Publishings

Critical apparatus and notes edited by Giuseppe Martini and Pietro Montorfani

Among the rich correspondence of Giuseppe Verdi, some of which are still unpublished, the one with the Morosini family is peculiar. First of all it is a plural correspondence as Emilia, the mother, is joined by Giuseppina, Annetta, Carolina and Cristina, her daughters, in a totally female dialogue with the initially young but already famous Nabucco’s composer. The time extent of this correspondence is arguably the widest of the entire correspondence of Verdi, spreading between 1842 and 1901 (with few periods of silence around mid-century): a surprising constancy, basically due to Emilia’s third daughter, the Countess Giuseppina Negroni Prati Morosini (1824-1909), among the first and most devoted of Verdi’s fans. More than two hundred letters – preserved in Sant’Agata, at the “Teatro alla Scala” Theatre Museum and at the State Archive of Canton of Ticino in Bellinzona, Switzerland – among which an intimate Verdi can be discovered, focused on composing his operas and on his Sant’Agata home and the nursing home for musicians, fearless in expressing his political views, paying attention to the most relevant historical events that influenced his time.

This volume published at the behest of the historical archive of the town of Lugano in cooperation with the National Institute for Verdi Studies in Parma, is curated by Pietro Montorfani, assisted by Giuseppe Martini for the critical apparatus and notes. At the opening of the book we find Renato Meucci’s presentation on the young Verdi’s instrumental technique, to whom the Morosinis used to ask for advice before acquiring harpsichords and concertinas. In the appendix we may find a short correspondence between Arrigo Boito and Countesses Annetta and Giuseppina Morosini.