The new issue of Poliorama brings together studies offering a comprehensive picture of musical culture in Southern Italy, with particular attention to the Neapolitan context, from the second half of the nineteenth century through the twentieth century.
Following the critical description by Isabella Valente of Domenico Battaglia’s painting La preghiera (Il coro grande della chiesa di Donnaregina Nuova), selected as the cover image of this issue, the volume opens with an essay by Paolo Sullo on the development of solfeggio pedagogy in nineteenth-century Italy. Drawing on documentary sources ranging from early instructional manuals to the contemporary press, the author reconstructs the emergence of pedagogical practices and methodological approaches in this field.
The second contribution, by Francesca Seller, examines the leading Neapolitan music publishing house of the late nineteenth century, the Società Musicale Napoletana. Based on unpublished archival documents and original catalogues, the article traces the company’s history from its foundation in 1885 to its acquisition by Bideri and Ricordi in 1905, outlining the main features of its publishing activity.
The jointly authored essay by Ugo Di Furia and Francesco Nocerino focuses on Domenico Battaglia, a nineteenth-century Neapolitan painter specializing in sacred interiors, highlighting his relationship with music. His works are interpreted as significant historical-artistic and organological evidence, documenting instruments, performance practices, and liturgical contexts now partly lost.
With the contribution by Pier Paolo De Martino, attention shifts to late nineteenth-century Neapolitan concert life. The author analyses the role of Florestano Rossomandi in the development of symphonic concerts and the dissemination of the European repertoire, contributing to the formation of a modern concert-going public.
The volume concludes with Antonio Caroccia’s article on the cultural value of Roberto De Simone’s donation to the library of the Conservatorio “San Pietro a Majella” in Naples, a collection that constitutes a fundamental resource for research into Neapolitan and Southern Italian musical history.