The Music Library of Francesco Viani (1809-1877): The Reconstruction of a Gift to the "Paganini" Conservatory of Genoa
←
→
Trascrizione del contenuto della pagina
Se il tuo browser non visualizza correttamente la pagina, ti preghiamo di leggere il contenuto della pagina quaggiù
The Music Library of Francesco Viani (1809–1877): The
Reconstruction of a Gift to the “Paganini” Conservatory
of Genoa
Carmela Bongiovanni
Fontes Artis Musicae, Volume 64, Number 1, January-March 2017, pp. 21-67
(Article)
Published by International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation
Centres
For additional information about this article
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/650242
[ This content has been declared free to read by the pubisher during the COVID-19 pandemic. ]THE MUSIC LIBRARY OF FRANCESCO VIANI
(1809–1877): THE RECONSTRUCTION OF A GIFT
TO THE “PAGANINI” CONSERVATORY OF GENOA
Carmela Bongiovanni
Introduction
In his historical reconstruction of the music library of the Conservatory “Nicolò
Paganini” in Genoa1, Salvatore Pintacuda states that on 13 June 1907 the music collection
belonging to Francesco Viani was given by his son Felice to the Municipal Music School
(today the “Paganini” Conservatory) of Genoa. With the exception of a few notes in his in-
troduction, Pintacuda almost entirely excludes the Viani Collection from his catalogue of
the old heritage of the Paganini library published in 19662. The reason for this exclusion
is possibly to be found in the consistency of the Viani Collection, largely rich in music
manuscripts and editions dating back to the first half of the nineteenth century, while
Pintacuda’s catalogue—with several exceptions—does not go beyond 1800.
Thanks to archival findings in the Municipal Archive of Genoa, it is now possible to
trace not only the historical circumstances of the gift but also the personality of the donor,
Francesco Viani (1809–1877). The discovery in the “Paganini” library of the deposit in-
ventory3, although not exhaustive, has made it possible to almost completely reconstruct
the Viani Collection, scattered among the various units in the library, and for the most part
without sign of ownership. Only a part of the Viani Collection has maintained its original
location: these are the miscellaneous volumes which gather printed or manuscript opera
excerpts, in full or vocal score. In the old shelfmarks, organised by Lorenzo Parodi (1856–
1926), at that time music librarian–teacher of music history 4, the name of the donor was
included in the library’s shelfmark. The dispersion of part of the Viani Collection among
other library collections is not surprising, given the circumstances that the musical Liceo
Carmela Bongiovanni is music librarian and professor of music bibliography at the “Paganini” Conservatory
of Genoa. An earlier version of this essay was presented at the Nineteenth Colloquium of Musicology of the
“Saggiatore musicale”, Bologna, 20–22 November 2015. Thanks are due to the staff of the Historical Archive and
of the Archive of Population of the Municipality of Genoa for their assistance in this research.
1. Salvatore Pintacuda, Il Conservatorio di musica “Nicolò Paganini” di Genova: storia e documenti dalle ori-
gini ai giorni nostri (Genova: Liguria edizioni Sabatelli, 1980), 86.
2. Genova biblioteca dell’Istituto Musicale “Nicolò Paganini”: Catalogo del fondo antico, ed. Salvatore
Pintacuda (Milano: Istituto Editoriale Italiano, 1966).
3. The deposit inventory has the following title page: Catalogo speciale delle Collezioni musicali del Cav. M°
Francesco Viani donate al Civico Istituto di Musica dal di lui figlio Felice Viani Anno 1907 accettate dalla Giunta
Municipale nella seduta del 13 giugno 1907.
4. Lorenzo Parodi was professor of music history and librarian from 1906 to 1926; Salvatore Pintacuda, Il
Conservatorio di musica “Nicolò Paganini di Genova: storia e documenti dalle origini ai giorni nostri (Liguria:
Sabatelli, 1980), 87, 140.
2122 FONTES AR TIS MUSICAE 64/1
and its library had to face during World War II. According to Pintacuda, the library was re-
peatedly moved, with the aim, as much as it was possible, to protect this ancient collection5.
On 6 June 1907, thirty years after his father’s death, Felice Viani, Francesco Sr.’s
son, through his son, the lawyer Francesco Jr.,6 offered the Municipal Council his music
collection:
Onorevole Signor Sindaco, Il compianto mio Avv. patrono [sic], di cui porto il nome, valente
quanto modesto cultore dell’arte dei giorni, ha radunato una ricca biblioteca musicale (oltre 150
volumi). Interpellato il signor Direttore del Civico Istituto di Musica [Giovanni Battista Polleri,
1855–1923], se tale biblioteca potrebbe riuscire all’Istituto medesimo dono utile e gradito, egli,
dopo esame, rispose in senso affermativo. Ond’è che a nome di mio padre ne faccio all’on. Giunta
all’anzidetto scopo formale offerta, esprimendo soltanto il desiderio, pel caso che il dono venga
accettato, che la biblioteca sia allogata in apposito scaffale, portante il nome del compianto mio
avo. In attesa di cortese riscontro, La prego, Sig. Sindaco, di gradire i miei ossequi Devotissimo
Avv. Francesco Viani7.
[Honorable Mayor, my late attorney, and Patron [sic], for whom I am named, and a modest
valiant lover of today’s art, brought together a rich music library (over 150 volumes). When
asked of the Director of the Civic Institute of Music [Giovanni Battista Polleri, 1855–1923], if such
a library might be useful to the Institute, he, upon examination, replied in the affirmative. So
then, on behalf of my father, I make to the above-mentioned director, a formal offer [of the col-
lection], only expressing a desire, if the gift is accepted, that the library house it in a special book-
shelf, bearing the name of my late grandfather. Waiting for your kind reply, I beg you, Mr Mayor,
please accept my most devoted regards Avv. Francesco Viani]
The Council immediately accepted the gift; on 20 June 1807, it was determined that suit-
able bookcases in which to house the music library should be purchased8.
Francesco Viani, Sr.
According to an old Italian tradition, two names are recurrent in Francesco Viani’s fam-
ily: Felice and Francesco, which alternate from generation to generation. In the case of the
Viani family, not just the same name, but also the career was transmitted to descendants.
Francesco Viani Sr.’s father, Felice, owned a business that dealt with the production and
5. Ibid., 50–55. On the events relating to Italian libraries during World War II, see Andrea Paoli, ’Salviamo la
creatura’: protezione e difesa delle biblioteche italiane nella seconda guerra mondiale, with essays by Giorgio De
Gregori and Andrea Capaccioni, introduction by Mauro Guerrini (Roma: AIB, 2003) and Le biblioteche e gli
archivi durante la seconda guerra mondiale: il caso italiano, ed. Andrea Capaccioni, Andrea Paoli, and Ruggero
Ranieri (Bologna: Pendragon, 2007).
6. Francesco Viani, Jr (Genoa, 1861–Serravalle Libarna, 1943), nephew of the owner of the music library and
his eponymous, was a lawyer and president of Catholic associations. See Giovanni Battista Varnier, “Francesco
Viani”, Dizionario storico del movimento cattolico in Italia 1860–1980 (Torino: Marietti, 1981–1984), vol. III/2: Le
figure rappresentative, M–Z, 892.
7. Historical Archive of the Municipality of Genoa, “Giunta Municipale”, Verbali, 2. quarter of 1907, 543: here
is preserved the typed copy of the letter of the gift of the musical collection owned by Francesco Viani Sr. The
act is n. 74.
8. Historical Archive of the Municipality of Genoa, “Giunta Municipale”, Verbali, 2. quarter of 1907, 829–830.
On p. 830: “La Giunta delibera di autorizzare la spesa di L. 75 occorrente per la provvista di uno scaffale in cui
allogare convenientemente e in conformità del desiderio espresso del donatore, le opere musicali donate dal
signor Felice Viani alla biblioteca del Civico Istituto di Musica N. Paganini, prelevando detta somma dal fondo in
bilancio all’articolo 184 lett. d. per l’Istituto di musica”.THE MUSIC LIBRAR Y OF FRANCESCO VIANI (1809–1877) 23
trade of silk 9. This trade was bequeathed to the eldest son Francesco who, as we shall see,
handled it together with his musical activity, and also, above all, with his role as a public
administrator of the Municipality of Genoa.
Francesco Viani Sr. was born in Genoa on 4 June 1809. He was the son of Felice Viani
and Maria Storace. The birth certificate, in French—the Repubblica of Genoa at that time
was part of the French Kingdom—records that on 3 August 1809 Felice Viani, son of the
late Francesco, a forty-year old silk merchant (thus born in 1769), residing in Genoa, Sauli
Square, (in the Molo district), declared before two witnesses the birth, on the previous 4
June, of a son who was given the name of Francesco Tommaso Michele10.
Between 1829 and 1830 Francesco Viani studied harmony and counterpoint under the
guidance of Giovanni Serra, as documented in his counterpoint exercises in manuscript
held by the “Paganini” Conservatory in Genoa and part of his bequest to the library11.
Giovanni Serra (1787–1876), composer, violinist, friend of Nicolò Paganini (who often
cites him in his letters), orchestra leader of the “Carlo Felice” Theatre before Angelo
Mariani, and also director of the Genoese Civic Music Institute (today the State Conserva-
tory) from 1852 to 187212, was one of the leading personalities among the musicians in
Genoa in the first half of the nineteenth century. Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835), in one of
his letters to Francesco Viani sent from Milan13, sine datum but probably written between
1828 and 1829, as well as announcing the restitution, through a banker, of the sum he
owed him, mentions Giovanni Serra: “Mi ricordi al suo bravo maestro Serra, ed a tutta la
fam.a Onetto”. Bellini met Giovanni Serra when he was first violin and conductor for the
first performance of his opera, Bianca e Fernando, which had inaugurated the new Carlo
Felice Theatre in Genoa in 182814.
Viani, whose life was devoted to his own town as a public administrator, turned out to
be a generous donor of important historical items, as we shall see.
Some of the works by Vincenzo Bellini, in printed or manuscript copies, are included
in the music collection belonging to Francesco Viani: of course we find excerpts from
9. Genoa was renowned for its production and commerce of silk in past centuries. See Arte e lusso della seta
a Genova dal ‘500 al ‘700, ed. Marzia Cataldi Gallo (Torino: Umberto Allemandi, 2000); Marzia Cataldi Gallo,
“Tessuti genovesi: seta, cotone stampato e jeans”, Storia della cultura ligure 2, ed. Dino Puncuh (Genova: Società
Ligure di Storia Patria, 2004), 297–334.
10. Historical Archive of the Municipality of Genoa, “Registro delle nascite”, 1809, at n. 1210.
11. Bassi tratti dagli Studi del P. Mattei e posti a 3 reali da F.co V.ni e corretti dal Prof. Giov. Serra cominciati
1829 in agosto, shelfmark: C. 3. 30 (inv.: 810). Below in the same manuscript: Bassi del Sig. M° Gio. Serra Posti
a 4. Reali da Franco Viani e dal sud.o corretti 1830.
12. About Giovanni Serra, see Salvatore Pintacuda, Il Conservatorio di musica “Nicolò Paganini” di Genova:
storia e documenti dalle origini ai giorni nostri (Genova: Liguria edizioni Sabatelli, 1980), 2–35; Niccolò Paganini,
Epistolario, vol. I, 1810–1831, ed. Roberto Grisley. L’Arte Armonica (Roma: Skira, 2006).
13. The letter was auctioned by Christie’s in Rome in 1998 (along with another Bellini letter to the same
Francesco Viani), and is still available on the site of the auction house, http://www.christies.com, accessed
16 December 2016.
14. Convegno di studi sull’opera “Bianca e Fernando” di Vincenzo Bellini, Genova, Palazzo Spinola, 10–11 no-
vembre 1978, ed. Carlo M. Rietmann (Genova: Amministrazione Provinciale, Assessorato alla Pubblica
Istruzione e Cultura, [1980]). In another letter to Francesco Florimo, written from Genoa, on 24 March 1828,
Bellini quoted Serra as the “p.mo Violino”; see Vincenzo Bellini, Epistolario, ed. Luisa Cambi (Milano:
Mondadori, 1943), 68. Bellini, in another letter to Florimo, dated 2 April 1828 (Ibid., 71) states: “il p.mo violino
Sig.r Serra il quale essendo bravissimo contrapuntista, ed essendo un criticone, che non può sentir nominare
Rossini ed altri maestri, con la mia musica se ne và in estasi; dice che è ragionata, piena di Filosofia, e questa sua
idea, essendosi formata da che vide de’ pezzi del Pirata, adesso si è fortificata con quest’opera, ed in Genova mi
chiamano de’ fortunati per aver contentato Serra”.24 FONTES AR TIS MUSICAE 64/1
Bianca e Fernando in the Genoese version and the earlier Neapolitan version, Bianca e
Gernando.15
In his youth, Francesco Viani was a composer as well; a few manuscripts (some auto-
graph) of opera, other vocal works, and piano compositions are part of his legacy. In his
collection, we find manuscript score excerpts from his opera, Luigi Fiesco, to a libretto by
Lazzaro Damezzano16, as well as the cavatina “Fin ch’io rimanga in vita” from L’Alessandro
nelle Indie (1831) to a text by Pietro Metastasio, the arietta da camera “Destra adorata e
cara”, two excerpts from the opera Il proscritto di Messina (1832) to a libretto by Felice
Romani17, and some piano variations. Perhaps his duties as municipal administrator dating
back from the middle of the century, and his work commitments in his father’s commer-
cial firm during his mature years, discouraged Francesco Viani from undertaking public
musical activity; however, even in the 1850s, Angelo Mariani, in an original autographed
dedication of a printed music edition, calls him ‘Maestro’. If we consider his extensive mu-
sic library, it is highly probable that Francesco Viani directly practised music, although
privately.
In a register of the population of Genoa compiled during the 1871 census18, Francesco
Viani appears as a resident of Genoa, residing in Famagosta Street, civic number 2, floor
4, flat n. 9, district of Prè, parish of San Tommaso, along with his wife, Parodi Dionisia
(born in Genoa in 1820), his unmarried brother Giovanni Battista (born in 1824, and thus
fifteen years younger than him), and a young handmaid (born in 1857, at that time only
fourteen years old). The profession of the head of the family (Francesco Viani) as
recorded in the census is silk merchant (negoziante di seta), while his younger brother is
simply stated as “owner”. His son Felice does not appear to reside with the family.
Francesco Viani kept a low profile within the Genoese musical community. This cannot
be said in regard to his administrative roles, for which we have more detail: in 1846 he was
decurion (decurione) of the general Council in Genoa19, and in this capacity he dealt with
public education. In 1847 he was a member of the Genoese deputation to support the
construction of a railway, and in addition councilor of the Chamber of Commerce and
member of the Edili (Building) Department. Between 1850 and 1863, Francesco Viani was
municipal councilor. In this capacity, as well as being the deputy mayor of Genoa and a
member of the Theatre and Music School Commission, he had an active role both in the
15. See the Appendix.
16. The handwritten libretto by Lazzaro Damezzano in the library of the “Paganini” Conservatory (M. 2. 9)
was published as Appendix III in Armando Fabio Ivaldi, “Gian Luigi Fieschi: fra dramma e melodramma”, La
montagna tosco-ligure-emiliana e le vie di commercio e pellegrinaggio: Borgo Val di Taro e i Fieschi, Atti del
Convegno, Borgo Val di Taro, 6 giugno 1998, ed. Daniele Calcagno (Borgo Val di Taro: Comune, 2002), 654–670.
17. A bibliographic description of the music manuscripts by Francesco Viani preserved in the library of the
Conservatory in Genoa may be found in Giorgio Piumatti, Catalogo delle opere di musicisti liguri esistenti presso
la biblioteca del Conservatorio di musica “Nicolò Paganini” di Genova (Genova: ERGA, 1975), 47–50.
18. Historical Archive of the Municipality of Genoa, Città di Genova, Registro di popolazione Vico chiuso
Falamonica, vol. 64, fasc. 1.
19. About the Corpo Decurionale of Genoa, see Liana Saginati, “L’archivio storico del Comune di Genova:
fondi archivistici e manoscritti”, Atti della Società Ligure di Storia Patria, n.s., XVII (XCI), fasc. 2 (1977), 649–667.
On p. 651: “Con le Regie Patenti del 30 dicembre 1814 e 31 luglio 1815 l’Amministrazione della città fu affidata
ad un Corpo Decurionale composto di 80 membri divisi in due Classi, una di nobili e l’altra di possidenti, profes-
sionisti e negozianti, con a capo due Sindaci e furono stabiliti il regolamento economico e le attribuzioni dei vari
uffici. Il Corpo Decurionale […] [p. 652] durò in carica fino a tutto il 1848. Con la legge del 7 ottobre 1848, -
sostituita poi il 23 ottobre 1859 dalla nuova legge sull’ordinamento comunale e provinciale, - venivano istituiti i
Consigli Comunali […]”.THE MUSIC LIBRAR Y OF FRANCESCO VIANI (1809–1877) 25
transformation of the private music school founded and managed by Antonio Costa (at its
founder’s death in 1849) into a Civic Music Institute (today the “Paganini” Conservatory),
and in the creation of a Civic Theatres Orchestra in 1850. The three Genoese musical in-
stitutions, the Civic Music Institute, the “Carlo Felice” Theatre, and the Civic Orchestra,
from the middle of the nineteenth century to at least 187920, formed a unique musical cul-
tural entity under the administration of the Municipality of Genoa. With regard to the
Genoese Civic Theatres Orchestra, there is evidence that Francesco Viani and the or-
chestra’s most famous conductor, Angelo Mariani (1821–1873) knew each other: this can
be proven by the dedications of Angelo Mariani to Viani on a some of his own musical edi-
tions (now in Viani’s library) “in segno di rispettoso affetto e stima”, or also “All’esimio
dilettante di musica Signor Francesco Viani l’Autore in pegno di stima”21.
From 1852 to his death in 1873, Angelo Mariani was first violin and principal conductor
of the Genoese Civic Orchestra; several documents are available today in the Historical
Archive of the Municipality concerning his residence in Genoa. Therefore, Mariani and
Viani are connected to each other not only by the presence of these dedications, but also
by their respective institutional roles: Mariani as employee of the municipality of Genoa,
Viani as deputy mayor and member of the theatres commission.
The reading of the Processi verbali del Consiglio Comunale di Genova, published annu-
ally and available at the Historical Archive of the Municipality of Genoa22, helps to shed
light on the history of the Civic Institute founded by Antonio Costa, during its delicate
transition from private to public music school. The report on the Music Institute enables
us to observe the role played by delegates of the theatres and Music Institute commission,
and particularly by Francesco Viani himself in his role as deputy mayor, in the financial
evaluation of the private property of the Costa heirs and the subsequent payment of the
due amount to Costa’s widow for the sale of furniture, administrative equipment, printed
and manuscript music, musical instruments, and part of the school outfit. Regarding the
equipment, music books, and musical instruments, a committee was asked to estimate
and determine its value. It was conducted by the music publisher Francesco Artaria
(1801–1857) of Milan, the composer and future director of the music school, Placido
Mandanici (1798–1852), and the composer and musician Carlo Andrea Gambini (1819–
1865). Furthermore, from the report we know that the Impresario of the “Carlo Felice”
Theatre, Francesco Sanguineti, who led ad interim the music school after the death of its
founder, while awaiting a decision about the Costa school, asked to continue to manage
the school himself; whereas the invitation from the Municipality to Carlo Andrea Gambini
to lead the new Civic Music School was refused by Gambini himself, because of the need
to follow his career outside of Genoa23. Nonetheless, we have proof from the report that
the original music library owned by its founder, Antonio Costa, is currently kept in the mu-
sic library of the “Paganini” Conservatory as part of its historical collections, most likely
20. Maria Rosa Moretti, “Vita e cultura musicale a Genova e in Liguria”, in Storia della cultura ligure, ed.
Dino Puncuh (Genova: Società Ligure di Storia Patria, 2005), 4:379–470, at 435.
21. Angelo Mariani, Il Trovatore nella Liguria: otto pezzi vocali in chiave di sol con accomp.to di pianoforte
(Milano: F. Lucca, [1853?]), and Otto pezzi vocali con accompagnamento di pianoforte (Milano: Ricordi, [1856]):
shelfmark C. 5. 50. 1-2.
22. This is just one of the libraries and archives that preserve the periodical. For other libraries, see
http://opac.sbn.it, accessed 16 December 2016.
23. This is a summary of the Processi verbali del Consiglio Comunale di Genova nella sua tornata di prima-
vera 1850 (Genova: dalla Regia Tipografia di Giovanni Ferrando, [1850]), 161–164. See also Salvatore Pintacuda,
Il Conservatorio di musica “Nicolò Paganini” di Genova: storia e documenti dalle origini ai giorni nostri (Genova:
Liguria edizioni Sabatelli, 1980), 30, 32.26 FONTES AR TIS MUSICAE 64/1
just those items with labels bearing the name of the former school of music. Although a
number of printed editions and manuscripts of solfeggi and singing methods bears the la-
bel of the former music school of Genoa, at present very few manuscripts contain prove-
nance information leading back to Antonio Costa24, who, in his capacity as Inspector of the
“Carlo Felice” Theatre of Genoa, could have brought to the school manuscript and printed
librettos, as well as music manuscripts of operas copied from the originals kept in the the-
atre itself. In addition to issues related to the acquisition of Antonio Costa’s private music
school by the Genoa Municipality, as found in the Processi verbali del Consiglio Comunale
di Genova (“Minutes of the Municipality Council of Genoa”), we can also establish impor-
tant details on the organisational structure and relationship between the Civic Music
School and the Civic Orchestra as summarised by Francesco Viani on 10 July 1850 at point
ten on the agenda25:
Il sig. Vice Sindaco Viani in nome delle due Commissioni riunite de’ Teatri, e dell’Instituto di
Musica, ha letto un rapporto col quale si ricorda avere questo Consiglio fino del 28 dicembre p.
p. deliberato che l’Instituto di Musica, prossimo a sciogliersi per la morte del suo fondatore,
sarebbe d’ora in poi, mantenuto a carico del Civico Erario assegnandogli la somma di Ln. 6000,
e venne contemporaneamente stabilito che il deposito di musica ed altri oggetti di mobiglia al de-
funto [Antonio Costa] appartenenti sarebbero a benefizio dell’Instituto medesimo comprati, il cui
prezzo dietro estimo fu in seguito stabilito in Ln. 10,081.14. […] E il suddetto rapporto viene ter-
minato colle seguenti conclusioni: 1. Che la dotazione dell’Instituto Civico di Musica, sia stabilita
in annue Ln. 10 mila. 2. Che l’inventario ed estimo della musica, strumenti musicali e mobili a-
scendente a Ln. 10,081.14 sia accettato dalla Civica Amministrazione, ed il Sindaco per conto [p.
160] di questa autorizzato a stipularne il relativo atto d’acquisto dalla vedova Costa alle condizioni
accennate nella Polizza di nomina dei periti e nella lettera della suddetta signora Costa del 1.°
luglio p. p. 3. Che sia nominata una Commissione speciale permanente presieduta dal Vice
Sindaco Delegato ai Teatri, coll’incarico d’invigilare l’Instituto di Musica e provvedere al buon an-
damento dello stesso, rivederne i Regolamenti, e proporvi quelle riforme che si ravviseranno ne-
cessarie. 4. […]. Prosegue la discussione, quindi si mettono ai voti le quattro proposizioni come
stanno scritte nel rapporto, e tutte furono approvate […]. Dopo di che l’adunanza si è sciolta
verso la mezza notte26.
[Mr. Vice-Mayor Viani in the name of the two merged Commissions, that is, the Theatres, and
the Institute of Music, read a report in which he remembers that this Council, since Dec. 28, re-
solved that the Institute of Music, following the death of its founder, would from now on, be the
responsibility of the Municipal Treasury, assigning it the sum of Ln. 6000, and it was simultane-
ously established that the music store, furniture, and other items belonging to the deceased
[Antonio Costa] would benefit the Institute, whose price upon valuation was later established as
Ln. 10.081.14. […] And that the relationship is terminated based on the following conclusions:
1. That the supplies of the Civic Institute of Music, is established in annual Ln. 10 thousand. 2.
That the inventory and valuation of music, musical instruments, and furniture upwards of Ln.
10.081.14 is accepted by the Municipal Administration, and the Mayor on behalf [p. 160] of this
[Administration] authorized to conclude a purchase contract with the Widow Costa to conditions
mentioned in the appointment of policy experts and in the letter dated 1. July p. p. of the afore-
24. One of these is Fedele Fenaroli, Basso continuo numerato con tutte le spiegazioni ed esempi analoghi, man-
uscript in I-Gl, shelfmark D. 3. 51. See http://opac.sbn.it, accessed 16 December 2016, BID LIG0246961.
25. Processi verbali del Consiglio Comunale di Genova nella sua tornata di primavera 1850, 159–160.
26. The above report was also presented and signed among others by the deputy mayor Francesco Viani. It
is entitled Rapporto al Consiglio Comunale sull’Istituto di Musica, fatto dalle Commissioni riunite dei Teatri e
dell’Istituto medesimo and is published in the Processi verbali del Consiglio Comunale, 161–164.THE MUSIC LIBRAR Y OF FRANCESCO VIANI (1809–1877) 27
mentioned lady Costa. 3. That should be appointed as a special standing committee chaired by
Deputy Mayor Delegate to Theatres, be entrusted to the superintendent of the Institute of Music
and provide for the good performance of the same, revise the Regulations, and offer those re-
forms that are necessary. 4. [...]. The discussion continued, the four propositions as they are
written in the report were brought to a vote, and all were approved [...]. After that the meeting
adjourned towards the middle of the night].
On 21 March 1855, Francesco Viani was elected a member of the committee “to draw
up draft regulations for the Civic Orchestra pension funds” (“per formare il progetto di
Regolamento per la cassa delle pensioni dei Professori dell’Orchestra Civica”)27.
The councilor and deputy mayor Francesco Viani was not only involved in choices
about the music institutions of Genoa, but he also dealt with culture in a wider sense: the
establishment and regulation of schools, civic library, university, etc28. He was also a mem-
ber of the theatre commission, as part of his institutional charge; the latter had the task of
deciding whom to sign up and what to perform, and which academies be authorised at the
request of the impresario or others in the civic theatres of Genoa. In the handwritten di-
rectories preserved in the Historical Archive of the Municipality of Genoa29, compiled by
the impresarios Michele Canzio (1788–1868) and Francesco Sanguineti (1803–1874), he
appears to be deputy mayor in charge of the Genoa theatres commission between 1850
and 1856.
At the turn of the twentieth century, the decision by Francesco’s son Felice, together
with his son Francesco Jr., to donate the music library belonging to Francesco Viani Sr. to
the Civic Music Institute of Genoa (today the “Paganini” State Conservatory), after the es-
tablishment of a music librarian position, is in harmony with the life choices of the owner,
described by his grandson as a modest man, but also munificent, as we will see.
As a testimony to Francesco Viani’s generosity, we can cite another example of his pa-
tronage, one that is not related to music. According to the Processi verbali of 7 July 186230,
Viani, who the following year would give up his position at the Municipality of Genoa, gave
his hometown an antique Roman inscription, found in an area north of the town, the an-
cient Libarna, on the Roman Via Postumia, as explained in the following letter to the
Mayor of Genoa:
Illustrissimo Signor Sindaco, Possessore di una Iscrizione Romana (scoperta nei ruderi dell’an-
tica Libarna esistenti fra Arquata e Serravalle Scrivia) che ebbi la buona ventura, or fa qualche
tempo, di salvare dal pericolo in cui stava di venire adoperata qual materiale da costruzione, pen-
sai non poterla a miglior tutela affidare che a quella di codesto illustre Municipio, il quale con sag-
gio consiglio ha testè deliberato di collocare nell’atrio del Palazzo Comunale molte antiche
Iscrizioni e Patrii Monumenti. Mi rivolgo pertanto alla S.V. Illustrissima pregandola a voler an-
teporre i suoi buoni uffici affinchè l’onorevole Consiglio Comunale si compiaccia accogliere be-
nignamente l’offerta ch’io ardisco fargli di questo Monumento antico e dargli luogo fra gli altri
sovraccennati. - Se, come spero, vorrà il Consiglio accettarla, io me ne terrò onoratissimo. […]
Della S. V. illustrissima Genova, addi 7 Luglio 1862 Dev.mo […] e Collega Francesco Viani.
27. Processi verbali del Consiglio Comunale di Genova [1854], 848.
28. For example, on 20 January 1852, Francesco Viani pointed out the necessity of a financial intervention by
the government to found new teaching posts at the local University, and especially professorships in seamanship
and nautical astronomy. On 26 January 1853, Francesco Viani contributed—as responsible for public education—
to the settlement of the civic library staff and the approval of the Genoese “Berio” Civic Library’s regulation.
29. Historical Archive of the Municipality of Genoa, Amm.ni XIX/I, folder 1205.
30. Processi verbali [1862], 174.28 FONTES AR TIS MUSICAE 64/1
[Illustrious Mr. Mayor, I am the Owner of a Roman Inscription (discovered in the ruins of
Libarna between Arquata and Serravalle Scrivia), and had the good fortune, some time ago, to
save it from the danger of becoming building material, I thought that to be able to better protect
it, I should entrust it to this illustrious municipality, who with wise counsel has just now decided
to place in the atrium of the Palazzo Comunale many old Inscriptions and Native Monuments. I
therefore appeal to Your Lordship, begging to preface your good offices so that the honorable
City Council will look kindly on the offer. I venture to give you this ancient monument, and ask
that it be placed among the other artifacts. If, as I hope, the Council will accept this offer, I would
be most honored. [...] Your Most Illustrious Lordship, I remain your devoted colleague,
Francesco Viani Genova, 7 July 1862].
Underneath Viani’s letter, we find the positive response by the Municipality: “Il Consiglio
accetta con grato animo il dono e incarica il Sindaco di fare al donatore i dovuti ringrazia-
menti” (“The Council accepts the gift with gratitude and instructed the mayor to give the
donor due thanks”). The inscription of the Roman era, donated by Francesco Viani, re-
mains unidentified31.
On 1 April 1877, Francesco Viani died at the age of sixty-seven and ten months32. In the
death record, it was noted that he was still residing with his wife in the Salita Famagosta
9, and was cited as owner and merchant.
Francesco Viani’s Music Librar y: Reconstruction and Contents
The rediscovery of a music library, one owned by a private citizen, gives not only a new
cultural profile in relation to the choices of musical sources inside the collection, but it
also offers new historical patterns and perspectives on the environment in which the col-
lection was created, connections that are not usually visible through an Online Public
Access Catalogue (OPAC).
Even individual sources, if seen in their original context, offer further connections and
historical interpretations. It is similar to studying an archival unit taken as a whole, or con-
versely, seeing the same sources but incorporated among different shelfmarks and places.
Despite its brevity, the deposit inventory of the Viani Collection made it possible to re-
construct the vast majority of the entire music collection donated at the very beginning of
the twentieth century by Felice Viani. At present, it is not possible to identify some biblio-
graphic units from the Viani Collection, in particular those listed in the Supplemento to the
inventory, since their description is insufficient and concise.
Even today, the spine of many books have a label with numbers corresponding to those
in the original inventory of the Viani Collection; they too were helpful to restore the entire
gift in the absence of ownership notes. Many manuscripts show their provenance from
the Viani Collection by virtue of the owner’s signature on the title page or engraved on the
bindings. Sometimes we find the owner’s signature even on prints, such as Tatton Jean
Latour’s La Cocarde blanche 33. Furthermore, we can document the presence of music
items surely coming from the Viani Collection, but not included in the original inventory34.
31. It was not mentioned among hundreds of Roman inscriptions from the Ligurian territory; see Angelo
Sanguineti, “Iscrizioni romane della Liguria”, Atti della Società Ligure di Storia Patria 3 (1865), n. 2 (digitised on-
line); Ada Bettini, Bianca Maria Giannattasio, Anna Maria Pastorino, and Luigina Quartino, Marmi antichi delle
raccolte civiche genovesi (Pisa: Pacini, 1998).
32. Historical Archive of the General Registry Office of Genoa; courtesy of the registrar, Elisabetta Gnecco.
33. Tatton Jean Latour, La Cocarde blanche: Divertissement pour le piano-forte avec accomp.t de flute ad libi-
tum composé par T. Latour (Milano: chez Jean Ricordi, [1823]).
34. I listed them at the end of the inventory in the Appendix.THE MUSIC LIBRAR Y OF FRANCESCO VIANI (1809–1877) 29
The inventory lists one hundred and fifty-four units, including a few unnumbered ones,
added at the end in the Supplemento. Actually, the number of bibliographic units is higher
because forty of these volumes are miscellaneous ones; that is, they contain up to two
dozen manuscript and printed music editions, dating from the first quarter of the nine-
teenth century, bound together into one volume. The total extent of the Viani Collection—
including the individual manuscripts or printed units bound together—would amount to
more than five hundred musical documents, dating mostly from the first half of the nine-
teenth century. However, we find other musical editions from the previous century: for ex-
ample, the printed editions of Le sorcier by François André Danican Philidor, published by
Le Clerc in Paris in 1764, or Hippolite et Aricie by Jean Philippe Rameau, published in 1738
by Le Clerc, or even Egidio Romualdo Duni’s Les deux chasseurs (Paris: chez l’Auteur,
1763), or Duni and Jean Louis Laruettes’s Le docteur Sangrado (Lyon: chez Mrs Les
Freres Legoux, [1758]), which in Pintacuda’s catalogue still have the old pre-war shelf-
mark Coll. Viani 35. They are particularly relevant, and at the same time demonstrate
Viani’s passion for collecting music, as evidenced by his acquisition of music manuscripts
with notes of the previous owners.
As it is evident from the entire inventory, Viani’s music collection consists, in this
order and with descending numbers of items, primarily of operas (or operas excerpts) in
printed or manuscript vocal scores, or full opera scores (manuscripts), sacred music,
vocal chamber music, and piano music. Among the opera composers, we find those who
were more representative of the first half of nineteenth century: Saverio Mercadante,
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, and of course Gioachino
Rossini. The part of Viani’s collection devoted to Verdi’s operas is small: only sixteen bib-
liographic units, including ten vocal scores dating from 1842 to 1849, in addition to the
Messa di requiem and the vocal chamber arias. Noteworthy are four extracts from the first
printed edition of Verdi’s Oberto, published in 1839 by Giovanni Ricordi.
One of the later editions in the Viani Collection is Drames liturgiques du Moyen Age by
Charles Edmond Henri de Coussemaker, published in Paris in 186136. There are also some
major opera composers, for example, Mozart, and minor ones, for example, Francesco
Morlacchi, Carlo Coccia, Alessandro Nini, the Genoese composer Francesco Gnecco, and
moreover comic operas by Luigi Ricci, etc.
As a whole the collection is not generally linked to contemporary opera performances
in the theatres of Genoa: however, there are some interesting manuscript opera excerpts,
from Rossini’s Tancredi, among others, whose manuscript reports on the title page a per-
formance at the Theatre Sant’Agostino in Genoa in 1814. Furthermore, a miscellaneous
volume (shelfmark: C. 3. 11. 1-12), collecting printed first editions, is directly or indirectly
tied up, (with the exception of the last two pieces) to the first opening of the “Carlo Felice”
Theatre in Genoa in 1828: indeed the first eight excerpts are from Vincenzo Bellini’s Bianca
e Fernando, the first opera performed at the new “Carlo Felice” Theatre, or from the previ-
ous Neapolitan version Bianca e Gernando, while two excerpts are from Il Colombo by
Francesco Morlacchi, the latter also included in the inaugural season of the theatre.
Even the opera manuscripts in full orchestral score in the Viani Collection were almost
all performed in Genoa in the early nineteenth century (including Mozart’s Don
35. Genova biblioteca dell’Istituto Musicale “Nicolò Paganini”, ed. Salvatore Pintacuda, 26–27. The printed edi-
tion of Le Docteur Sangrado by Duni and Laruette is not included in the inventory of the Viani Collection.
36. Charles Edmond Henri de Coussemaker, Drames Liturgiques du Moyen Age (texte et musique) (Paris:
Librairie Archéologique de Victor Didron, [1861]), shelfmark: H. 5. 27.30 FONTES AR TIS MUSICAE 64/1
Giovanni ). Conversely, we find several early nineteenth century first music printings of
opera excerpts, vocal scores of course, never performed in Genoa before the twentieth
century, such as Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito. The Ricordi printed editions date back to the
period between 1810 and 1850, and some are extremely rare.
Sacred music by Joseph Haydn, Nicolò Jommelli, Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as two
manuscript anthologies of sacred music by Luigi Cherubini37 can be found in Francesco
Viani’s library. The three great composers of the first Viennese School—Mozart, Haydn,
and Beethoven—are equally represented with some manuscript and printed sources.
Among Beethoven’s manuscripts included in Viani’s collection, there are some instru-
mental chamber compositions, as well as the music to his oratorio Cristo all’oliveto
(Christus am Olberge), with the text translated into Italian.
With regard to Mozart, in Viani’s collection can be found the Fantaisie et Sonate pour
le forte piano KV 475 and KV 457 (London: Longman and Broderip, [1790?]) [RISM
M6825], which is quite rare in Italy and abroad. In addition, there is a copy of the manu-
script to an apocryphal Mozart Sonata in C minor, actually by Anton Eberl (1765–1807),
the Dernière Grande Sonate de Mozart , quite well-known all over Europe. Conversely,
there are few anonymous manuscripts: almost all of them attributed to their composers
thanks to existing resources38, such as the anonymous Cavatina di Enrico included in an
anthology, shelfmark C. 3. 34, which is actually an excerpt from La rosa bianca e la rosa
rossa by Johann Simon Mayr. In most cases the miscellaneous volumes, subsequently
bound together, include separately either printed editions or manuscripts; one exception
is a large mixed volume with shelfmark D. 3. 50 (1-24).
The absence of “light” music, or Salonmusik is meaningful: the collection has little
Fantasie, Parafrasi, instrumental potpourris, etc. In reality, it is a “serious” collection, gath-
ered by an Italian collector and connoisseur with a deep knowledge of contemporary mu-
sic. Viani still remains a mysterious and austere music lover. The half parchment binding
and blue covers with golden engraving of part of his collection proves, as well as the
owner’s financial resources, the care and attention given to these printed and manuscript
copies. On the cover, we find a label with the name of the owner engraved on it, followed
by a number. The bookbinding was completed with a certain attention to the contents:
manuscripts and printed editions, originally separated, were organised together according
to composer, genre, size, or even by the same printer, etc. Some volumes do not match the
above description: for instance, two remarkable miscellanies, with the same red binding,
gather manuscripts dated from 1790 to 1814 (the years between the end of the ancient
Republic of Genoa and the French and Napoleonic period). Inside these anthologies, at
the bottom right of the title page of some manuscripts, we find the name of an eponymous
owner, Annetta Cesena née Viani. The latter is remembered by local historians as a friend
of the poet and writer Ugo Foscolo (1778–1827), one of his supposed lovers, as well as be-
ing an amateur singer herself, at around the time of the famous poet’s stay in Genoa in
179939. Angelo Petracchi, in one of his poems, describes Annetta with these words: “Se
37. These last two were included in the printed catalogue Genova biblioteca dell’Istituto Musicale “Nicolò
Paganini”, ed. Salvatore Pintacuda, 146–147.
38. In addition to the musical incipit search in OPAC RISM (http://www.opac.rism.info [accessed 16 Decem-
ber 2016]), the music incipit search now available in the Italian OPAC SBN is quite useful.
39. Mario Scotti, “Foscolo, Ugo”, Dizionario biografico degli italiani, 49 (1997), http://www.treccani.it
/enciclopedia/ugo-foscolo_(Dizionario-Biografico), accessed 16 December 2016; Adolfo Bassi, Armi e amori
nella giovinezza di Ugo Foscolo (Genova: Studio Editoriale Genovese, 1927), 110–111 and 122–123; NoraTHE MUSIC LIBRAR Y OF FRANCESCO VIANI (1809–1877) 31 canta, canta al cuore” (“if she sings, she sings to the heart”) to which he adds: “Dotta, in ballo seducente” (“she dances seductively”)40. The volumes cited above, containing miscellanies of musical manuscripts, include ex- cerpts of operas in full score: as I noted, in the title page of a few of them is noted the Genoese performance. One example among the manuscripts owned by Annetta Viani is the recitative and cavatina “Ah non v’è pietà” with music by Sebastiano Nasolini (ca. 1768– 1798 or 1799), cantata dalla Sig.ra Giuseppa Grassini nella Semiramide 41; on the title page the name of the owner is indicated twice with a dedication: A Mad.me Cesena (To Madame Cesena), and a date in the same hand partially erased. As shown by the distinctive hand- writing, the manuscript was perhaps copied in Genoa by the theatre copyist Federico Taccoli, and probably referred to one of the Genoese performances of La Semiramide by Nasolini (Carnival, 1803?), featuring contralto Giuseppa Grassini (1773–1850). Another Semiramide, that is, the recitative and duet “Ombra temuta e cara”, from La morte di Semiramide by Giovanni Battista Borghi (1738–1796), performed in Genoa in the Carnival season of 1792, bears the signature of Annetta Viani Cesena42. Other ownership notes by Mrs Viani Cesena are found in music manuscripts by Giovanni Paisiello, Vincenzo Federici, Giuseppe Farinelli, and Johann Simon Mayr. It is not currently possible to provide any documentary evidence regarding family con- nections between Annetta, most likely a mistress of Ugo Foscolo, and Francesco Viani, the former owner of some of the manuscripts at the “Paganini” Conservatory. Annetta Viani Cesena’s ownership notes are not the only ones discovered within the Viani Collection which arouse interest as a demonstration of the acquisition of music documents previ- ously owned by others: there is also that of Victoire Quartara, whose name is engraved in gold letters on the red cover of two miscellaneous manuscript volumes belonging to the Viani Collection43, as well as that of Carlo Cambiaggio (1798–1880), whose connection to the collection can be established. At Serravalle Scrivia (quite close to the ancient Roman town of Libarna), Francesco Viani probably owned property or a dwelling 44. A reference to the town of Serravalle is found on the title page of one of Viani’s manuscripts: this is the Terzetto nell’Opera L’inganno felice del celebre M° Rossini MDCCCXXIII [1823]45. On the top left we find the signature of its previous owner, “Cambiaggi Carlo”, and on the bottom right: “Ad uso de’ Dilettanti di Serravalle”. Cambiaggio was a famous basso buffo singer, a librettist, as well as an impresario, in other words, a major figure in the musical theatre of the time. He sang in several performances of Rossini’s L’inganno felice. We can only assume that Francesco Viani had come into possession of this manuscript through an acquaintance with Cozzolino,“Poeti lirici e civili in Genova nei primi del 1800”, Giornale storico e letterario della Liguria, n. s., 6 (1930): 43–63, at 51–52. 40. Angelo Petracchi, Galleria ligure di Angelo Petracchi (Genova: Stamperia della Gazzetta Nazionale, 1799). On Angelo Petracchi, see Edoardo Villa, “La letteratura dell’età giacobina e napoleonica”, La letteratura ligure. L’Ottocento (Genova: Costa & Nolan, 1990), 11–132, at 50. 41. Shelfmark: C. 3. 31. 3. 42. Shelfmark: C. 3. 31. 5. 43. These are the miscellaneous volumes C. 3. 31. and C. 3. 32, with red binding; a few musical manuscripts within the miscellanies bear the name of Annetta Viani Cesena. 44. A letter by Francesco Viani to the Municipality of Genoa, dated 31 October 1846 and preserved at the Historical Archive of the Municipality of Genoa, was written from Serravalle (today in the Piemonte Region, province of Alessandria). The letter is part of a folder titled “Scuola di Metodo”. 45. Shelfmark: C. 3. 35. 35.
32 FONTES AR TIS MUSICAE 64/1
Cambiaggio himself. Viani was deputy mayor and a member of the theatre commission in
1852, 1853 and in 1855 when—in the same years—Carlo Cambiaggio had been part of the
singing company at the “Carlo Felice” Theatre in Genoa during the Autunno season and,
in 1855 only, during of Carnival too46. However, there is another interesting coincidence
that links Viani and Cambiaggio: the latter was the son of a silk merchant just like Viani,
and, for a while, in addition to the study and practice of music, he had devoted himself to
that business47.
We should add Margarita Pallavicini to the list of previous owners found inside the
Viani Collection, who remains unidentified. Her name appears in the manuscript of a duet,
“Ebben per mia memoria”, from Rossini’s La Gazza ladra; this duet is bound in a miscel-
laneous volume containing manuscript and printed theatre music, as number 108 in the
Viani Collection inventory. A monogram “M.P.P.” is engraved on the cover, and probably
linked to the same name48.
One manuscript in the Viani Collection, designates Costanza Monti Perticari
(1792–1840) as the author of the poetic text to the Gioachino Rossini composition, “Laude
a Maria Vergine SS.ma”. The manuscript is bound inside a miscellaneous volume of
printed vocal compositions also by Rossini, as well as Francesco Florimo (1800–1888), and
Vincenzo Bellini49. The manuscript is only four pages long, in upright format, with the fol-
lowing title: Laude a Maria Vergine Ssma / posta in musica dal Cav.re Gioacchino Rossini
il 20 Marzo 1850, con parole della Sig.ra [Costanza] Monti / vedova Perticari, e dedicata
al suo amico ab.te Gordini di Firenze. As we can see, the composition was written by
Rossini ten years after the death of Costanza Monti Perticari. The scoring is for vocal quar-
tet (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) and piano, and is in F major. The textual incipit is:
“Salve, o Vergine Maria / Salve, o Madre, in ciel Regina”. The entire text follows on page
4, preceded by the poet’s name: “Parole della Signora Monti, vedova Perticari”50. Viani
bound Rossini’s manuscript composition together with other printed sacred and secular
works by the same composer (his Stabat mater, Fede, speranza e carità, and Soirée musi-
cale), and with the Ore musicali by Florimo51, as well as the scena and aria “Quando incise
su quel marmo” by Bellini published by Giovanni Ricordi in 1835. As already pointed out
by Chiara Agostinelli in her monograph on the daughter of Vincenzo Monti, the text by
Costanza Monti Perticari had been repeatedly printed, before Rossini’s composition, par-
ticularly in 1823 and in 183952.
46. Roberto Iovino, Ines Aliprandi, Sara Licciardello, and Katia Tocchi, I palcoscenici della lirica: cronologia
dal Falcone al nuovo Carlo Felice (1645–1992) (Genova: Sagep, 1993), 103–106.
47. Enza Venturini, “Cambiaggio, Carlo”, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, 17 (1974), http://www.treccani
.it/enciclopedia/carlo-cambiaggio, accessed 16 December 2016.
48. Shelfmark: D. 3. 50. Another owner whose unidentified signature has been found in some music manu-
scripts in the Viani Collection (for example, La Gerusalemme distrutta by Zingarelli), and even in other music
collections in the “Paganini” Conservatory Library, is Angela Ceronio.
49. Shelfmark: B. 5. 37.
50. On Vincenzo Monti’s daughter, in addition to Giuseppe Izzi, “Monti, Costanza”, Dizionario biografico
degli italiani, 76 (2012), http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/costanza-monti_(Dizionario_Biografico), accessed
16 December 2016, see the important monograph by Chiara Agostinelli, “Per me sola”. Biografia intellettuale e
scrittura privata di Costanza Monti Perticari. La ricerca letteraria, 7 (Roma: Carocci, 2006).
51. Francesco Florimo, Ore musicali, ossia Raccolta di pezzi per canto e per pianoforte composti e dedicati alla
signora contessa Elisa di Suchtelen nata Lanskoy (Naples: B. Girard, [1835?]).
52. Chiara Agostinelli, “Per me sola”, p. 123, note 32: the first edition of the Perticari’s hymn was printed at
Lugo, by Melandri, in 1824, with the title A nostra donna, written “per una festa religiosa” and “poi più volteTHE MUSIC LIBRAR Y OF FRANCESCO VIANI (1809–1877) 33
Scholars have already reported on the relationship between Rossini and Costanza
Monti Perticari,53 of which a few andecdotes are known. Even though Rossini most likely
derived his text from a printed edition, this is an additional link between the two. Giulio
Perticari and his wife Costanza Monti hosted Rossini in Pesaro in 1818, on the occasion of
a performance of La Gazza ladra, and Rossini also knew Costanza’s father, the poet and
writer Vincenzo Monti (1754–1828)54.
Among Rossini’s first editions printed by Ricordi, we find the celebrated duetto “Dunque
io son duetto nel Barbiere di Siviglia del Sig: Maestro Giovacchino Rossini” (Milano:
Giovanni Ricordi, [1816 or 1817?]), plate number 267 and, at the bottom left, another hand-
written number: 88955. The publisher’s name appears on a stamp. This is probably the
earliest printed edition by Ricordi of Rossini’s duetto, while the handwritten plate number
refers to the first official Ricordi printed edition of 1820, in Ricordi’s chronological-
numerical catalogue, plate number 267 refers to another edition by Mozart56. Was the
above mentioned duetto published during the Milanese performances of Rossini’s
Barbiere in April 1817? Actually, in the libretto of Rossini’s Barbiere performed at the Re
Theatre, Giovanni Ricordi is mentioned as the “owner of the music and copyist”57.
Thanks to Viani’s gift the music library acquired some of the rarest pieces of music cur-
rently owned by the “Paganini” Conservatory in Genoa. As previously mentioned, the col-
lection actually consists of dozens of music scores, including most of the main music gen-
res of the nineteenth century, of which only a few have been reported on here. In the field
of music printing, the numerous editions from the first twenty years of Giovanni Ricordi’s
publishing activity are remarkable. The manuscripts are neat and accurate copies. The
beautiful and elegant bindings, together with the condition of manuscripts, prove the
ristampato in rivista, ad esempio nel ‘Teatro universale. Raccolta enciclopedica e scenografica’, VI, 1839, p. 253”.
In the latter publication the poem has the following title: Canzone a Maria Vergine. I compared the text with that
set to music by Rossini in his Laude. Rossini’s work has some slight differences; besides he did not set the sec-
ond part of the refrain to music.
53. Paolo Fabbri, Rossini nelle raccolte Piancastelli di Forlì (Lucca: Libreria musicale italiana, 2001), XXXVIII.
Here Fabbri quotes Filippo Mordani, Della vita privata di Giovacchino Rossini. Memorie inedite, ed. Romualdo
Cannonero (Imola: Ignazio Galeati e figlio, 1871) (new edition slightly changed: 1874). The remembrances of
Mordani are frequently quoted by modern scholars. In addition to the above, see Giuseppe Radiciotti, Gioacchino
Rossini: vita documentata, opere ed influenza su l’arte (Tivoli: Arti Grafiche Majella di Aldo Chicca, 1928, 1:55)
where the author states that Rossini knew the Perticari in 1818 when he came to Pesaro to conduct La Gazza
ladra. On p. 56: “Amiche ed ammiratrici, più che protettrici, di Gioacchino Rossini furono veramente Costanza
Monti, figlia del gran poeta e moglie del noto letterato Giulio Perticari, e la cognata di lei, Violante Perticari,
sposatasi al conte Francesco Ciacchi”. Some letters were written by Rossini to Costanza Monti’s husband. See,
for example, Gioachino Rossini, Lettere e documenti, vol. I: 29 febbraio 1792–17 marzo 1822, ed. Bruno Cagli e
Sergio Ragni (Pesaro: Fondazione Rossini, 1992). The letter n. 140 on p. 300 is important: dated at Bologna, the
16 May 1818, it was written by Rossini to Perticari. In the Post Scriptum he adds: “Circa poi alla gentile offerta
che mi fa della sua Casa se dovessi sentire il mio cuore L’abbraccerei con trasporto ma la discretezza e la ragione
non mi permettono assolutamente ch’io Le rechi tal disturbo”. Conversely Rossini accepted the kind offer of
Giulio Perticari, and at his home he met Costanza Monti.
54. Moreover, the libretto of Il Barbiere di Siviglia printed for the Pesaro performance in 1818 is dedicated
to Costanza Monti Perticari. See the record in the OPAC SBN (MUS0000917).
55. Shelfmark: C. 3. 1. 4.
56. “Catalogo numerico Ricordi”, http://www.ricordicompany.com/it/catalog, accessed 16 December 2016.
57. See the digital copy of the libretto (Milano: dai tipi di Gio. Bernardoni, 1817), preserved in Milan,
Nazionale Braidense Library (shelfmark: Racc. Dramm. 6115/19). On Giovanni Ricordi’s early years, see Bianca
Maria Antolini, “Ricordi”, Dizionario degli editori musicali italiani 1750–1930, ed. Bianca Maria Antolini (Pisa:
ETS, 2000), 286–313.34 FONTES AR TIS MUSICAE 64/1 passion and care of the music collector Francesco Viani, as well as his vast knowledge of musical culture. Further investigation may lead to an increased understanding, and cor- rections to the list of volumes belonging to Viani Collection. The following Appendix lists the original inventory of the Viani Collection, including the concordances with current shelfmarks in the “Paganini” Conservatory, when known. Some records, particularly those at the end of the inventory, due to their extreme brevity, do not allow a reliable identification with existing books, or manuscript and printed music. Whenever possible, the original list of the Viani Collection has been completed with the composer’s name and surname (the original has only the latter), short title, place and pub- lisher (always absent), and plate number (only for printed opera full scores). The pub- lishing dates of Ricordi’s printed music have been inferred from the important online re- source Catalogo numerico Ricordi, available online at http://www.ricordicompany.com/it /catalog/search (accessed 16 December 2016). The first number in the left column of the Appendix matches that of the manuscript in- ventory of the Viani Collection. A dash (–) indicates the absence of a number. The third column lists current shelfmarks, in addition to the item inventory numbers, when known. The penultimate column possibly refers to Salvatore Pintacuda’s catalogue (1966) or Giorgio Piumatti’s catalogue (1975). The last column on the right lists the bibliographic ID numbers of the OPAC SBN (Online Public Access Catalog of the Italian National Library Service).
Puoi anche leggere
