| Description |
Maggio 'La Pia de' Tolomei' (stanzas 1-116), performed by compagnia di Pieve di Compito at Gragnanella (LU) 26/7/1992, video tape 1 of 2.
Documentation of this performance on hi8 video VT9210-11; AT9207; photos 92PIX03.
See text 'La Pia de' Tolomei' Maggio, secondo il testo adottato dai maggianti di Pieve di Compito (Lucca), a cura di Gastone Venturelli (Provincia di Pisa, CTP Lucca, Quaderno 64, 1982). A photocopy of this text, labelled '92.4 Gragnanella 26/7' has been annotated by Linda Barwick with details of the performers (barely legible in photocopy, but see Linda Barwick's 1992fieldnotes-transcript).
The Pieve di Compito company, which is based in a small town near Lucca, the provincial capital, has quite a different performance style from the Garfagnino companies that usually perform at Gragnanella. This performance was part of the series sponsored each year by the Centro Tradizioni Popolari della Provincia di Lucca.
The Maggio Pia de' Tolomei is one of the most famous maggio stories - see Barwick, L. (2005). 'An Ample and Very Poetical Narrative': The Vicissitudes of 'La Pia' between the Literary and Oral Traditions. In M. Baker, F. Coassin & D. Glenn (Eds.), Flinders Dante Conferences, 2002 & 2004 (pp. 77-101). Adelaide: Lythrum Press. |
