Parlor Games: Italian Music and Italian Politics in the Parisian Salon.

The article discusses Italian music written by expatriates and exiles living in Paris, France during the 1830s and the way in which they may have influenced Italian politics through their compositions. Composers Agostino and Giovanni Ruffini were among the group of exiles in Paris. Italian poet Carlo Pepoli, who wrote librettos, was also part of the political active group of artists and the double entendres in his poetry are examined. Compositions by the composer Saverio Mercadante are discussed as is the presence, in many songs by a number of composers including Mercadante and composer Gioachino Rossini, of a character named Elvira.