Zan Ganassa

Zan Ganassa , pseudonym Alberto Naseli , also Alberto Naselli (around 1540 in Bergamo - after 1584) was an Italian theater actor . He was possibly the (co-) creator of the figure of Arlecchino in the Commedia dell'arte .

Life

Naseli comes from Bergamo and was among others in the service of Philip II of Spain . His theater troupe is probably depicted in the painting Commedia dell'arte sous Charles IX from the school of Frans Floris (1570 or 1571), which is considered by scholars to be one of the earliest depictions of the Commedia dell'arte . Little is known about Naseli's youth and early career. From 1568 he is said to have performed with his troupe in Mantua. In the obligatory role of the lover (ital. Innamorata ) the much admired Vincenza Armani could be seen, who shortly afterwards poisoned herself and from her lover Adriano Valerini in the later printed funeral song Oratione D'Adriano Valerini Veronese, in morte della divina Signora Vincenza Armani, comica eccellentissima (Verona 1570) was mourned.

One of the oldest representations of the Commedia dell'Arte: performance in front of a noble audience in France, School of Frans Floris, approx. 1570/71

In February 1570, Naseli appeared at the wedding festivities of Lucrezia d'Este in Ferrara. The French King Charles IX. , a relative of Lucrezia, was an eyewitness and was so impressed by the theatrical experience that he apparently recommended Naseli and his troupe to the Reichstag in Speyer, where a large feast was celebrated on July 30, 1570. Naseli's appearances in Speyer are documented by two letters, but it is not known who paid him, as his name is missing in the local accounts. Perhaps the (there is not present) French king took over the costs because he invited Ganassa and his teammates soon after to Paris, where Karl moved solemnly after being in Charleville-Mezieres on 26 November at great expense his bride Elizabeth of Austria , a daughter of Emperor Maximilian II , had married (a long distance marriage had already taken place on October 22nd in Speyer). After the festival performances in front of the court, from August 1571, Naseli's troupe apparently also played in the then only public theater in Paris, the de Bourgogne . These performances aroused the displeasure of Parliament, which on September 15, in a formal arrêt, imposed a punishment-reinforced performance ban. Failure to comply was threatened with imprisonment and corporal punishment. The authorities were urged to no longer approve such plays, and the audience was generally prohibited from going to the theater. Residents of Paris had to pay ten livres for infringement. Since parliament published another arrêt a month later , it is assumed that the bans were initially not strictly observed. It is very likely that Naseli wintered in Paris.

In 1574 he contributed 600 reales to the construction costs of a theater on the grounds of Madrid's Corral de la Pacheca (today the location of the Teatro Español in Calle del Principe ). In contrast to the provisional stages customary at the time, which were set up and dismantled every day, this first building is said to have already had a solid, tiled roof. Naseli agreed with the landlords that he would be reimbursed ten reals for sixty performances each as compensation for his co-financing of the building. The entrance fee was half a real basic fee and an additional real per armchair or a quarter real for a seat on the bench. The business model must have been very profitable for Naseli, because in 1582 he co-financed the second theater building in Madrid with 25 escudos and a loan.

A guest performance in the Corral de Don Juan in Seville in 1575 attracted so many audiences that there were petitions from the citizens to ban the performances because spectators had left their jobs. Naseli was obliged to only play on public holidays. This anger did not stop him from performing again in Seville in 1578. However, Naseli was not always successful: on August 27, 1579, according to written evidence, he had to repay the few spectators who had appeared in Madrid . This was followed by appearances in Valladolid , where he was also expelled by the authorities, and before King Philip II in Toledo. In Madrid Naseli had initially scheduled performances two to three times a week, from November 30, 1581 to the end of February 1582, he performed almost every day in the Teatro del la Cruz . An entry dated February 27, 1582 states that Naseli did not appear that day "because he was in prison". The reason for his arrest has not been handed down, the most plausible being debts. As a result, Naseli is said to have gone to Portugal.

In addition to the popular impromptu comedies, Naseli is said to have staged no less popular Passion Plays on Good Friday . Prominent business partners were u. a. Vincenzo Botanelli, called Curzio , and Cesare de Nobile, who later founded the Dediosi . Lope de Vega mentions in a letter that Naseli mocked his teacher Stefanelo Bottarga during a performance - the only indication of a possible connection between the two. What is certain is that Naseli's theater in Spain was also very Italian. In the absence of sources, it remains open whether he himself traveled more often to Italy to recruit actors there and to be inspired by new subjects.

Little is known about Naseli's later years. In 1582 he was again at the court in Toledo and seems to have made a lasting impression on Philip II, because the king granted him the express right to appear on two working days and on all public holidays. In the following two years up to February 1584 trips to Seville and Madrid followed. After that, Naseli's trail is lost. It is doubtful that he was supposed to have been in Spain in 1610.

The Compositions de rhéthorique by Tristano Martinelli (Lyon 1601)

Creator of the Arlecchino

While Naseli is traditionally referred to as the creator and first performer of the role of Arlecchino , there is little evidence of this. Also Tristano Martinelli comes as the author of poetic and witty commedia dell'arte-heroes in question. Both actors knew each other and were in Paris together in 1571, which makes it difficult to define their respective share in the authorship of the role. During his time in Spain, Naseli no longer had the physical figure to take on the acrobatic role: He is said to have been extremely overweight, which raised doubts as to whether he was ever able to perform a handstand and similar tricks on stage . The earliest written sources that name Martinelli as Arlecchino go back to 1588. The contemporary Bartolomeo Rossi specifically pointed out in his play Fiammella in 1584 that the Arlecchino expressly did not speak in the Bergamasque dialect, which raises doubts that Naseli was at the time this role has been associated. Martinelli, on the other hand, was the personification of Arlecchino. His brother Drusiano complimented his mother in a letter that he was also Arlecchino's mother . Incidentally, the Compositions de Rhetorique (Lyon 1601) by Martinelli contain the first images of a harlequin and are very similar to the images in the famous Recueil Fossard engraving collection from the 16th century. There is therefore much to suggest that Martinelli was at least the first Arlecchino to appear in Paris.

literature

• Robert Henke: Performance and Literature in the Commedia Dell'Arte (Cambridge, 2002)
• MA Katritzky: Stefanelo Botara and Zan Ganassa: Textual and Visual Records of a Musical commedia dell'arte Duo, In and Beyond Early Modern Iberia . In: Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography . 44, No. 1-2, 2019, ISSN  1522-7464 , pp. 97-118.
• Teresa Megale:  Naselli, Alberto. In: Raffaele Romanelli (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 77:  Morlini-Natolini. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2012.
• Henning Mehnert: Commedia dell'arte. Structure - History - Reception (= Reclams Universal Library . No. 17639). Reclam, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-017639-5 .
• John Rudlin, Olly Crick: Commedia dell'arte. A handbook for troupes London / New York, 2001
• Maria del Valle Ojeda (ed.): Stefanelo Botarga e Zan Ganassa: scenari e zibaldoni di comici italiani nella Spagna del Cinquecento , Rome 2007

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rudlin, John / Crick, Olly: Commedia dell´arte. A handbook for troupes London / New York, 2001, p. 7 ff.
2. ↑ Otto G. Schindler: Zan Ganassa - From the Reichstag to the blood wedding. New finds on Alberto Naselli, at Theater Ganassa , in: Wolfgang Greisenegger (Ed.): Theater, Art, Science: Festschrift for Wolfgang Greisenegger on his 66th birthday , Vienna / Cologne / Weimar, 2004, p. 302
3. ↑ Rudlin, John / Crick, Olly: Commedia dell´arte. A handbook for troupes London / New York, 2001, p. 8 ff.
4. ↑ Rudlin, John / Crick, Olly: Commedia dell´arte. A handbook for troupes London / New York, 2001, p. 10
5. ↑ Rudlin, John / Crick, Olly: Commedia dell´arte. A handbook for troupes London / New York, 2001, p. 10
6. ↑ Rudlin, John / Crick, Olly: Commedia dell´arte. A handbook for troupes London / New York, 2001, p. 12
7. ↑ Rudlin, John / Crick, Olly: Commedia dell´arte. A handbook for troupes London / New York, 2001, p. 13
8. ^ Robert Henke: Performance and Literature in the Commedia Dell'Arte p. 154.
9. ↑ http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8607039k/f13.image