0 Cop CAPRI 25 - Caesar Augustus

LUOGHI
16
1947, quando per la prima
volta Edda tornerà a Capri,
si presenterà in Piazzetta al
braccio di Chantecler. E, come
sempre, si siederà a un
tavolino del Bar Tiberio.
Ormai famoso, nel 1952
Capuano lasciò via Camerelle
per trasferirisi con la
sua gioielleria nel più centrale
corso Vittorio Emanuele,
quasi di fronte al
Quisisana. La boutique è
ancora lì, con le vetrine scintillanti
e con la portantina
all’ingresso diventata negli
anni segno di riconoscimento
della casa. Non è quella originale, però:
raccontava Chantecler che un cliente americano
che aveva fatto incetta di gioielli gli aveva
chiesto di comprare anche quella. Come
dirgli di no? Detto fatto, la rimpiazzò subito
con un’altra. Mai più messa in vendita.
Poi arriveranno gli anni Sessanta, quelli che
hanno segnato per l’isola un nuovo rinascimento
e il definitivo trionfo. Nel suo piccolo,
lo testimonierà anche la strada che era stata
anche di Diefenbach e di Cerio. Lì Tonino
D’Emilio, parrucchiere bravissimo e intraprendente,
aprì bottega nella speranza di
tagliare e sistemare tutte le ciocche che contavano.
Ci riuscirà presto: si rivolgeranno a
lui la duchessa di Windsor e la principessa
Soraya, Grace Kelly e Jackie Kennedy. Poi
verranno le grandi boutique, i profumi, le
scarpe e i vestiti, il cachemire e i libri d’arte, i
caffè tranquilli e i ristorantini appartati. Ma
anche gli oleandri e le cicale, la vista sulla
Certosa e i pini, e oltre i pini il mare. Questa
è Capri. E null’altro è Capri.
Camerelle, and which was known by his
nickname, Chantecler – like the cockerel in the
French literary tradition.
The Chantecler jewellery shop
Roberto Ciuni, who knows the island, its history
and its leading personalities like the back of his
hand, has written some delightful and
enlightening pieces on Capuano aka
Chantecler, such as “I peccati di Capri”(“Capri’s
Sins”). The son of Neapolitan jewellers, Pietro
was sent by his father to sell semiprecious and
precious stones to Capri’s wealthy visitors.
During the Fascist period, Ciuni recounts, Capri
high society was divided into two quite separate
clans: one revolved around the Neapolitan
general Armando Diaz, hero of the First World
War and one of Mussolini’s ministers; the other
took delight in being part of the court of
Tommaso Marinetti, the poet and author of the
Futurist Manifesto.
For business reasons, Capuano frequented
both, but it was obvious that his heart lay with
the more upbeat, imaginative Marinetti types.
Shameless, excessive and a born provocateur,
Pietro followed Marinetti’s example and
sunbathed in the nude (in later years, the
Iaconos at the Canzone del Mare would put a
screen around him so that he could do so
there). One day, he appeared in the Piazzetta
wearing red trousers and created a scandal.
Another day, he was seen dressed as a
woman and people began to think he was gay.
From the beginning of the post-war period, his
personal life was closely intertwined with that of
Edda Ciano, a long-time friend and visitor to the
island. After the tragic death of her husband
Galeazzo Ciano and his father, the Duce’s
daughter, who had been confined to Lipari
following the Liberation, received a postcard with
a message saying: that she had a friend on Capri.
It was signed “Pietro Capuano”. In 1947, Edda
returned to Capri for the first time, walked into the
Piazzetta on Chantecler’s arm, then sat at one of
the Bar Tiberio tables like she always did.
In 1952 the then famous Capuano left Via
Camerelle and opened his jewellery shop in the
more central Corso Vittorio Emanuele, almost
opposite the Quisisana. The store is still there,
with its glittering window displays and the sedan
chair in the entrance, which has become its
symbol. But it’s not the original one. Chantecler
used to tell the story that an American customer
who had virtually bought the shop, also wanted
to purchase the sedan. How could he say no? In
fact, it was no sooner said than done, and the
sedan chair was immediately replaced with
another – which has never been for sale.
Then came the Sixties, which signalled another
renaissance for the island and its definitive
triumph. The street associated with Diefenbach
and Cerio was also part of this, in its own small
way. There, a very talented and go-ahead
hairdresser named Tonino D’Emilio opened a
salon with a view to styling the locks of the jet
set. He soon succeeded, and the Duchess of
Windsor, Princess Soraya, Grace Kelly and
Jackie Kennedy all came to him for their
hairdos. Then came the luxury brand boutiques,
the perfumes, the shoes and clothes, the
cashmere and the art books, the quiet cafés
and the small, secluded restaurants. But also
the oleanders and the grasshoppers, the view
of the Charterhouse of San Giacomo and the
pines, and beyond the pines, the sea. This is
Capri. This, and nothing else.
U. D’ANIELLO - CAPRIONLINE.COM