Furio Zanasi

This recording of La Daunia Felice ideally concludes a project of study and research that began in 1997 with the Study Seminar organised on the occasion of the bicentenary of the wedding of the heirs to the throne of Naples. In 2002 the Umberto Giordano Conservatory and the Foggia City Authorities promoted the first modern-day scenic performance in the restored Teatro Giordano. Paisiello’s La Daunia Felice was staged in Foggia on 25th June 1797 for the wedding of Prince Francesco, heir apparent to the throne of Naples, to the Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria. This royal wedding was unquestionably one of the most important events in the history of the city of Foggia and the Capitanata. Indeed, Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina, with the entire Bourbon court, came for the occasion and stayed in Foggia in a moment that was particularly dramatic for the Kingdom. La Daunia Felice was presumably composed by Paisiello between April and June 1797 and it was staged in the presence of the royal family, the court and a limited circle of the elite of the city, at the 'Palazzo Dogana' [Customs House] in the so-called Feast Hall. According to the libretto the stage props and sets required no small efforts both musically and scenically that had to go well beyond the simple ”pretext” of wishing happiness to the newly-wed couple.