen’s own extensive notes regarding details of stage set, orchestration, voices, succession of arias, duets, instrumental pieces and a real synopsis.
Christina spent most of her life in Rome attending cultural and musical events, and frequently organizing them. Even when the Tordinona theatre was shut down, she continued to promote the practice and performance of music, both in her palace and in those of other aristocratic families. She continued to do so until her death in 1689, when she was saluted with solemn wakes, a rich funeral – undoubtedly accompanied by music – culminating in her burial in the Vatican – an extraordinary and almost unique honor for a woman.

Literature

Caira, Rossana Maria and Stefano Fogelberg Rota, eds. Letteratura, arte e musica alla corte romana di Cristina di Svezia. Rome: Aracne, 2005.
Cametti, Alberto. Il teatro di Tordinona poi di Apollo. Tivoli: Arti grafiche A. Chicca, 1938.

Cristina di Svezia e la Musica. Atti dei Convegni Lincei 138. Rome: Bardi Edizioni, 1998.

La musica a Roma attraverso le fonti d’archivio: atti del convegno internazionale, Roma 4-7 giugno 1992. Rome: Libreria Musicale Italiana, 1994.

Salerno, Maria Francesca. “L’Empio Punito. Dramma musicale del Signor N.N. fatta rappresentare dal medesimo in Roma, l’anno 1669. Ritrovamento e annotazioni di studio.” In Cristina di Svezia e Roma, atti del simposio tenuto all’Istituto Svedese di Studi Classici a Roma, 5-6 ottobre 1995. Edited by Börje Magnusson. Suecoromana V. Stockholm: Svenska Institutet i Rom, 1995.

Zilli, Anna. Cristina di Svezia. Regina della musica a Roma. Rome: Aracne, 2013.