Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini"
The Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini" is a
History
In his will, Rossini left virtually his entire estate to Pesaro, his native city, for the establishment of a free music school there with the provision that the legacy would only come to the city upon the death of his widow, Olympe Pélissier.[1] In 1869, the year following Rossini's death, the city set up the association which would eventually become the "Liceo musicale Rossini". Olympe Pélissier died in 1878. Four years later, on 5 November 1882, the school opened the doors of its temporary home in the former Convent and Church of San Filippo Neri to the first cohort of 67 students, of whom 25 were enrolled in the choral school.[2] Following the terms of Rossini's will, the school emphasised operatic and choral singing as well as composition. Its first Director, Carlo Pedrotti, was the composer of 17 operas and had previously been the Director of Turin's opera house, the Teatro Regio. He was also a noted voice teacher. Amongst his pupils were the tenors Francesco Tamagno and Alessandro Bonci. During Pedrotti's tenure, the conservatory moved to its permanent home in the Palazzo Olivieri–Machirelli and an auditorium was added which now bears his name. Following Pedrotti's retirement in 1893, the conservatory was without a director until the appointment two years later, of another opera composer, Pietro Mascagni.
Mascagni took up his post in December 1895. Thanks to Rossini's large legacy, the school was well endowed financially. Mascagni's annual salary was 12,000
However, by 1900 Mascagni's relationship with the governing board of the school had begun to sour, partly due to his frequent absences for conducting tours and the preparations for the premiere of his opera Le maschere, and partly due to his abrasive treatment of local dignitaries. He had also run up fairly large deficits in the previous two years, and the board had taken over the financial management of the conservatory. Budget cuts in 1902 led to a student rebellion in support of Mascagni. In turn, the board closed the conservatory for the remainder of the year and sent the students home. On 20 January 1903, Mascagni was officially dismissed from his post.[5] It was another two years before a new director was appointed. In a 1903 address, the president of the governing board recommended that the next director not be an opera composer because an opera composer "in addition to being steeped in liberties, has his mind always focused on his own compositions and all of the interests that flow from them."[6]
In 1905,
In 1999 the school was designated by the Italian government as an "Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali" (Higher Institute of Musical Studies) with university status, one which it holds to the present day.[8][9]
The 21st century conservatory
Following a vote by the faculty, the pianist Ludovico Bramanti became the new director of the conservatory in 2014, succeeding another pianist, Maurizio Tarsetti, who had held the post since 2008.[10] In the academic year 2009/2010, the conservatory had an enrollment of approximately 850 students. Of those, 821 were Italian with the remainder from 26 other countries as far afield as Peru, Nepal and Kazakhstan.[11] The conservatory offers bachelor and master diplomas in singing, instrumental performance, composition, musicology, choral conducting, jazz and electronic music. It also trains music teachers for secondary schools and holds regular master classes and seminars. Admission to the diploma courses is based on an entrance examination with five €1000 scholarships awarded annually by the Fondazione Rossini.
The conservatory has three specialised research laboratories: 20th Century and Contemporary Music; Early Music; and Electronic and Experimental Music (LEMS), which was established in 1971 by the Italian composer Aldo Clementi. There are several permanent ensembles in which both students and faculty participate, including the Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra, Saxophone Ensemble, and Gregorian Choir. The ensembles and soloists perform a variety of public concerts in Pesaro and the surrounding region during the year, including those celebrating Christmas, Easter, Ferragosto, May Day, Festa della Repubblica, and Saint Cecilia's Day. The conservatory also co-produces Progetto Orfeo, an international university festival of opera and musical theatre,[12] and runs two national music competitions, Harpsichord (established in 1991) and Bassoon (established in 2004).
Palazzo Olivieri–Machirelli
The Palazzo Olivieri–Machirelli on the Piazza Olivieri is home to both the conservatory and the Fondazione Rossini, a centre for Rossini scholarship which organizes the annual
In addition to the concert hall, teaching rooms, and offices, the palazzo houses the conservatory's collection of antique and exotic musical instruments and its library. The conservatory library, with 45,000 volumes as well as rare manuscripts and documents dating back to 1500, is one of the largest music libraries in Italy.
Faculty members and alumni
Faculty
- Marcello Abbado – conductor and composer (Director of the conservatory 1966–1973)[18]
- Franco Alfano – composer (Director of the conservatory 1947–1950)
- Mario Bertoncini – pianist and composer
- Riccardo Brengola – violinist
- Aldo Clementi – composer
- Giulio Fara – musicologist
- Lino Liviabella – composer and pianist (Director of the conservatory 1953–1959)
- Elvira Mari-Casazza– opera singer
- Pietro Mascagni – composer (Director of the conservatory 1895–1902)
- Carmen Melis – opera singer
- Electroacoustics, 2009–present; also an alumnus)
- Luigi Mostacci – pianist
- Carlo Pedrotti – composer (Director of the conservatory 1882–1892)
- Carlo Pedini – composer
- Armando Pierucci – composer (also an alumnus)
- Boris Porena – composer
- Rito Selvaggi – composer (Director of the conservatory 1959–1963, also an alumnus)
- double-bassplayer
- Antonio Veretti – composer (Director of the conservatory 1950–1952) [19]
- Riccardo Zandonai – composer (Director of the conservatory 1940–1944, also an alumnus)
- Amilcare Zanella – composer and pianist (Director of the conservatory 1905–1940)[20]
Alumni
This list includes both graduates and musicians who are known to have studied for a time at the conservatory.
- Giuseppe Albanese – pianist
- Marco Ambrosini – composer and nyckelharpist
- Andrea Angelini – organist and conductor
- Giovanni Antiga – composer
- Georgi Atanasov – composer
- Giuliano Bernardi – opera singer
- Alessandro Bonci – opera singer
- Celestina Boninsegna – opera singer
- Franco Corelli – opera singer
- Mario del Monaco– opera singer
- Gioconda de Vito – violinist
- Carlo Domeniconi – guitarist and composer
- Mara Galassi – harpist and musicologist
- Josip Hatze – composer
- Agide Jacchia – conductor
- Luca Lombardi – composer
- Gianluca Luisi – pianist
- Riz Ortolani – composer
- Enrico Pace – pianist
- Marcella Pobbe – opera singer
- Luca Chiarabini - clarinettista
- Francesco Balilla Pratella – composer and musicologist
- Sergio Rendine – composer
- Primo Riccitelli – composer
- Renata Tebaldi – opera singer
- Domenico Viglione Borghese - opera singer
Notes and references
- ^ Senici (2004) p. 24
- ^ The church, once the tallest building in Pesaro, and the attached convent on 44 Via Petrucci were closed in the mid-19th century and had been purchased by the City of Pesaro in 1862.
- ^ a b c Mallach (2002) p. 108
- ^ a b Mallach (2002) p. 109
- ^ Mallach (2002) p. 158
- ^ Tullio Cinotti, a local soap manufacturer and President of the governing board of the conservatory, quoted in Mallach (2002) p. 149
- ^ Waterhouse
- ^ Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini", Presentazione e storia Archived 2010-10-02 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian). Accessed 19 October 2010.
- ^ Angelucci (March 2004)
- ^ Bartolucci (14 March 2008)
- ^ Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini" Archived 2010-11-21 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian). Accessed 19 October 2010.
- ^ Programme: Progetto Orfeo Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine, 2009 (in Italian). Accessed 19 October 2010.
- ^ Tourism office of Pesaro.
- ^ Peri
- ^ Fausti, Farina, and Pompoli (1995) pp. 453–456
- ^ Sistema Bibliotecario Unificato di Pesaro e Urbino, Biblioteca Conservatorio "G. Rossini" Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian). Accessed 19 October 2010.
- ^ Touring club italiano (2002) pp. 38–39
- ^ The years of office for all Directors of the conservatory on this list are sourced from Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini", I Direttori Archived 2010-11-12 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian). Accessed 19 October 2010.
- ^ Pironti and Costa
- ^ Nello Vetro, Gaspare (ed), "Zanella, Amilcare, compositore" Archived 2010-04-04 at the Wayback Machine, Dizionario della musica e dei musicisti dei territori del Ducato di Parma e Piacenza (online version), Istituzione Casa della Musica. See also it:Amilcare Zanella
Sources
- Angelucci, Alberto, "Il Conservatorio di Pesaro: L'Università della musica", Lo Specchio della Città, March 2004 (in Italian). Accessed 19 October 2010.
- Bartolucci, Patrizia, "Maurizio Tarsetti batte 5 candidati: il Conservatorio ha un nuovo direttore", Il Resto del Carlino, 14 March 2008 (in Italian). Accessed 19 October 2010.
- Fausti, P., Farina, A., and Pompoli, R., "The acoustics and restoration of "Salone Pedrotti" in Pesaro", Proceedings of the International Commission for Acoustics Congress, Trondheim, 26–30 June 1995, Vol.II, pp. 453–456
- Mallach, Alan, Pietro Mascagni and his operas, Northeastern University Press, 2002. ISBN 1-55553-524-0
- Peri, Nino, Dipinto murale di Gianandrea Lazzarini in palazzo Machirelli Olivieri di Pesaro, Fondazione Scavolini. (in Italian). Accessed 19 October 2010.
- Pironti, Alberto & Costa, Roberta (2001). "Veretti, Antonio". In ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- Senici, Emanuele, The Cambridge Companion to Rossini, Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-521-00195-1
- Touring club italiano, Pesaro e Urbino e provincia: Gabicce, Fano e la costa Gradara e il Montefeltro, Touring Editore, 2002. ISBN 88-365-2432-X
- Waterhouse, John C. G. (2001). "Zanella, (Castore) Amilcare". In ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.