Quante scene per Colomba Mattei: da Napoli e ritorno

An exemplary figure of the industrious and hard working 18th century, Co lomba Mattei is a fascinating model through whom one can explore the established mechanisms of a multifaceted artistic milieu capable of investi gating every possible area of its expertise without excluding any. A femi nine embodiment of tenacity and daring, she traverses a terrain largely cleared by an army of unashamed ladies who, in times long past, had ushered in eras marked by astonishing social transgressions. Trained in the shadows, in mysterious workshops, she suddenly appeared in company, ta king on the role of firs t lady love, with the obligation, when necessary, to play the leading man in musical comedies staged in one of the historic thea tres dedicated to the genre in the cit y of Naples. Mattei presents h e r self to the audience of the Teatro Nuovo boasting h e r di stinguished Roman lineage, a city that has always forged a willing army of harmonicas ne glected yet cultivated to the highest glory in technique and acting s h e gazes confidently from the proscenium of the glorious hall, displaying his craft and, above all , his vocation for the serious genre, which would be realised over time with unquestionable tenacity during the Sicilian season, before charting an enviable artistic path alongside ‘trusted’ colleagues, and crowning his career with the arduous entrepreneur ial endeavour of the long London season.