Erik Bruchez
Sun, 15 Jan 2006 16:52:42 -0800
Dear list, This is a summary of the latest Mascagni news, which you will also find online at http://www.mascagni.org/: 1. Lost manuscript of Alla Gioia likely sold at Rome auction The manuscript score for Alla Gioia (Ode to Joy), a work composed by the young Mascagni in 1882 just after his early In filanda, was for sale in a Christie's auction in Rome in December. This is an important event, as the music has probably not been heard in its complete form since the early 1880s, and it was feared that the manuscript score had been lost, having surfaced for the last time at Milan exhibit in December 1963, according to Cesare Orselli's notes for In filanda. The description of the auction item reads as follows (Mascagni.org's translation). MASCAGNI, Pietro. Important autograph music manuscript signed (three times: on the front page, with a dedication to Conte Florestano de Larderel; on the title page, in calligraphy; at the bottom of the last page with date Livorno 1882): Alla Gioia, Cantata. Text by Schiller. Translation by Maffei. Music by Pietro Mascagni, student of the Istituto Musicale Cherubini of Livorno. Executed in Livorno at R. Teatro degli Avvalorati in March of 1882 (introduction on the title page), 121 pages 4ยบ gr. in good copy (bound in half skin with inscription on the back MASCAGNI ALLA GIOIA) of the score for solists, choir and piano. The composition, divided in sixteen closed numbers of various lengths (Invocazione - Romanza - Quartetto con coro - Preghiera a sole voci - Romanza - Coretto - Romanza - Arioso - Romanza - Danze (per solo pianoforte) - Brindisi e Fuga - Fuga - Preludino (per solo pianoforte) - Romanza - Giuramento - Quartetto - Finale), is obviously a work done for the conservatory (the presence of two fugues is telling, offering a catalog of proofs of composition technique), and suffers from the implicit and heavy confrontation with one of the most famous choral pages of the times which, in spite of being composed sixty years later, remains of incomparably greater expressive freedom (we are talking of course about the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony). Although of course the Italian version of the famous verses by Schiller (for example: O miriadi di viventi atterratevi al Signor Universo, e tu non senti che ti regge un fren d'amor) could have in a way reduced the strength of the impact of Beethoven's piece, which necessarily had to influence the promising nineteen years-old student of Cherubini. A fascinating document. Estimate: EUR 10,000-15,000 / USD 12,000-18,000 It is to be hoped that, if the item actually sold, the buyer will promptly arrange for the publication and performance of the music. The work is characterized by Alan Mallach in his biography as "overambitious", and Mascagni himself later recognized that he had probably aimed a little too high. However, the recent release on CD of In filanda, composed when Mascagni was only 17, demonstrates the extraordinary talent of the young Mascagni, and makes his subsequent Ode to Joy all the more intriguing. http://www.mascagni.org/news/#id106 2. A Manuscript Letter by Mascagni Mascagni.org presents a two-page manuscript letter sent by Mascagni to the newspaper La Tribuna regarding a dispute with Maestro Mascheroni. The letter does not bear a date, but can safely be dated to around June 1898, as Mascagni discussed this matter in other letters (in particular in a letter to Giulio Ricordi dated June 24, 1898). The actual paper documents feature extra notes added possibly by the recepient of the letter (La Tribuna), stating in Italian that the document is a letter sent by Mascagni, quoting the text by Mascagni, and finally adding notes at the end of the letter. Those notes have been electronically removed to provide a "restored" version of the letter, while the original document is also presented for historical purposes. More information, including the text of the letter with English translation: http://www.mascagni.org/news/#id107 Scans of the actual document: http://www.mascagni.org/book-reader/image/510708/1/75 3. Set of Le Maschere Cards Mascagni.org presents a series of eleven cards on the subject of Le Maschere (1901) entitled Mascagni in Maschera (Mascagni masked). The cards feature ten commedia dell'arte characters, all of them present in Mascagni's opera except "Stenterello" and "Meneghino". One character of the opera, "Brighella", is missing from the series. Each character is a caricature of Mascagni drawn by NASICA. http://www.mascagni.org/pictures/510725 4. New French Cavalleria Rusticana audio tracks Mascagni.org just added two audio tracks of Cavalleria Rusticana, sung by Germaine Cernay (Santuzza), Gaston Micheletti (Torrido), and Mady Arty (Mamma Lucia), conducted by Gustave Cloez in 1934: http://www.mascagni.org/recordings/510728 Enjoy, -Erik _______________________________________________ mascagni-interest mailing list mascagni-interest@lists.alphanet.ch http://lists.alphanet.ch/mailman/listinfo/mascagni-interest