Maria Kazimiera Sobieska’s patronage of the arts in Rome

The Queen quickly adapted to Roman society. The prestige of her husband’s name and her royal past opened the doors of the palaces of the city’s most prominent figures to her. She therefore frequented the residences of Roman and foreign aristocrats, diplomats, cardinals who wielded immense power in the Eternal City, and ladies of noble birth. She also organised gatherings herself at the residence which Prince Livio Odescalchi had lent her at the start of her stay, on Piazza dei SS. Apostoli. With almost Counter-Reformation-like zeal, she devoted herself to piety in numerous Roman churches, but she also derived great pleasure from secular entertainments.

Recognising the power of art in the service of politics, she took great care to organise theatrical performances and the staging of occasional works at her own Palazzo Zuccari, her permanent residence from 1702 onwards. The content of these compositions focused mainly on commemorating and extolling her husband and the Sobieski family. And although Maria Kazimiera’s influence in the male-dominated world of both Roman and European politics was already limited at that time, thanks to her determination and her need to participate in public life, her love of glamour and splendour, as well as her need to be admired, the queen made her presence in Rome distinctly felt.

And, it is worth remembering, attracting the attention of the Romans was no easy task. Maria Kazimiera faced serious rivals in the field of musical and theatrical patronage. The most important of these, though one who always offered her advice and even lent her his artists, was Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. Another, no less important rival for fame was Prince Francesco Maria Ruspoli, one of the wealthiest Romans of the period and the principal patron of George Frideric Handel and Antonio Caldara. Alongside them, the smaller and larger courts of ambassadors from various countries entered the artistic fray, as did the only public opera house operating during the Polish queen’s stay in Rome, the Teatro Capranica. No less important than the aforementioned aristocrats, although no longer alive, was Sobieska’s predecessor in the Eternal City, Christina of Sweden, with whom Marysieńka was compared both during her stay in Rome and in subsequent literature on the subject.

The Queen treated her guests at the Palazzo Zuccari to operas described at the time as ‘drammi per musica’, oratorios, cantatas and instrumental music. She organised performances of religious music both in the small church of the order she had founded and in the Polish church dedicated to St Stanislaus. Beneath the windows of her palace, one could hear occasional serenades. Of the considerable, if not impressive (in the light of Rome’s achievements in this regard at the time), body of compositions commissioned by the queen, the librettos of eight *drammi per musica* have survived to the present day. These are (the dates of the premiere performances are given in brackets):
1. ‘Il figlio delle selve’ (17 January 1709)
2. ‘La Silvia’ (26 January 1710)
3. ‘Tolomeo et Alessandro ovvero la corona disprezzata’ (19 January 1711)
4. ‘L’Orlando overo La Gelosa Pazzia’ (? 1711)
5. ‘Tetide in Sciro’ (10 January 1712)
6. ‘Ifigenia in Aulide’ (11 January 1713)
7. ‘Ifigenia in Tauri’ (15 February 1713)
8. ‘Amor d’un Ombra, e Gelosia d’un Aura’ (20 January 1714).

Unfortunately, complete scores have survived for only two librettos (‘Tolomeo et Alessandro’, ‘Tetide in Sciro’); one score has also survived to the present day, which is a rifacimento of the last opera performed at the Queen’s court (‘Amor d’un’Ombra e Gelosia d’un’Aura’), as well as individual opera arias (both from ‘Ifigenie’). Of the occasional works, the librettos of six serenades have survived, for which there is a fragmentary score of one serenade (‘Clori, e Fileno’). We also know the libretto of one oratorio (‘La Conversione di Clodoveo, Re di Francia’).

The poetic texts for most of the aforementioned works were commissioned by the Queen from her librettist and secretary, Carlo Sigismondo Capece – a writer highly regarded in Roman aristocratic circles – as well as from Giacomo Buonaccorsi and Giovanni Domenico Pioli. The music was composed by the then young Domenico Scarlatti, who had been maestro di cappella at the Queen’s court since 1709. It is worth noting, however, that the first opera staged at Maria Kazimiera’s court was most likely written by his father, Alessandro Scarlatti, who was highly regarded in Italy, particularly in Rome. Other well-known composers active at Maria Kazimiera’s court included the lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss, Quirino Colombani, Anastasio Lingua, Pietro Franchi and artists known only by their first names, who had accompanied Sobieska from Poland. From the highly ceremonial event held at the Church of S. Luigi dei Francesi to mark the conferral by Louis XIV of the Order of the Holy Spirit upon the young Sobieski brothers – Aleksander and Konstanty – we know that the music for this occasion was composed by Arcangelo Corelli – known as the Orpheus of his time – and Paolo Lorenzani. Sobieska certainly had many opportunities to listen to their music in Rome; one might also speculate that she herself commissioned musical compositions from them, although the surviving sources are silent on this matter.

The stage design for the drammi per musica staged at the Queen’s palace was overseen by the eminent architect Filippo Juvarra, who at the time specialised in opera set design. It is most likely that as early as 1710, Maria Kazimiera entered into a contract with the artist for the production of sets for the operas planned for the 1711 carnival (‘Tolomeo et Alessandro’, ‘L’Orlando’). She gained widespread acclaim, which prompted the Queen and her son Alexander to extend their contract with the set designer (‘Tetide in Sciro’ and both ‘Ifigenie’s’). It may be assumed that the Sobieskis continued to make use of elements from Juvarra’s earlier set designs as late as 1714 for the production of ‘Amor d’un’Ombra e Gelosia d’un’Aura’, by which time the artist had already left for Turin.

The success of operas depended to a large extent, both then and now, on the singers performing in them. We know that the queen went to great lengths to engage the finest vocalists. Of the few names known to us today, the most famous and highly regarded were Anna Maria Giusti, known as La Romanina, famous amongst other things for her roles in Vivaldi’s early Venetian operas; Maria Domenica Pini, known as Tilla – a virtuoso of the Florentine court, also well known to Venetian audiences – and Caterina Lelli, known as Nina. The Queen was also greatly taken with the voice of Giovanna Albertini, known as la Reggiana, one of the most outstanding singers of that period. Marysieńka was very keen to see this singer perform on the stage of her theatre. It seems, however, that the fee demanded by the virtuoso proved too high for her treasury. Maria Kazimiera also employed castrato singers. Among them, Giuseppe Luparini-Beccari – known simply as Giuseppe della Regina – and Pippo della Grance were the most active figures in Roman musical life.

Such an outstanding ensemble made the queen’s theatre an interesting fixture on Rome’s artistic map. It also posed a challenge to the private theatres of other Roman patrons. From surviving notes, we learn that the carnival operas presented by Sobieska were the most highly acclaimed by the public. In this way, the queen achieved her goal – she was the talk of all Romans, praised as an active and talented patron.

Text taken from PASAŻ WIEDZY , where you can find more reliable articles on Old Polish history and culture

Reproduced courtesy of the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów