Il cardinal Colonna e Alessandro Scarlatti

The article focuses on musical and theatrical performances promoted by Cardinal Carlo Colonna (1665–1739) in the context of his villeggiatura, a lesser known aspect of his activity as a patron. Firstly, the action of Cardinal Colonna’s patronage is reconstructed, before moving on to outline its role in the socio-cultural perspective of aristocratic villeggiatura practices. Thanks to a variety of sources, mainly unpublished, the article explores the musical and theatrical aspects, highlighting the characteristics of the patron’s action and the presence of artists, composers, performers and craftsmen, who appear both in the urban and in the extra-urban contexts. Moreover, the article sheds light on the relationship between some cantatas by Alessandro Scarlatti, dated between August and September 1706, preserved in a manuscript of the Stadtbibliothek in Hannover (Kestner 73), bearing the coat of arms of Cardinal Colonna in the binding, and his villeggiatura in Genazzano in autumn 1706. The picture that emerges from the study of Cardinal Colonna’s archival documents allows us to evaluate the musical and theatrical dimension of the villeggiatura in close continuity with the cardinal’s patronage in his official role and in the urban context.