PUBLICATIONS
Francesco publishes extensively on 19th-century Italian opera and other subjects.
The following is a selection of Francesco's most significant publications.
A comprehensive list of Francesco's published scholarship is available on his University of Southampton web page.
Book: Laughter between Two Revolutions: Opera buffa in Italy, 1831-1848
Published in 2013 by University of Rochester Press in the prestigious Eastman Studies in Music series, Francesco's book tells the forgotten story of post-Rossinian opera buffa, with attention to masterpieces by Donizetti and fascinating comic works by Luigi Ricci, the young Verdi, and other composers.
Critical Edition: Verdi's Un giorno di regno
This critical edition offers the first publication of Giuseppe Verdi's second opera, Un giorno di regno, in full score. The edition is based primarily on Verdi's autograph manuscript. Editor Francesco Izzo contextualizes Un giorno di regno in his introductory discussion of the work’s origins, sources, and performances. In addition, appendices provide alternative musical readings and reconstruct lost versions of segments of the musical numbers, while the critical commentary explores editorial problems and answers. The edition is part of the series The Works of Giuseppe Verdi / Opere di Giuseppe Verdi, co-published by Casa Ricordi and The University of Chicago Press.
Book Chapter: Censorship
Published in the monumental Oxford Handbook of Opera, edited by Helen M. Greenwald, this chapter takes the reader on a journey across different periods and geographic areas, exploring how political and religious authorities interfered with the creation and performance of opera, affecting and altering choices of subject, poetic texts, verbal expressions, and, indeed, the music.