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Natalia Di Bartolo

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki


Natalia Di Bartolo (born 17 June 1958 in Catania) is an Italian art historian, dramatist, musicologist and music critic. Her work spans art-historical research, musicology and opera criticism, alongside dramatic writing for the stage.[1][2]

File:Applausi incantatore Avignone1.jpg
Natalia Di Bartolo

Education and scholarly background

Di Bartolo pursued classical studies before graduating in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Catania, with a curriculum including art history and musicology. She subsequently completed postgraduate studies in art history at Sapienza University of Rome. Her education also included lyric singing, piano and the visual arts. She studied burin engraving at the International School of Graphic Arts in Venice, developing a multidisciplinary background that informed her later work in art history, musicology, criticism and theatre.[3]

Art-historical research

Di Bartolo's work as an art historian has addressed painting and the graphic arts, with particular attention to engraving, printmaking and the historical and technical processes of artistic reproduction. Her research combines the examination of works of art with documentary, technical, iconographic and historical analysis.[3]

Domenico Morelli, Gli Iconoclasti (1855), Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.

A long-standing strand of her research concerns the nineteenth-century engraver and painter Francesco Di Bartolo (1826–1913), whom she has studied since her academic research through archival and documentary investigation, the examination of prints and matrices, and the reconstruction of commissions, artistic relationships and institutional contexts.[3][2]

Her studies have addressed Francesco Di Bartolo's activity as an engraver, etcher, burinist and painter, his training and career between Catania, Naples and Rome, his relations with artists of the nineteenth-century Italian school, his work for the Regia Calcografia, and the interaction between painting, engraving and photography in nineteenth-century Italy.

In 2026, the bicentenary of Francesco Di Bartolo's birth brought this strand of research into particular focus. Di Bartolo developed a series of art-historical studies devoted to individual engravings, portraits, drawings and paintings, as well as to documentary sources, commissions and the reconstruction of the artist's institutional and artistic career.[4] The bicentenary series represents the public development of a larger six-volume research corpus built through archival, technical, iconographic and critical study of the artist and his historical context.[3][4]

Musicological, critical and editorial activity

Alongside her work in art history, Di Bartolo has worked as a musicologist and music critic. Her musicological activity has concentrated principally on opera, vocal technique, interpretation, conducting, phrasing and the relationship between words and music.[1][2]

She has published reviews, interviews, musicological essays and art-historical studies in cultural publications, writing on opera productions, singers, conductors, performance practice and the interpretation of the operatic repertoire.[1][2]

In 2014, she founded OperaeOpera, a digital cultural publication devoted to music, theatre, art history, printmaking, poetry and the performing arts, which she continues to direct.[5]

Dramaturgy

Dramaturgical approach and critical reception

Di Bartolo's dramaturgy is based on the integration of spoken theatre, poetry, operatic vocality and music within a continuous stage structure, rather than on the alternation of separate dramatic and musical sections. Her writing developed from a long-standing engagement with opera, vocal technique, literary text and theatre criticism.[1][2]

In La sposa e i suoi carnefici, literary, dramatic and operatic materials are reorganised into a new theatrical construction. Texts by William Shakespeare, Walter Scott, Felice Romani, Jules Barbier, Michel Carré, Salvadore Cammarano and Arrigo Boito are brought into relation with music from Vincenzo Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Giuseppe Verdi's Otello. Contemporary accounts emphasised the continuity created between recited language, operatic singing and poetry.[6][7][8]

The dramaturgical adaptation of L’uomo dal fiore in bocca. Poesie, novelle ed altre pazzie applied a related method to the theatre, short stories and poetry of Luigi Pirandello. Rather than presenting the selected writings as an anthology, the production connected them within a new dramatic sequence centred on the conflict between existence, illness, identity and the perception of death.[9][10]

With L’Incantatore, Di Bartolo moved to an entirely original contemporary dramatic poem written in unrhymed hendecasyllables. Theatre itself becomes a dramatic character reflecting on memory, abandonment, transformation, the loss of the physical stage and the meaning of performance. Its recited voice is placed in dialogue with Zoe, the personification of life, whose part is sung.[11]

The French critic Marguerite Romeuf identified the founding premise of the work—the question of what Theatre would say if it were given a voice—as an original dramatic idea. She drew particular attention to Di Bartolo's use of the eleven-syllable line, relating it to the verse of Dante's Divine Comedy, and described the undertaking as remarkable. Romeuf explicitly attributed the verses performed by Simon Domenico Migliorini to Di Bartolo and regarded the production as an artistic proposal of quality, while also observing its deliberate fidelity to the classical codes and conventions of opera.[12]

The critics Jean-Pierre Bacot and Jean-Marie Cabot, writing in Lyrica Massilia, described L’Incantatore as a hybrid dramatic poem written by Natalia Di Bartolo and set to music by Éric Breton. They examined the interaction between the speaking actor and the singer and the movement between theatre, poetry and music. Breton's score was considered as the musical component of a work whose text and dramatic conception were attributed to Di Bartolo.[13]

Festival context and collaboration

Several of Di Bartolo's principal stage projects were developed through her collaboration with the Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra and its founder and artistic director, the actor and director Simon Domenico Migliorini.

The archaeological area of the Roman Theatre of Volterra, the historic location of the Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra.

The Festival, whose first season was held in 2003, developed from a project conceived in 1994 to restore and return the ancient Roman Theatre of Volterra to its original function as a venue for live performance. Its programme has combined classical and contemporary theatre, opera, poetry, dance and music; it has received the patronage of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO and, in 2011, a Medal of Representation from the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano.[14][15][16]

Migliorini, a former pupil of Giorgio Albertazzi, has worked as an actor, director and artistic director.[17]

Major stage works

La sposa e i suoi carnefici

La sposa e i suoi carnefici received its world premiere on 8 August 2017, during the closing evening of the fifteenth Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra.[6][18]

File:La sposa e i suoi carnefici, applausi, Volterra 2017.jpg
La sposa e i suoi carnefici at the curtain call in Volterra, 2017

The production was conceived for the soprano Patrizia Ciofi and Simon Domenico Migliorini, with Laura Pasqualetti at the piano. Ciofi alternated acting and operatic singing in the female roles, while Migliorini portrayed the male characters and shared the direction with her. The section devoted to Lucia di Lammermoor was omitted from the premiere; Ciofi therefore performed Juliet and Desdemona and made her debut in Verdi's role of Desdemona, although the complete work includes all three female protagonists.[19][20]

Pasqualetti (1962–2021), a pianist, vocal coach and répétiteur with a long professional association with Riccardo Muti, provided the musical continuity at the piano. The premiere drew a capacity audience, and contemporary reviews discussed the performances of Ciofi and Migliorini and Pasqualetti's orchestral approach to the piano part.[21][22][23]

L’uomo dal fiore in bocca. Poesie, novelle ed altre pazzie

In 2020, Di Bartolo provided the literary consultancy and dramaturgical adaptation for L’uomo dal fiore in bocca. Poesie, novelle ed altre pazzie, created specifically as the new closing production of the eighteenth Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra. Produced by the Festival and the Teatro Persio Flacco, it premiered on 12 August 2020.[9][10]

File:Simone Migliorini e Domenico Belcari in L'uomo dal fiore in bocca, poesie, novelle e altre pazzie, Volterra, 2020.jpg
Simon Domenico Migliorini and Domenico Belcari in L'uomo dal fiore in bocca, poesie, novelle ed altre pazzie, performed at the Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra, 2020.

The production was centred on Pirandello's one-act play L’uomo dal fiore in bocca, combined with material from Enrico IV, La patente, Novelle per un anno and other writings. Migliorini directed and performed the principal role alongside Francesca Signorini and Domenico Belcari; David Dainelli composed and performed the original music live.[9][24][25][26]

The performance took place during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, with distancing and capacity restrictions in force. The open-air Roman Theatre and its restored seating enabled the Festival to continue its programme. The closing production sold out and received prolonged applause; reports on the eighteenth edition recorded high attendance, including spectators from northern European countries.[27][28][15][29]

L’Incantatore

File:L'Incantatore Volterra, applausi a Natalia Di Bartolo, 2024.jpg
Natalia Di Bartolo acknowledges the audience's applause after the world première of L'Incantatore, Roman Theatre of Volterra, 2024.

Di Bartolo wrote L’Incantatore expressly for Simon Domenico Migliorini. Éric Breton composed the original score, and the work premiered on 26 July 2024 during the twenty-second Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra.[30][31]

Migliorini portrayed the Enchanter and directed the production; the Franco-Spanish soprano Lydia Mayo performed Zoe, while Breton performed his score at the piano.[30][31][32]

File:Avignone 2025, Simone Migliorini, Natalia Di Bartolo, Grarad Vantaggioli.jpg
Simon Domenico Migliorini, Natalia Di Bartolo and Gérard Vantaggioli in Avignon, 2025

On 12 October 2025, the work was performed in Avignon as part of the ninth Semaine Italienne – Bella Italia, an institutional programme devoted to Italian culture and organised in collaboration with the city of Avignon, the Consulate General of Italy in Marseille, the Italian Cultural Institute of Marseille and the Italian Chamber of Commerce for France in Marseille.[33][34][35]

The performance took place at the Théâtre du Chien qui Fume in rue des Teinturiers, directed by Gérard Vantaggioli, and was presented in Italian with French surtitles.[11][33][36][37]

File:Applausi Avignoneok.png
L’Incantatore at the curtain call in Avignon, 2025

The performance received prolonged final applause, and Di Bartolo, who was present in the auditorium, was invited onto the stage for the concluding tribute.[38][39]

Theatrical works

  • La sposa e i suoi carnefici (2017)
  • L’uomo dal fiore in bocca. Poesie, novelle ed altre pazzie (2020), dramaturgical adaptation and literary consultancy
  • L’Incantatore (2024)
  • Donne guerriere[1]
  • Le donne di Mefistofele
  • Lo specchio di ossidiana
  • La bellezza di Kera
  • Il custode delle parole
  • L’inferno è scritto

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Natalia Di Bartolo". Natalia Di Bartolo (in italiano). Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Natalia Di Bartolo". Opera, My Love Magazine. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Curriculum Vitae – Natalia Di Bartolo". OperaeOpera (in italiano). Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Natalia Di Bartolo (2026). "I saggi su Francesco Di Bartolo (1826–1913): progetto e metodo". OperaeOpera (in italiano). Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "About OperaeOpera". OperaeOpera (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Giorno e notte da lunedì 7 a domenica 13 agosto" [Day and night from Monday 7 to Sunday 13 August]. la Repubblica (in italiano). 7 August 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  7. ↑ Redazione Aurora (6 August 2017). "La sposa e i suoi carnefici, al Teatro Romano di Volterra, tra lirica e prosa" [La sposa e i suoi carnefici at the Roman Theatre of Volterra, between opera and spoken drama]. Aurora International Journal (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  8. ↑ Redazione (2017). "La sposa e i suoi carnefici" [The Bride and Her Executioners]. Eventi Culturali Magazine (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Redazione Pisa (12 August 2020). "L'uomo dal fiore in bocca per il Teatro romano" [L’uomo dal fiore in bocca for the Roman Theatre]. La Nazione (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "L'uomo dal fiore in bocca" [The Man with the Flower in His Mouth]. Indiecinema (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Saison 2025–2026" [2025–2026 Season] (PDF). Théâtre du Chien qui Fume (in français). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Marguerite Romeuf (15 October 2025). "L'Incantatore de Natalia Di Bartolo : notre avis" [Natalia Di Bartolo's L’Incantatore: our review]. Avignon et Moi (in français). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  13. ↑ Jean-Pierre Bacot; Jean-Marie Cabot (17 October 2025). "L'Incantatore d'Éric Breton en Avignon. Éloge de la délicatesse" [Éric Breton's L’Incantatore in Avignon: in praise of delicacy]. Lyrica Massilia (in français). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  14. ↑ "Il Teatro Romano di Volterra e il suo Festival: un magico insieme d'arte da recuperare e valorizzare" [The Roman Theatre of Volterra and its Festival: an artistic heritage to be restored and enhanced]. Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra (in italiano). Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra "il Verso, l'Afflato, il Canto"" [Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra “The Verse, the Breath, the Song”]. Art Bonus (in italiano). Italian Ministry of Culture. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "Medaglia del Presidente Napolitano al IX Festival del Teatro Romano di Volterra" [President Napolitano's Medal for the ninth Roman Theatre Festival of Volterra]. Teatro.it (in italiano). 28 July 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "Assegnati i Premi Ombra della Sera del Festival del Teatro Romano di Volterra" [The Ombra della Sera Awards of the Volterra Roman Theatre Festival]. Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  18. ↑ Redazione (7 August 2017). "A Volterra spose e vittime innocenti, comunque eroine" [In Volterra, brides and innocent victims, yet heroines]. Noi Donne (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  19. ↑ Angelo Rivoli (12 August 2017). "Patrizia Ciofi e Simone Migliorini trionfano a Volterra con La sposa e i suoi carnefici di Natalia Di Bartolo" [Patrizia Ciofi and Simone Migliorini triumph in Volterra with Natalia Di Bartolo's La sposa e i suoi carnefici]. L’Idea Magazine (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "Da La sposa e i suoi carnefici: monologo finale Giulietta e Romeo" [From La sposa e i suoi carnefici: final monologue, Juliet and Romeo]. Amazon Music (in italiano). 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  21. ↑ Roberto Del Nista (16 August 2021). "Addio alla pianista Laura Pasqualetti" [Farewell to pianist Laura Pasqualetti]. Il Giornale della Musica (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  22. ↑ Angelo Rivoli (2017). "La sposa e i suoi carnefici" [The Bride and Her Executioners]. OperaLibera (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  23. ↑ G.D. (August 2017). "La sposa e i suoi carnefici a Volterra" [La sposa e i suoi carnefici in Volterra]. Sipario (in italiano).
  24. ↑ "L'uomo dal fiore in bocca di Luigi Pirandello" [Luigi Pirandello's The Man with the Flower in His Mouth]. Amazon Music (in italiano). 10 April 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  25. ↑ "Il soffio di Luigi Pirandello" [Luigi Pirandello's The Breath]. Amazon Music (in italiano). 9 April 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "Da Enrico IV di Luigi Pirandello" [From Luigi Pirandello's Henry IV]. Amazon Music (in italiano). 9 April 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  27. ↑ Redazione Aurora (14 August 2020). "L'uomo dal fiore in bocca, successo strepitoso per lo spettacolo con la regia di Simone Migliorini" [L’uomo dal fiore in bocca, outstanding success for the production directed by Simone Migliorini]. Aurora International Journal (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "Il Festival è un successo, bilancio positivo e applausi anche alle gradinate ritrovate" [The Festival is a success, with positive results and applause for the restored seating]. Il Tirreno (in italiano). 19 August 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  29. ↑ G.D. (August 2020). "L'uomo dal fiore in bocca. Poesie, novelle ed altre pazzie" [The Man with the Flower in His Mouth: Poems, Short Stories and Other Follies]. Sipario (in italiano).
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Ilenia Pistolesi (10 July 2024). "Tra le rovine del teatro romano, 19 appuntamenti tra teatro, danza, musica ed eventi" [Among the ruins of the Roman Theatre, 19 events featuring theatre, dance and music]. La Nazione (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Éric Breton (19 September 2024). "L'Incantatore" [The Enchanter]. Official website of Éric Breton (in français). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  32. ↑ "Mayo Lydia" [Lydia Mayo]. Musique sacrée et orgue en Avignon (in français). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "9e Semaine Italienne – Bella Italia" [9th Italian Week – Bella Italia in Avignon] (PDF). Ville d’Avignon (in français). 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  34. ↑ "9e Semaine Italienne à Avignon – La Bella Italia" [9th Italian Week in Avignon – La Bella Italia]. Italian Cultural Institute of Marseille (in français). 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  35. ↑ "Puccini Opéra. Voix de femmes – 8e Semaine Italienne à Avignon, La Bella Italia" [Puccini Opera: Women's Voices – 8th Italian Week in Avignon, La Bella Italia]. Italian Cultural Institute of Marseille (in français). 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  36. ↑ "Théâtre du Chien qui Fume". Théâtre du Chien qui Fume (in français). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  37. ↑ "Migliorini in scena ad Avignone con L'Incantatore" [Migliorini performs L’Incantatore in Avignon]. QUInews Volterra (in italiano). 11 September 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  38. ↑ "Ultime notizie" [Latest news]. Festival Internazionale Teatro Romano Volterra (in italiano). Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  39. ↑ G.D. (October 2025). "L'Incantatore di Natalia Di Bartolo ad Avignone" [Natalia Di Bartolo's L’Incantatore in Avignon]. Sipario (in italiano).


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