The Improvisatore : A Novel of Italy / Hans Christian Andersen ; translated by Frank Hugus.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian), 1805-1875, author.

Contributor:

Hugus, Frank, 1941- translator.

Standardized Title:

Improvisatoren. English

Language:

Danish

English

Subjects (All):

Italy--Fiction.

Italy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2018.

Summary:

A semi-autobiographical novel inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's travels in Italy--and one of the author's best-known works in his native Denmark Published to great acclaim in 1835, Hans Christian Andersen's debut novel, The Improvisatore , initially eclipsed his fairy tales, which first appeared in the same year. Andersen, the captivating teller of enchanted tales, is very much in evidence in this classic Bildungsroman inspired by his travels in Italy earlier in the decade. The novel's hero, Antonio--much like Andersen himself--rises from impoverished beginnings to become a successful artist, at every turn learning charming and often alarming lessons in the ways of the world. Adopted by a nobleman, smitten with an opera singer, challenged to a duel, captured by bandits, beset by a temptress, Antonio follows a dizzying itinerary on his path to enlightenment and, perhaps, happiness. Along the way he experiences the delights of Italian culture and nature so clearly and deeply absorbed by his peripatetic author--from the inescapable power of some of the world's most enduring paintings and sculptures to the drama of an erupting Mount Vesuvius and the rampages of wild buffalo on the Roman campagna , all in the shadow of classical mythology and in the company of characters from every level of Italian society: beggar, brigand, priest, and poet. This first English translation since the 1840s captures the brilliance and brio, the sweep and the nuance that made The Improvisatore one of Hans Christian Andersen's most widely read and best loved works.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Introduction

The Improvisatore

Part I

I

My Earliest Surroundings

II

The Visit to the Catacombs · I Become a Choirboy · The Pretty Little Angel · The Improvisatore

III

The Flower Festival in Genzano

IV

Uncle Peppo · A Night in the Colosseum · My Departure

V

The Campagna

VI

My Visit to Palazzo Borghese · The Story of My Childhood Ends

VII

Life at School · Habbas Dahdah · La divina commedia · The Senator's Nephew

VIII

A Pleasant and an Unpleasant Encounter · The Little Abbess · The Old Jew

IX

The Jewish Girl

X

One Year Later · The Roman Carnival · The Soprano

XI

Bernardo as Deus ex Machina · La prova di un opera seria · My First Improvisation · The Last Day of Carnival

XII

Lent · Allegri's Miserere in the Sistine Chapel · A Visit to Bernardo · Annunziata

XIII

The Picture Gallery · A More Accurate Explanation · The Easter Celebration · The Turning Point of My Fate

XIV

The Farmers of Rocca del Papa · The Den of Thieves · The Goddess of My Fate

Part II

The Pontine Marshes · Terracina · An Old Acquaintance · The Birthplace of Fra Diavolo · The Orange Garden near Mola di Gaeta · The Neapolitan Signora · Naples

Pain and Consolation · A Closer Acquaintanceship with the Signora · The Professor · The Letter · Did I Misunderstand Her?

A Walk through Herculaneum and Pompeii · An Evening on Vesuvius

An Unexpected Encounter · My Performance at Teatro San Carlo

Santa · The Eruption · Old Relationships

The Journey to Paestum · The Greek Temples · The Blind Girl

The Adventure in Amalfi · The Blue Grotto in Capri

The Trip Home

My Education · The Little Abbess

Old Domenica · The Discovery · An Evening in Nepi · Terni · The Seafarer's Song · Venice

XI.

The Storm · A Soiree at the Home of My Banker · The Podesta's Niece

The Soprano

Poggio · Annunziata · Maria

Verona's Distinctive Features · The Cathedral of Milan · A Meeting at Napoleon's Triumphal Arch · Dream and Reality · The Blue Grotto.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4529-5673-1

OCLC:

1053888304