Politics, Poetry, and Music in Three Women of the Risorgimento: Giuseppina Guacci Nobile, Laura Beatrice Oliva Mancini, Irene Ricciardi Capecelatro

Abstract

At the core of Loredana Palma’s essay are three poets who animated the cultural salons of pre-unification Naples, playing a decisive role in the spread of patriotic and Risorgimento ideas: Giuseppina Guacci Nobile, Laura Beatrice Oliva Mancini, and Irene Ricciardi Capecelatro. Through the study of Neapolitan periodical sources, the author focuses on the poetic production set to music by famous composers of the time, which has received little critical attention. Capecelatro, in particular, made poetry for music her profession, penning opera librettos and the texts of her composer husband’s musical albums.