Prima di Croce. Le ricerche archivistiche di Vincenzo d'Auria sui teatri napoletani

Abstract

The article illustrates the interest of the little-known essays on operatic activity in Naples published by Vincenzo d'Auria at the end of the nineteenth century. The author had the opportunity to examine archival documents that no longer exist today. His writings, all of which appeared in local journals, preceded Benedetto Croce's monograph on the history of Neapolitan theaters (1891). Despite their fragmentary and anecdotal character, d'Auria's studies deserve to be better known as they offer details not otherwise available.