The citizens of Corfu, influenced as they were by the Venetians, have inherited their love for music, the theatre and the fine arts. Even nowadays, the visitor is able to discern, especially among the elders of Corfu, a politeness, which possibly stems from the long-lasting sovereignty of the Venetians. It is the only city in Greece that boasts seven philharmonic orchestras, a conservatoire, two choirs and four theatres; it is there that the Department of Musical Studies was established at the Ionian University.


Musical education in Corfu

Homer speaks of a great Corfian musician, the blind citharoedus Demodocus, whose singing made Homer shed tears at the court of king Alcinous. But since the era of the bards, who sang of the triumphs of mythical heroes, until the 19th century, Corfu has a long history, the greater part of which we know very little. The particular economical prosperity during the 6th century B.C. favoured the cultivation of the arts and cultural events. As professor Th. Pappas states, during the 2nd century B.C., theatrical and musical competitions were performed in Corfu, with the aid of sponsors.

During the Byzantine era though, this musical tradition came to a halt. The advent of Christianity also meant the abandonment of anything that was connected to the ancient Greek religion. Theocratic Byzantium and the Eastern Church severely persecuted instrumental music. This resulted in the disappearance of polyphonic music in the eastern part of the Mediterranean in favour of the eastern monophony. It is in this context that we can fully comprehend Saint John Chrysostom’s rage against instrumental music, which has left its mark upon Greek music.

Corfu’s influence by Constantinople gradually ceases after 1204. During foreign occupation and up until the unification of Corfu with Greece, western conquerors influenced greatly local artistis. In this period the Corfian musical tradition will merge with those of the Greek refugees and the northern Italian settlers, the western polyphonic music and, later, with belcanto. This resulted in the bloom, not only of popular songs and the “serenade” (with a profound western influence), but especially of a musical lifestyle which would be charactyeristic of Ionian music.

Ecclesiastical music could not have avoided this influence although this did not mean a simultaneous detachment from the eastern orthodox ecclesiastic doctrine. During the Renaissance, Corfu, being right on the way connecting Venice with Crete, undoubtedly participates in the new literary and musical trends, but is still in the shadow of the great auteurs of the time: Cornaros, Theotocopoulos and Leodarites. When, in 1669, the Cretan refugees found shelter in Corfu and the rest of the Ionian islands, which were occupied by the Venetians, they also brought along with them their genuine musical tradition. Thus, the psalmody of the Ionian islands with Byzantine melodies and triple impromptu escort is, even today, called “cretan music”.

The making, in 1690, of San Giacomo was decisive for the musical performances and the further growth of westernish musical tradition in Corfu. It started as a lodge of the noble and was transformed into a theatre in 1720. In 1733 it started accommodating opera performances and became the oldest and most prominent musical birthplace of the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean, the benefits of which, Corfu, against all odds, enjoys until today. The great Musical School of the Ionian islands -with composers like Mantzaros, Ksindas, Liverales, Labelet and Samaras- was, during the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, the peak of this long-lasting musical tradition. Corfu and the rest of the Ionian islands, gave us not only the first Greek composers, but also the first musical pedagogues and the first professional musical performers. In that time the people of Corfu became lovers of the opera and the lyric show and attained a high artistic standard. New venues (Municipal Theatre) are built to accommodate the constantly growing theatrical audiences.

The philharmonic orchestras of Corfu which started to be established from 1840, are worthy on-carriers of the local musical tradition. The numerous musical bodies which still exist on the island (philharmonic orchestras, choirs, conservatoires, the Municipal symphony orchestra of Corfu and a chamber music group) keep up the musical tradition of Corfu.

The foundation of both the High school of Music and the Department of Musical Studies at the Ionian University has actually created a musical tradition for Corfu; it is this tradition that has led to the advent of numerous modern Greek composers.

Finally, the creation of many Artistic Societies and Unions, which enhance the present status musical tradition and set a standard for the future, creates a new perspective for Greek musical history. [Original text in Greek taken from the web site of the Municipality Corfu: http://www.corfu.gr/en.htm .]


Opera in Corfu during the Venetian period

San Giacomo theatre when it was first built

The San Giacomo theatre of Corfu is not just the place where opera was performed for the first time within the region of the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean. It is also the laboratory where the lyric theatre was cultivated in Corfu, the temple where the musical initiation of the Corfians took place, the venue where the western melodies mingled with the eastern ones. It is the birthplace of the Ionian Musical Culture and an inexhaustible source from which a plethora of artistic events streamed. It has never actually ceased its operation, even in the difficult days of the Corfians. The contribution of the San Giacomo theatre to the modern Greek culture has been more than significant.


Birth of the opera

The opera was set forth thanks to the ambition of the artistic Florentine count Giovanni Maria de Bardi and his humanistic companions to revive ancient Greek tragedy. Hence, in 1597, the bucolic romance Dafnis was performed for the first time. The libretto was written by Ottavio Rinuccini and the music was composed by Jacopo Peri and Jacopo Corsi. It was an imitation of the ancient Greek tragedy, which was called ‘dramma per musica’ or ‘opera in musica’. This effort was met with great success and soon the opera extended to the rest of Italy, and approximately a century later it had spread out in Kings’ courts and the main urban centres of Europe; it was actually special stages that would accommodate particularly melodramatic performances.

In time, there were four kinds of this opera that stood out:
1. Opera seria: Serious, not necessarily tragic
2. Operasemiseria: With intermediate comic elements
3. Opera buffa: With a light or comic plot
4. Grand opera: With a tragic plot and high quality standards


Opera in Venice

Claudio Monteverdi (1613-1643), the “father of the opera”, who lived in Venice, assured an enviable European lead in the consolidation and progress of the lyric theatre for the city of the Doges. The first public stage, built especially to accommodate opera performances, was constructed in 1637 in Venice (Teatro San Cassiano).

During the 17th century, Venice, having sixteen stages, was the centre of the European opera; the Ionian Islands were part of the “Marine State of Venice”. The musical initiation of the Ionian people begins under the influence of the Venetian metropolis with the opera performances at the San Giacomo theatre in 1733. That was 45 years before the construction of Teatro alla Scala in Milan (1778).


The construction of San Giacomo

The architectural masterpiece, which today houses the office of the Mayor of Corfu and some other Municipal departments, was built in the 17th century. The noble decided to establish a cenacle (a lodge) where its members could gather and exchange views and, at the same time, entertain themselves according to the paradigm of the metropolis and the rest of the Italian cities of the Renaissance. Thus, in 1660, a proposal was introduced for a lodge (Loggia) to be constructed. It was immediately approved by the General Proveditor of the Sea, Antonio Damosto, but due to lack of resources, its construction begun in 1690, since the whole matter was undertaken by a special steward, Knight Konstantinos Kokines.

But Corfu is already drawing the increasing attention of Venice. After the fall of Handakas (1669), Corfu houses the entire eastern administration and the numerous crews of Her Highness’ fleet. Greater mobility is noticed after the saving of the city from the Turkish fleet (siege in 1716). The General Intendant of the East, Andrea Corner, takes initiative and, in 1720, he converts the lodge into a theatre for the entertainment of the officers of the fleet. He delegates the administration of the building to the military authorities. The theatre was named «Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo», after the Metropolis of the Catholics (Duomo) which was next to it and commemorated Saint Jacob.


Operation of the theatre

The close connection of Corfu to the Venetian culture contributed to San Giacomo’s operating within European standards. The performances began with particular circumstance in the presence of the officers of Venice and the Corfian authorities. The general command was of the General Intendant of the Sea, that is the supreme commandant of the islands. He was responsible for the theatre and the performances while he himself entertained the other authorities during the intermissions.

From the first years of operation, the theatre’s repertoire intended to meet the taste of the audience, the need for entertainment and also the need for creating a place for social association and affirmation of the social status of the audience. The conditions under which the theatre operated were guaranteed by the allocation of all theatre tasks to an impresario, who created a performances schedule and submitted it for approval to the Theatre Board. During the English occupation the jurisdiction of San Giacomo theatre was assigned to a three-member committee, the supervision of which was exercised by the Eparch (the Mayor) and to which the impresario reported, after having fulfilled all the terms of the agreement. The commission funded the performances. The people of the Ionian Islands believed that the theatre, like public schools, was sine qua non obligation of the state. The method of all0ocating funds from the Ionian State directly to the Theatre was discontinued by the “indigent and ignorant, and therefore indifferent to cultural matters” Greek state when, in 1864, the Ionian Islands were united with Greece. The local Corfian music lovers who could afford to fill San Giacomo even with an over-priced ticket changed this. Moreover, the decision, in 1885, of the Corfian Town Council for a new, larger and more integral theatre constitutes a proof for the undiminished operamania of the people of Corfu.


San Giacomo theatre

This Renaissance style theatre was entirely built out of carven stone. The architect of the patterns is still unknown. Externally it was lavishly decorated with arches and baroque sculptures which made it a sublime ornament of the city. The entrance to the theatre was its last arch, which was especially set, while the orchestra was at the same height as the entrance and people came in from the back seats. Two staircases at the ends of the eastern side led to the boxes and the gallery. The stage was built on the western side while its overall capacity of spectators was approximately 350 people. The orchestra had 12 rows of seats and above it there were three rows of boxes (23 on the whole) which could be rent by season only to the noble, but later to the rich citizens as well. Above the boxes was the gallery, which was filled, in the beginning, with rich townees and later on with “every social element”.


The curtain of San Giacomo

The curtain of San Giacomo was a true gem. Created by Giovanni Buzatto or, according to others, by Napoleone Genovesi the 7,20 x 4,50 metres work of exceptional art bore an image of Ulysses being welcomed on the island of the Phaeacians. The artist, in order to depict the faces of the Phaeacians, drew his inspiration from the actors, musicians and technicians of the theatre. This particular curtain decorated the New Municipal Theatre as well. It was saved by the great disaster of 1943 by chance. Today it lies in the Municipal Theatre of the city.


Another interesting detail of San Giacomo theatre was Portantina. It was a gold-filled buggy, with no wheels and a velvet seat inside, which carried the prima donna of every performance to and from the theatre. The prima donna was a great diva of the time, an adorable individual for the people of Corfu; the latter expressed their admiration to “the first treble” in any possible way. Today, Portantina, a rare heirloom of San Giacomo, is also in the Municipal Theatre.


San Giacomo and its annex

Το θέατρο San Giacomo με την προσθήκη

In 1832, due to the lively interest of the Corfian people for the lyric theatre, the need emerged for the reconstruction and improvement of the interior and the parallel expansion of the exterior with a new annex, the so-called Atzounda. With Commissioner Adam’s special fund, an orchestra was made with 200 seats and 24 boxes (15 central and 16 unipartite ones) and the gallery was abolished. The square hall was changed into a semicircular one. On the outer side and in front of the central part of the facade, there was a new entrance built, with a classicist temple-shaped prostyle of a Toscan-Dorian order. Several functional rooms like offices, a foyer, a cloakroom and a small lounge, place for conversation and entertainment, were housed in the annex (Atzounda). These additions were removed in 1902 when the theatre was turned into the Town Hall, designed by engineer Serpieres.

Originally, entrance to women was denied. Later, married women were allowed with the obligation to watch the performances from boxes covered with gratings (LOGES GRILLEES). In the course of time the regulation changed and women could watch the performances wearing masks, thus assuring incognito. Finally, this measure was set aside and everybody was free to enter the theatre.


Τhe incident with Stamates Voulgares

San Giacomo theatre got almost burnt during the Russian-Turkish siege (1799), when a projectile actually landed (but did not explode) at the feet of a young Corfian who happened to be standing next to the theatre at that moment. The young man, Stamates Voulgares, managed to defuse the projectile, literally saving not only San Giacomo but also a French military squad that was passing by and was carrying heavy weaponry and ammunition. The French, willing to honour the young man’s heroism, enlisted him in their guard and when they left the young man followed them showing great performance at mechanics and painting. During Kapodistria’s rule, he became the first city planner of liberated Greece.


Performances at San Giacomo

Giacomo Casanova

Carlo Goldoni

From the beginning until 1733 only tragedies and comedies were performed at San Giacomo. But that year, impresario Carlo Grassi suggested a melodrama. His suggestion was accepted and since then the lyric theatre became a second nature not only for the Corfians, but also for all the people of the Ionian Islands. It played a significant part in the culture, the qualitative entertainment of the residents and the struggle for unification. Carlo Grassi was living in Corfu, at least until 1740, organising performances, whereas famous Giacomo Casanova’s memoir gives evidence that Casanova himself was impresario in Corfu in 1745, when he brought a vagrant theatre company, Comedia dell'arte from Otranto, Italy to the island.

The performances began in October with prose theatre companies. In Christmas the plays were melodramas, while at carnival time light opera theatre companies came, to be followed by theatre companies again. Later, during carnival time, fancy dress balls (Kavalkines) were established.
Italian theatre companies came to Corfu for the duration of the 18th and the 19th century. The theatre was always open, even at times of war or siege. What happened during the four-month siege of Corfu by the Russian-Turks in 1798-1799 is characteristic: the opera performances did not stop and, because of the events around them, the Italian theatre company kept on performing twice a week. The entrance was free to both citizens and soldiers so that their spirits would be raised.

In parallel to the opera performances at San Giacomo, there were also prose performances. Based on historical sources we know that theatrical performances were held in Corfu in 1685 in order to honour F. Morosini from the Peloponnese. Many a vagrant theatre companies performed Comedia dell’arte and plays written by Carlo Goldoni, whose comedies the Corfians preferred. Furthermore, some amateur Corfians performed plays during the 18th century. A noble young man, George Rikes, and his companions performed a drama in 1770.

In 1817, prose theatre was performed for the first time in the Greek language at San Giacomo. That night, the English commissioner was present, Thomas Maitland, who attended “Polyxena”, a tragedy in five acts by Iakovakes Rizos-Neroulos. More performances in Greek language followed: plays in translation written by famous authors like Alfieri, Metastasio, Voltaire, Moliere and Racine. Many of these plays were performed by the students of the Ionian Academy under the guidance of the great philhellene Lord Guildford.

In those days the patriotic feeling of the Corfians was elevated, given that it coincided with the struggle of the Greeks for liberation. Thus, a lot of Ionian and Italian composers and dramatists were inspired by the protagonists of 1821. Several plays were performed which enraptured the Corfian audience who loved the theatre and played a leading part in the disillusionment of the Greek conscience that led to the unification of the Ionian Islands in 1864. However, after the unification, timely episodes like the Cretan uprisings kept on supplying the local authors with themes. They put on plays and sent all box-office revenues to the revolutionaries for financial support.

San Giacomo has one more “lead” in the theatrical field. On February 9, 1833, a performance was given of The Laureate Wreath, written by S. Zabelios and N. Nikolaidis. Two actresses were embraced among the actors, Akrivoula Stavrou and Ekaterine Kabatine. That was nine years before female performers appeared in the Athenian stage.

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