Music Book Review: Gondola by Donna Leon, With CD of Venetian Barcarole, as Baroque Era Title #3

The gondola exists as an enduring link between Venetian art, history, music, and transportation. Art historians indeed find the progression in design and use recorded over the passage of four centuries in paintings by:

• Jacopo de’ Barbari (1460?–1516?);
• Gabriele Bella (1730–1799);
• Gentile Bellini (1429?–February 23, 1507);
• Giovanni Antonio Canal (October 17/18, 1697–April 19, 1768);
• Vittore Carpaccio (1465–1525/1536);
• Francesco Guardi (October 5, 1712–January 1, 1793);
• Joseph Heintz il Giovane (1600? – September 1678);
• Giovanni di Niccolò Mansueti (1465?–March 26, 1527); and
• Michele Marieschi (December 1, 1710–January 18, 1744).

Venice’s folklore gives musicians and music historians similar track records for classical and provincial music set barcarole-styled at moderate tempo in 6/8 meter.

Gondola has as barcarole to hear when in Venice:

• Cara la mia Ninetta (My Darling Ninetta);
• Con Checca, Betta e Catte;
• Con stuffo morto (I’m Sick to the Teeth);
• Confesso el vero (I Must Confess);
• Farev’ la ritrosetta (You Play the Shy One);
• La biondina in gondoletta (The Blonde in a Gondola);
• La luna mi ghò suso (I’m Glum As the Moon);
• Madam carissima (Oh Sweetest Madam);
• Mai se patisce freddo (You’ll Never Feel Cold at Night);
• Mi credeva d’esser sola (I Thought I Was the Only One);
• Molti rogna (So Many Men Complain);
• Per mi aver (Oh Yes, Cattina);
• Se imparar la vuol patrona (You Want to Learn My Lady); and
• Tanti dise (Though Many Say).

The gondola’s ancestry is as obscure as its artistry and musicality are clear. Specialists judge as:

• etymologically possible the Greek kóndy (cup) or Latin concula (small shell) or cymbula (little ship); and
• historically proven gondulam’s pioneer usage by Doge Vitale Falier (died December 1095/1096).

They know gondolas as:

• built blade-hulled, flat-bottomed, metal-decorated, right-heavy, 36.09 feet (11 meters) long, with cherry, elm, fir, larch, lime, mahogany, oak, walnut;
• caulked with resin outside, pitch inside;
• gondolier-driven with beech-hewn, 13.78-foot (4.2-meter) oar;
• painted black; and
• weighing 771.62 pounds (350 kilos).

So Gondola links cultural enrichment with educational entertainment, through:

• Cecilia Bartoli’s, Vincenzo Capezzuto’s, Riccardo Minasi’s, and Il Pomo d’Oro’s performances;
• Shaul Bassi’s and Philip Morre’s translations; and
• Donna Leon’s authorship.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

"En Gondol" (A Gondola); ca. 1859 genre painting by Johan Julius Exner (November 30, 1825-November 15, 1910)
Primarily depicting Denmark's landscapes, Julius visited Venice via travel grant from Royal Danish Academy of Art.
Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK), central Copenhagen, Southern Denmark; Accession no. KMS3618: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exner_En_Gondol_1859.jpg

"A Gondola on the Grand Canal"; 1881 oil on canvas by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841–December 3, 1919)
in private collection: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierre-Auguste_Renoir_044_(A_Gondola_on_the_Grand_Canal,_Venice).jpg

Donna Leon, crime writer and resident of Venice (and, since 2015, Switzerland) with passion for Baroque music
Donna Leon; Monday, November 1, 2010, 12:19: Michiel Hendryckx, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donna_Leon.jpg

"Venetian Gondola Scene"; ca. 1880 oil on canvas, signed by Fanny Carlini (upper right corner)
Fanny, daughter of Venetian artist Giulio Carlini (Aug. 12, 1826-Oct. 21, 1887), married one of her father's pupils, Raffaele Mainella (Jan. 31, 1856-April 27, 1941); her name often is designated as Fanny Mainella-Carlini.
Boris Wilnitsky Fine Arts, Schulerstrasse 7, city center Vienna, Austria: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fanny_Carlini_Venezianischer_Gemüsehändler.jpg

gondolas in sanctuary on Venetian Lagoon in view of Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore
San Giorgio Maggiore, south of main islands of Venezia (Venice), northeastern Italy: Svein-Magne Tunli (Smtunli), CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gondolas_in_Venice_Venezia_tunliweb.JPG

Leon, Donna. 2013. Gondola, With a CD of Venetian Barcarole Performed by Il Pomo d'Oro, Conducted by Riccardo Minasi, Featuring Vincenzo Capezzuto and Cecilia Bartoli. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press.