«Accomodar le scene secondo l’abilità de’ personaggi». Leonardo Leo, Matteo Capranica e la trasformazione di «Amor vuol sofferenza» (1739) in «La finta frascatana» (1744)

Abstract

Gennarantonio Federico and Leonardo Leo’s commedia per musica “Amor vuol sofferenza” had its debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples in Autumn 1739. Five years later, the same theatre commissioned to the composer a revamped version of the opera, re-titled “La finta frascatana”, in order to adapt it to the new cast. Leo began working, but death took him suddenly after he had written only two arias; the score was completed by another composer, Matteo Capranica. The essay compares “Amor vuol sofferenza” with “La finta frascatana”, examines the reasons for the changes in relation to the characteristics and skills of the new singers, and presents the few extant musical sources of the 1744 version. The complete trascription of Mosca’s aria “Voi par che gite di palo in frasca”, likely by Leo, is offered in appendix.