Il paradiso perduto : storiografia e sociologia del loggione operistico

This essay examines the loggione in Italian opera houses as a theatrical space, a social community, and a set of practices. As an object of analysis, the loggione is approached through both historiographical and ethnographic case studies, with the aim of bringing together insights from social historiography on theatre audiences and contributions from cultural sociology on opera enthusiasts. The primary vantage point is the loggione of Milan's Teatro alla Scala, though the discussion also draws comparatively on the loggione of the Teatro Regio in Parma (a mid-sized city) and that of the Teatro Comunale in Cagli (a small town, albeit one situated within the distinctive theatrical landscape of the province of Pesaro and Urbino).

Following a broad survey of the social historiography of opera audiences across the long nineteenth century, the essay seeks to trace the close relationship between spatial and cultural dimensions within the loggione, charting its historical and architectural development from its origins through the second half of the twentieth century and beyond. The essay's second part turns to the medial dimension, examining it in relation to the seriality of reception – first intensified by recordings and later by the Internet. This development helped amplify certain idiosyncrasies of a highly distinctive theatrical space, one marked by a socio-cultural profile that is as famous as it is, analytically speaking, elusive. In this way, the essay aims to fill a gap in both historical musicology and the sociology of music, while opening the way for further research [Publisher's text].

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