The Musical Cultures of the Jews in Italy
Lecture by Prof. Francesco Spagnolo (UC Berkeley) with a performance by Enrico Fink, Gabriele Coen, and the Solisti dell’Orchestra Multietnica di Arezzo
Jews have lived in the Italian Peninsula — a land they referred to in Hebrew as I-Tal-Yah (an “Island of Divine Dew”) — since Roman times, thus before the advent of Christianity, and have participated in many aspects of its culture. Originating in the global diaspora, Italian Jewish culture is equally rooted in Italy’s history. In this lecture, Prof. Francesco Spagnolo will illustrate the many dimensions of the cultural identity of the Jews of Italy in the modern period, in a conversation punctuated by live music presented by some of today’s leading performers.
By combining musical sources (manuscripts and archival recordings) with visual and literary testimonies, the program will explore the hyper-local, regional, national, and global dimensions of the Italian Jewish musical experience. Particular attention will be paid to the formation of Jewish ghettos inside Italy’s cities, large and small, since the 16th century, and to the Emancipation of the Jews in the 19th century when the Jewish minority achieved full civil rights in the midst of the Risorgimento and Italian unification and independence.