 American Institute for Verdi Studies |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Download a membership form |
Our History and MissionFollowing the Fourth International Congress of Verdi Studies (Chicago, 1974), several participants felt the need to link the unprecedented surge of interest in Verdi research with performances of his music. Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, Andrew Porter, and Martin Chusid met and began to plan. Later they were joined by Claire Brook, Patrick Smith, and Philip Gossett. Their efforts were encouraged by Mario Medici, founder and at that time director of the Istituto di studi verdiani of Parma, Italy. It was their international congresses (Venice, 1966; Verona, 1969; Milan, 1972; and Chicago, 1974) and the publications (Bollettini, Quaderni, Atti, and now Studi) of that organization that had fostered so much of the increased Verdi activity. In order to provide a broad base for an American Institute for Verdi Studies, performers, scholars, operatic organizations, critics, publishers, librarians, and individual Verdi enthusiasts were approached to serve as advisors. Their response was immediate and remarkable. Such an organization, open to public membership, was evidently both desired and needed, and on 1 April 1976 it was officially inaugurated with a meeting of the advisory board in the music division of Bobst Library at New York University. The Institute publishes the Verdi Forum (formerly Verdi Newsletter) and sponsors annual meetings for the reading of scholarly papers, often in conjunction with the Greater New York Chapter of the American Musicological Society. In addition to shorter conferences in Vienna (1983), at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò (1991 and 1997), and at the Sarasota, Florida, Opera House (1994 and 1996), the Institute organized three international congresses of Verdi studies (Danville, Kentucky, 1977; Irvine, California, 1980; and Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1993) at which there were performances of the rarely heard first versions of Macbeth (Danville) and La forza del destino (Irvine), both with scores prepared by members of the Institute's advisory board and/or executive boards, as well as a performance of Il trovatore in the new critical edition by David Lawton (Belfast). It also contributed to a Verdi Congress in London at Covent Garden (1995) and, it co-sponsored the joint congress "Verdi 2001" with the Italian Verdi Institute and Yale University to celebrate the centenary in 2001 of the composer's death. In addition, the Institute has sponsored concerts of Verdi's songs, arias, and the string quartet, as well as concert performances of the original Macbethand the first performance in the United States of Il corsaro. The Institute has also offered a series of combined lectures and videotaped performances. To date, these have included the original version of La forza del destino (remarks by Andrew Porter), La traviata (David Lawton), Otello (James Hepokoski), and Un ballo in maschera (Siegmund Levarie). Recent events include an exciting Benefit Concert at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, at which Eve Queler, Artistic Director of the Opera Orchestra of New York, prepared a program entitled "Verdi in Love." Maestro Queler assembled and accompanied at the piano a splendid group of singers including soprano Aprile Millo and tenor Francisco Casanova. This concert was followed in April 2003 by a program of songs by Verdi, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and others at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò of New York University, entitled "Verdi and Friends." This event was prepared and performed by artists of New York-based ensemble The Risorgimento Project. On January 26, 2004, the Institute was privileged to award on behalf of the English Amici di Verdi their Verdi Medal to the renowned American soprano Martina Arroyo. This happy occasion included a recital in honor of Mme Arroyo by a group of young singers she has been coaching. Finally, on February 10, Maestro Queler, a warm, loyal friend and a longtime member of the AIVS Advisory Board, also prepared and accompanied a second Benefit Concert, "A Celebration of Verdi," at Weill Hall with a fine assembly of young singers. Perhaps most importantly, the Institute's Archive has accumulated an extensive collection of Verdi materials, primarily on microfilm. These include films of thousands of the composer's letters, including fifteen hundred written by Verdi to his principal publisher, the Casa Ricordi of Milan, which donated the films. On the other side of the correspondence there are films of many thousands of letters written to the composer and his wife, the soprano Giuseppina Strepponi Verdi, together with drafts of hundreds of letters from Verdi and Giuseppina. There are, furthermore, over two hundred manuscripts of complete orchestral scores of the Verdi operas and several hundred pezzi staccati (individual pieces from the operas), more than twenty-two hundred printed librettos for the composer's operas, most dating from the nineteenth century with a vast majority stemming from Italy, approximately sixty manuscript and printed production books or printed librettos and piano-vocal scores with directions for staging added by hand, and a good selection of French, German, English, and especially Italian periodicals devoted to music and the other arts. The Institute also holds a number of wall posters of premiere and other early performance, as well as many films of sets and costume designs dating from Verdi's time. With the loyal support of its members and patrons, in September 2003 the AIVS inaugurated the first Postdoctoral Fellowship in 19th Century Italian Operatic Studies to be offered at any university in the United States. This prestigious award, supported also by the Faculty of Arts and Science and the Music Department at New York University, was given to Dr. Francesco Izzo, who completed his doctorate at the University in April of 2003. Our next challenge is to obtain the financial support to make our postdoctoral fellowship permanent. This position, which includes a part-time teaching appointment in the NYU Department of Music, will be a unique opportunity for young opera scholars to enhance their research career benefiting from the Verdi Archive's extraordinary collection. As mentioned earlier, membership is open to the public. For further information and a free copy of the Verdi Newsletter, please write to verdi.institute@nyu.edu, visit our membership information page, or click on the link to the left to download a membership form. |