Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Guest Post by Hillary De Piano: Adapting Gozzi's "Love of Three Oranges"

[post 177]

I'm always on the lookout for news about Carlo Gozzi for reasons that will soon become obvious. When I saw John's post where he lamented the fact that there was no public domain English version of The Love of Three Oranges for him to post and share with you, I had to jump in. I have one of the more popular modern English versions of Three Oranges and, while it's not public domain, my publisher actually has 90% of the play online for you to read at your leisure. It's really only missing the last scene or so.

So, if you wanted to read an English version of this commedia classic, you are welcome to check it out here: http://www.playscripts.com/playview.php3?playid=2276

But while I'm here, I thought I'd share with you a few quick facts about what is probably Carlo Gozzi's best know play.
• Carlo Gozzi's L'amore delle tre melarance was published in 1761. It's 2011. That means that The Love of Three Oranges is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year! (As is Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, randomly enough.)
• Gozzi's original scenario was itself based off a (horrifyingly racist) fairy tale by Giambattista Basile which was itself based off of local folklore.
• The Sergei Prokofiev opera, The Love for Three Oranges? With the very famous march? That was also based off Gozzi's play.

Commedia enthusiasts will be happy to know that The Love of Three Oranges continues to be very popular with high schools, thereby introducing a whole new generation to the material! Thank you to John for letting me stop by the blog and please feel free to read and pass along the preview link for The Love of Three Oranges. If you ever want to ask me anything or just say Hi, I'm online at HillaryDePiano.com and I'm also on Twitter as @HillaryDePiano.
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Thank you, Hillary!  Here are a few more links... —jt
• My original Gozzi post
• Adam Gertsacov: Giants of Commedia—Gozzi vs. Goldoni
Gozzi's memoirs in French
A book in Italian about Gozzi and commedia

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