“Umilissimi, devotissimi servi”. Correspondencia de cantantes de ópera italiana con la Duquesa de Osuna. (Apuntes para el estudio de la circulación de la música y los músicos italianos en España entre el siglo XVIII y XIX)

Abstract

This text brings to the fore certain matters concerning the relationship between Italian opera singers and members of the Spanish Nobility towards the end of XVIII and the beginning of the XIX centuries, based on the example to be gleaned from the surviving correspondence attributed to the Duquesa de Osuna. The said documentation underlines the importance of the system of patronage and protection accorded to Italian music and musicians in the Iberian Peninsula within the framework of the consolidation of Italian Opera in Spain. Despite the liberty enjoyed by non-Spanish musicians they were still obliged to seek out the protection of the most noble families to be found in Spain at that time. The example shown by the Duquesa de Osuna can be seen as emblematic in this regard. A model that could be favourably compared to other relations of patronage and protection as practised in the rest of Europe.