IL “CAVALIERE DELL’OCA†CACCIATO DALLA SCALA. IL FIASCO MILANESE DEL LOHENGRIN (1873) E IL SUO CONTESTO

Abstract

In Milan the opposition Verdi vs Wagner became a well-defined cultural construction in the period starting with the triumph of Lohengrin Italian première (Bologna, 1871) up to the clamorous fiasco the opera received in Milan (1873). Through an analysis of new sources (also iconographical), mostly taken from the contemporary humor periodicals, this article aims to reconstruct the discursive context that shaped Milan rejection of Lohengrin. The premise for this archeo-genealogical investigation is that musical events cannot be separated from the discourses (in a Foucault-like sense) that frame and feed them. Another fundamental aspect that must be considered is the complexity of identity dynamics which characterizes Milan culture soon after Italian unification. As Axel Körner affirms, referring to Parma and Bologna, «the cities’ cultural representation speaks a local language as well as national and transnational language ». This is true, even more, for Milan.