[ 399 ]
TOC
|
In arriving at Genoa, I found no other
public musical performance than an in-
termezzo, in which Piatti, a young singer
who had just returned from England, was
principal.
From the number of musical establish-
ments and performances mentioned in this
journal, the Italians may, perhaps, be
accused of cultivating music to excess;
but whoever continues a short time in
any of their principal cities, must perceive
that other arts and sciences are not neg-
lected: and even in travelling through
the country, if some parts of the Eccle-
siastical State be excepted, the natural
fertility of the soil does not appear to be
the only source of abundance in the ne-
cessaries of life; for I can venture to
affirm, that, throughout Piedmont, Lom-
bardy, and Tuscany, agriculture is carried
on with such art and activity, that I
never remember to have seen lands better
laid out, or less frequently suffered to lie
idle: the poor indeed seem to be oppress-
|
.jpg)