71: Marco Pollaci

I’m so pleased today to talk to my guest today, Music theorist, historian, pianist and singer, Dr. Marco Pollaci!

Following his studies as a pianist and singer, he graduated in a "Liberal arts - Music and Performing Arts degree - " from the University of Tor Vergata in Rome with Dr. Giorgio Sanguinetti and went on to receive his PhD in Music from the University of Nottingham in 2018.


Dr. Pollaci's research focuses on eighteenth and nineteenth-century opera and music history. He is interested in sketch studies, music theory and music analysis. Further research interests include Partimento Studies and Italian compositional practice in eighteenth and nineteenth century music.

He is currently working as an assistant researcher for a Partimento project for the Department of Musicology of Pavia. He runs the popular Facebook Group, "The Art of Partimento".

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1:52 What’s your musical background? 4:16 Are these articles and books you mentioned new? 5:13 What were the gaps that people had in understanding before? 6:25 Talking about the German and French influence in the Neapolitan Partimento tradition? 7:57 On the secretiveness of the Neapolitans 9:20 Did Fugal writing lessen as 19th century Romantic harmony took over? 11:46 Was writing Opera the main goal for young Italian composers? 14:15 Who were the “Giovane Scuola” (Young School)? 15:59 Weren’t the Young School more associated with the Milan tradition rather than the Neapolitan tradition? 20:41 The Romantic view of composers and Bellini 22:06 What kind of training did Bellini undergo? 22:45 The famous teachers of Naples 24:58 Can you see traces of Partimento Exercises in Bellini operas? 26:28 On Bellini being greatly admired by his contemporaries 27:28 Talking about the Bellini revival with Maria Callas 29:33 Can Bellini’s famous long melodies be connected with the Partimento tradition 32:53 Does the Paris Conservatory have a similarities to the Partimento tradition? 35:07 How did Germany harmony affect Partimento? 35:58 Talking about the separation of Counterpoint and Harmony 37:46 How did the Partimento tradition change with 19th century Harmony 40:19 Can you analyze 19th century romantic music with a Partimento lens 42:17 Using the Prelude to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde as an example 43:24 Talking about Giuseppe Verdi 46:15 Was Italian music as or more influential than German music during the 18th and 19th century 47:32 What has surprised you about your research? 48:44 Did non-Italian composers absorb these musical patterns without the Neapolitan training? 50:41 Was it difficult to access the Neapolitan archives because of their secretive reputation? 53:15 How much material is in these archives and is there a lot more left to study? 54:42 Do you have favorite Partimenti exercises? 55:19 What’s appealing about Durante? 56:43 How widespread were Fenaroli’s exercises in Europe? 58:09 On the progressive difficulty of the Fenaroli partimenti 59:28 How can partimento assist in understanding music of the 19th century? 1:01:17 Should we still keep Roman Numerals and traditional tonal analysis 1:02:29 Wrapping up and Upcoming projects/events