Collections | Music, Literature, Dance and Fashion | Music | Arab and Ottoman themes in European music [12 Objects]

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Introduction to the Chapter

Record of the marriage between the Egyptian governmental official Paul Draneht Bey, aged 55, and the Italian Adele Casati, aged 19, celebrated in Oggebbio (Italy) in 1873

28 June 1873

State Archives of Verbania

Verbania, Italy

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 Justification for this item

Adelaide Casati attended the premier of Aïda in Cairo where her father played cello in the orchestra. Two years later, age 19, she married Paul Draneht. Following their marriage in 1873 the Dranehts left Egypt and moved to Oggebbio, Italy. This document is their marriage certificate from Oggebbio, witnessed by Adelaide’s sister and her husband.

Théâtre de l'Opéra. 'Aida'. Avenue of the sphinxes at the gates of Thebes (act 2 scene 2)

1880

National Library of France

France

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 Justification for this item

Although Aïda was first performed in Cairo in 1871, this engraving depicts the set of the 1880 Paris production at the Opéra Garnier. It combines elements of Old Kingdom sculpture with columns topped by heads, all of which dwarf the crowds below. It shows Act 2, Scene 2 when the Egyptians return victorious from their battle with the Ethiopians.

Théâtre de l'Opéra. 'Aida'. The banks of the Nile (act 3). Set by Jean-Louis Chéret

1880

National Library of France

France

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 Justification for this item

This engraving presents a scene from Act 3 of the 1880 French production of Aïda when Radamès and Aïda meet at the temple on the banks of the Nile. This scene was sung in French by Gabrielle Kraus and Henri Sellier. By 1880 the opera had been staged in North and South America and most of the countries of Europe, including Paris in 1876.

Paul Draneht, his wife Adele Casati and their daughter Despina

c. 1880

Marke Zervudachi Collection

Italy

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 Justification for this item

This photograph from around 1880 shows Paul and Adelaide Draneht with their small daughter, Despina, posed before a backdrop that evokes the monuments of the classical past. Draneht had retired to Europe in 1877, but maintained lucrative business interests in Egypt.

Portrait of Paul Draneht

1880s–90s

Alexis Zervudachi Collection

Italy

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 Justification for this item

Paul Draneht (1815‒94), an émigré from Cyprus to Egypt, became prominent in the government of the Khedive, Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha. As superintendant of the Egyptian Opera theatre, he commissioned from Verdi Aïda. Complications prevented the producers from opening the opera house in 1869 with Aïda, but it later debuted in Cairo in 1871.

Portrait of Paul Draneht

1880s–90s

Alexis Zervudachi Collection

Italy

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L'Égyptienne, military operetta in three acts and 11 scenes

1890

National Library of France

France

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 Justification for this item

L’égyptienne was a comic opera by Charles Lecocq, a prolific composer of comic operas and operettas, and performed at the Théâtre Folies-Dramatiques in Paris in 1890 and 1914. This “military operetta” is set in Egypt when the Napoleonic forces had just arrived. The only pictorial details that refer to Egypt are the figures in turbans and the Ottoman-style architecture.

An elderly Paul Draneht (1815–94) with his daughter Despina

1890s

Marke Zervudachi Collection

Italy

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 Justification for this item

This photograph was taken sometime before the death of Paul Draneht in Alexandria in 1894. Here his daughter Despina poses with him. Despina married a wealthy Alexandrian-Greek businessman, Emmanuel Zervoudachi, in 1894, and lived in Alexandria and Italy.

Fête Égyptienne: Divertissement de Concert pour Piano: op. 3

1891

National Library of France

Paris, France

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 Justification for this item

This piano recital, the Fêtes égyptiennes, features two pieces, “Masquerade Andalouse” and “Sérénade Slave”, which would have appealed to French Orientalist tastes. Neither piece had anything to do with Egypt, but they sounded exotic. The lyre, harp, tambourine and trumpet next to an Egyptian column near the pyramids suggest a distant civilisation.

Dans le harem: Divertissement Arabe. For piano

1894

National Library of France

France

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 Justification for this item

Edouard Cazaneuve (d. 1903) was a composer of popular music, some of which had Orientalist titles, such as Dans le harem: divertissement arabe: piano. Private individuals would have bought sheet music for piano to play at home. Cazaneuve also composed a version of Ravel’s Bolero and all of his music is classified as “Romantic”.

Nuit d'Orient. [waltz for piano, op. 11]

1901

National Library of France

France

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 Justification for this item

The cover of the sheet music for Nuit d’Orient, a waltz for piano by P. Bermalty (d. 1921), fits the prevailing stereotypes of the “East” with the Sphinx in the background, a caravan winding through the desert and a comely young woman in a low-cut blouse. This composer specialised in waltzes, but not all of them involved Orientalist themes.

The villa of Paul Draneht in Oggebbio (Verbania, Italy)

1906 or slightly earlier

Fulvio Ramoni Collection

Italy

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 Justification for this item

In 1872 Paul Draneht bought a villa on the banks of Lago Maggiore, which he remodelled in a combined European and Eastern style. From the exterior a tower with an ogival dome is visible, while inside one room was modelled after an ancient Egyptian temple. The Parisian set- and prop-designers of Aïda produced the furniture for the house.

The villa of Paul Draneht in Oggebbio (Verbania, Italy)

1906 or slightly earlier

Fulvio Ramoni Collection

Italy

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Original sheet music of 'The Portugueza'

Published in the supplement of the Ocidente, n. 405, 21 March 1890

Centro República

Lisbon, Portugal

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 Justification for this item

The image on this sheet music for A Portugueza includes a trumpet, gun and spear within a ring with the name “Vasco da Gama” on it, which may suggest that the music refers to Portugal’s colonies. The music was adopted as the marching song of the 1891 rebellion and in 1911 became the national anthem of the new Portuguese Republic.

Original sheet music of 'The Portugueza'

Published in the supplement of the Ocidente, n. 405, 21 March 1890

Centro República

Lisbon, Portugal

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Introduction to the Chapter