James Joyce & Antonio Smareglia, His Composer Friend

“Smareglia (who lives beside me) is held by many to be the most original of the living Italian musicians.” – James Joyce, 1911

Join us at the James Joyce Centre for a special Bloomsday Festival concert event that illustrates the connection between James Joyce, Antonio Smareglia, Trieste, and Pula. The concert features performances of music excerpts from operas by Smareglia, the Italian-Croatian composer who was a friend and neighbour of Joyce while they both lived in Trieste.

Maltese pianist Charlene Farrugia-Božac and Croatian soprano Sofija Cingula will bring to life some of the music from operas that Joyce would have heard and admired at the time, from Smareglia’s student work Caccia lontana and Nozze Istriane (which Joyce heard in Trieste in 1908) to fragments from Oceana, Smareglia’s most novel work of music theatre known as teatro di poesia.

The event will include presentations by Croatian scholar Dr. Vito Paoletić (University of Pula) about Joyce’s time in Pula, as well as the city’s links to and celebrations of Bloomsday. Introduction about the musician Antonio Smareglia and his connection to James Joyce will be given by Dr. Juliana Licinic van Walstijn (Queen’s University Belfast), President of the Association Smaregliana.

The concert is presented by Association Smaregliana in collaboration with the University of Pula and the James Joyce Centre.