Scugnizza

When Carlo Lombardo went to the station to await Mario Costa's arrival, he did not know exactly why they were meeting. It was known that Costa needed a lot of money, given the debts he had accumulated gambling at the Monte Carlo Casino, so it was ideal for him to work for Lombardo, a rich impresario from Milan. As soon as he got off the train, Costa was taken to the prestigious Lombardo music house and was ordered to write an operetta from scratch. After two weeks, Scugnizza was ready, with an effective libretto and a series of well-chosen and often inspired pieces, first and foremost “Napoletana” and “Salomè Una rondine non fa primavera”.
Scugnizza debuted in its world première at the Teatro Alfieri in Turin on the evening of 16 December 1922 with the protagonist Salomè interpreted by Nella Regini who, as a true and somewhat capricious diva, made it a condition for her participation in this new operetta toilettes sumptuous. It was a great success with the public and critics alike, apart from Regini's inappropriate clothes.
Scugnizza è certainly the Italian operetta par excellence, full of typically Neapolitan lyricism. The story, at times touching and at times comic, is absolutely realistic and reflects the canons of Italian operetta, with those regional traits that distinguish our operetta production. The direction is absolutely philological, as was the intention of the Elena D'Angelo operetta company, with the addition of a particularity that enriches the story: the song “Era de Maggio”, also by Costa, which is not present in the 1922 score, is given to the character of Totò but with a modified text. This novelty was desired by the author and added in later editions.

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Elena D’Angelo.