Starting from the first documents of interest by Gerardo Guerrieri, this contribution examines the long and special friendship between the Grande Attrice Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) and the Parisian chanteuse Yvette Guilbert (1865-1944). Although in different fields, their artistic careers have a lot of affinities and points of contact, like as the European fame they both achieved in Vienna, at the same year, 1892. Beyond the appearances a physical similarity and similar expressive means – both women created a deep artistic bond that led to a mutual project of recitals in 1913. Their friendship was almost unknown and their 25-year correspondence is still practically entirely unpublished, especially letters written between 1919 and 1920 related to the Yvette Guilbert School of the Theater in New York, where Duse had been invited to teach. This historical fact is not the opportunity to talk yet for another time about Duse but to discover, literally, Yvette Guilbert. Her reputation was marked by her first and representative life in the café-concerts, albeit she had a diversified artistic career, crossing different fields and disciplines. Still restrained in the silhouette that made her famous, Guilbert is however one of the most important, ambitious but unknown personalities of the 20th-century female theatre culture.
A partire dalle prime tracce documentarie portate all’attenzione da Gerardo Guerrieri, il contributo introduce alla lunga e profonda relazione di amicizia che dalla fine dell’Ottocento agli anni Venti del Novecento ha legato due grandi artiste: la Grande Attrice Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) e la chanteuse parigina Yvette Guilbert (1865-1944). Pur in campi differenti, le loro carriere artistiche denunciano diverse affinità e punti di contatto, a partire dal successo viennese nel 1892, che sigla per entrambe la fama europea. Tuttavia al di là delle apparenze - una certa somiglianza fisica e un simile impiego di mezzi espressivi – è possibile parlare per queste due donne di teatro di una profonda comunione artistica, tale da renderle complici nel 1913 per un progetto di recitals condivisi. La loro amicizia è rimasta fino ad oggi trascurata e il carteggio, durato venticinque anni, è ancora quasi interamente inedito, soprattutto le lettere del biennio 1919-20, relative alla Yvette Guilbert School of the Theatre di New York, dove Duse era stata chiamata dall’amica come docente. Questa circostanza è però l’occasione, non tanto e non solo, per parlare di Duse quanto per scoprire, letteralmente, Yvette Guilbert. Artista marchiata dal vizio d’origine del café-concert parigino, ha svolto una carriera multipla e variegata, intrecciando differenti settori e discipline. Pur ristretta ancora oggi nella silhouette che la rese famosa, Guilbert è tuttavia e inevitabilmente una delle personalità più importanti, ambiziose ma defilate della cultura teatrale femminile del XX secolo.
«Tu sei l’arte e a te si può ben dire». L’incontro confronto tra Eleonora Duse e Yvette Guilbert
MEI S
2018-01-01
Abstract
Starting from the first documents of interest by Gerardo Guerrieri, this contribution examines the long and special friendship between the Grande Attrice Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) and the Parisian chanteuse Yvette Guilbert (1865-1944). Although in different fields, their artistic careers have a lot of affinities and points of contact, like as the European fame they both achieved in Vienna, at the same year, 1892. Beyond the appearances a physical similarity and similar expressive means – both women created a deep artistic bond that led to a mutual project of recitals in 1913. Their friendship was almost unknown and their 25-year correspondence is still practically entirely unpublished, especially letters written between 1919 and 1920 related to the Yvette Guilbert School of the Theater in New York, where Duse had been invited to teach. This historical fact is not the opportunity to talk yet for another time about Duse but to discover, literally, Yvette Guilbert. Her reputation was marked by her first and representative life in the café-concerts, albeit she had a diversified artistic career, crossing different fields and disciplines. Still restrained in the silhouette that made her famous, Guilbert is however one of the most important, ambitious but unknown personalities of the 20th-century female theatre culture.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.