scholarly journals The Proscenium of Opera Houses as a Disappeared Intangible Heritage: A Virtual Reconstruction of the 1840s Original Design of the Alighieri Theatre in Ravenna

Acoustics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 694-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario D’Orazio ◽  
Anna Rovigatti ◽  
Massimo Garai

In a Historical Opera House (HOH), the proscenium is the foreground part of the stage. Until the end of the 19th Century, it was extended through the cavea, being the orchestra placed at the same level of the stalls, without an orchestra pit. Soloists often moved in the proscenium when they sung, in order to increase the strength of the voice and the intelligibility of the text. The Alighieri theatre in Ravenna, designed by the Meduna brothers, the former designers of Venice’s “La Fenice” theater, is chosen as a case study. During a refurbishment in 1928, the proscenium of the stage was removed in order to open the orchestra pit, which was not considered in the original design. The original design and the present one are compared by using numerical simulations. Acoustic measurements of the opera house and vibro-acoustic measurements on a wooden stage help to reach a proper calibration of both models. Results are discussed by means of ISO 3382 criteria: the proscenium increases the sound strength of the soloists but reduces the intelligibility of the text.

Acoustics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario D’Orazio ◽  
Sofia Nannini

The foundation of architectural acoustics as an independent science is generally referred to Sabine’s early studies and their application. Nevertheless, since the 16th Century, a great number of authors wrote essays and treatises on the design of acoustic spaces, with a growing attention to the newborn typology of the Opera house, whose evolution is strongly connected to the cultural background of the Italian peninsula. With roots in the Renaissance rediscovery of Vitruvius’s treatise and his acoustic theory, 16th- to 19th-Century Italian authors tackled several issues concerning the construction of theatres—among them, architectural and structural features, the choice of the materials, the social meanings of performances. Thanks to this literature, the consolidation of this body of knowledge led to a standardisation of the forms of the Italian Opera house throughout the 19th Century. Therefore, the scope of this review paper is to focus on the treatises, essays and publications regarding theatre design, written by pre-Sabinian Italian scholars. The analysis of such literature aims at highlighting the consistencies in some 19th-Century minor Italian Opera houses, in order to understand to what extent this scientific and experimental background was part of the building tradition during the golden age of the Italian Opera.


Author(s):  
Brandi L Holley ◽  
Dale L. Flesher

ABSTRACT: The 19th century brought on much economic growth and advancement in accounting in the United States. The teaching of accounting began to veer away from rules and instead sought the logical underpinnings of the system. It was a time when accounting evolved into accountancy through the development of theory, such as the proprietary theory and the theory of two-account series. The Townsend Journal (1840-1841), which chronicles the joint venture between two young men in the Boston maritime trade, is a case study of this progression in commerce and accounting during this pivotal time. B. F. Foster's contemporaneous Boston publications on bookkeeping provide the framework to understand this evolution in accountancy, as well as the recordings in the Townsend Journal. Through the examination of the Townsend Journal alongside B. F. Foster's texts, this paper preserves and illustrates a historical link in the evolution of the field.


Author(s):  
Liliana Ninarello

The main focus of this chapter is the highly valued work done by the architect Francesco Pieroni at the Ministero delle Finanze in Rome. This contribution can to attribute to Pieroni various drawings and numerous modine, i.e. real scale cardboard templates of various shapes used in the realization phases of the mouldings. Pieroni's activity represents, in the Roman context, one of the first applications of typical 16th century mouldings, to modern and prefabricated metal bar structures, spreading in the 70's of the 19th century. The construction companies were resilient to agree for changes in building techniques due to a lack of expertise. The realization of the Ministero is a case study of this phenomenon. The archival research developed casts new light on the numerous modifications carried out by Peroni during construction phases, which demonstrate the accuracy employed by the architect in designing the stuccos. The chapter analyses two different types of archive documents: the report Spoglio modificazioni lavori di stucco, and the examples of modine authored by Pieroni.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Pichler

AbstractThis article aims to provide an initial insight into the practical philological work of seminary students around 1900 who study German language and literature. Within a historical-praxeological case study I want to discuss one specific text, a so-called ›Seminararbeit‹, submitted by a student in 1884. Johann Zmölnig writes about Paul Fleming, a German- and Latin-writing author from the 17th century, who becomes popular for his poems in the decades after his young death. But also later on, he is seen as a figure for German-language writing in questions of language-policy - and during the 19th century in particular for philologists and their editorial work. In more than a hundred handwritten pages the student shows several aspects of philological writing-practice: studies of language and style, linguistic criticism, biographical writing as well as the ability to enhance the prevailing perception of Fleming’s poetry.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-38
Author(s):  
Darko Šunjić ◽  
Stipo Buljan

Explosive forming appeared at the end of the 19th century as unconventional technology that provides new methods to get workpieces with bigger dimensions and complex geometries. As a source of energy this technology uses explosives. Explosive, as such, is relatively inexpensive and theoretically with it, it is possible to get any amount of energy that is needed. Explosive forming is used with other technologies such as deep drawing, expansion of pipes, welding etc. One of the main explosive characteristics is the velocity of detonation that can be determined, inter alia, with the Dautrich method. This paper clarifies the method and gives a case study with explosive Vitezit 20.


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