Scan 24
Musical Courier 1902-02-26: Vol 44 Iss 1144, 1902
71 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. Printed page 25. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1MILAN
3The Musical Courier will be found on sale hereafter at the music house of Carisch & Jänichen, in the Corso Vittorio Emanuele No. 2, which is near the Duomo and the Galleria.
5CORSO VENEZIA 65, MILAN, ITALY, January 31, 1902.
7Commemoration of Verdi's Death.
9GIUSEPPE VERDI, the "Grand Old Man" in music, was born at Roncole, October 10, 1813, and died at Milan, January 27, 1901.
11The first anniversary of the death of this great man, the immortal master-composer of "Rigoletto" (1851), "Trovatore" (1853), "Aida" (1871) and "Falstaff" (1893)—to mention only a quartet of the innumerable operas written by Verdi—was honored and commemorated in various ways, especially in Milan.
13At the Scala Theatre, on Monday night last (the 27th), the solemn occasion was celebrated with an impressive performance of the Messa da Requiem, written by Verdi on the death of his friend, Alessandro Manzoni.
15The soloists for this Scala production were the Signore Amelia Karola, soprano, and Elise Bruno, contralto; the Signori Emilio Cossira, tenor, and Costantino Nicolay, basso. The chorus—led by the eight Wagnerian Valkyries, Emma Decima, Elvira Magliulo, Aurelia Milazzo, Bruna Properzi, Sofia Parisotto, Adele Ponzano, Bice Silvestri, Eugenia Tomsen—numbered 150 well trained singers, in charge of their master, Sig. Aristide Venturi; with these and the excellent Scala orchestra of 100 members Sig. Arturo Toscanini controlled and directed a performance whose interpretation was notable for clearness and breadth of style. The effect of the "Dies irae" was great; of the "Tuba mirum" and the "Sanctus" repetitions were demanded, and the "Agnus Dei" was warmly applauded, as was also the "Libera me."
17A memorable production—impressive, brilliant, electrifying. This Manzoni Messa da Requiem was first sung at Milan, under Verdi's own direction, in the Church of San Marco, May 22, 1874, the singers being the Signore Teresa Stolz and Waldman, and the Signori Capponi and Maini.
19During the afternoon, at 4 o'clock, took place at the Hotel Milan—where Verdi had always lived when in the city and where he breathed his last—the unveiling of a large, commemorative marble tablet, immured or inserted in the façade of the hotel in Via Manzoni.
21This ceremony was attended by a crowd of interested people. Prof. Giorgio Sinigaglio pronounced a short but inspired discourse, eulogizing the memory of the great musician; after which the city authorities and a few other invited guests were conducted to the chamber on the second floor of the house in which the master had died. This room and the adjoining studio are said to be kept in the same condition precisely as when occupied and left by Verdi; the hotel proprietor, Commendatore Spatz, being a great music lover and a profound admirer of the dead musician's genius. Before quitting the apartment the visitors registered their respective names.
23At the Royal Conservatory of Music, now known as the Royal Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi—where, many years ago, the young Verdi was refused admission as a student because the learned director and all-knowing management concluded that Verdi's musical talent did not warrant his being accepted—the students presented a Verdian program of music, conducted by Professor Gallignani, the present director of the conservatory. The memorial concert was opened with an address by Prof. Ludovico Corio, followed by two orchestral numbers: Overture, "Luisa Miller," and Sinfonia, "Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio," between which were arranged the unaccompanied chorus, "Laudi alla Vergine Maria," and the "Stabat Mater." The audience in attendance was a large and satisfied one.
25The same evening, at the popular and well-known Café Biffi, in the Vittorio Emanuele Galleria, the orchestral program offered in memory of Verdi was arranged by the director, Signor A. Stefani, as follows:
27IN MEMORIA DI GIUSEPPE VERDI.
2827 Gennaio, 1902.
29PROGRAMMA.
301. Sinfonia opera Aroldo………………………………………Anno 1857
312. Duetto opera Ballo in Maschera……………………………1859
323. Fantasia opera Rigoletto (parte II.)………………………..1851
334. Agnus-Dei della Messa Requiem……………………………1874
345. Fantasia opera Aida (parte II.)…………………………….1871
356. Fantasia opera Traviata (parte II.)………………………….1853
367. Aria e Miserere opera Trovatore……………………………1853
378. Sinfonia opera Vespri Siciliani……………………………..1855
38Direttore d'orchestra maestro A. Stefani.
40The Verdi Home for Musicians contains a chapel, in which the altar and its consecration had to be hastened in order to make it possible to celebrate mass there on Sunday morning last in honor of the illustrious and generous donor.
42The Banda Municipale, under their leader, Signor Pio Nevi, were in attendance to pay their respects to the memory of the great departed, depositing a wreath of fresh flowers upon the composer's tomb and executing several selections of Verdi music in the cortile.
44This Casa dei Musicisti, founded and endowed by the Grand Old Man, is fast approaching completion in every respect. The structure has been finished for some time, and the work of decorating and furnishing has now been taken in hand and is well under way. The crypt, where the remains of the composer will lie, is to be richly adorned with mosaics, now being designed by the artist Signor Lodovico Pogliaghi. It is expected that the memorial will be completed before the end of the present year.
46At the Cemetery Monumentale, about noontime, a bust of Verdi in bronze, the work of the sculptor Quadrelli, was placed in the Famedio, a hall or little gallery of fame containing busts, inscriptions and mementos of dead celebrities. This ceremony was conducted in a solemn, impressive manner. Various city officials and invited persons were present. Professor Sinigaglia delivered an address laudatory of the genius of Verdi. The music band took position on the terrace, and intoned the "Miserere" from "Trovatore," after which they played selections from "Don Carlos."
48This bronze bust of Verdi was executed by Quadrelli in 1893, when the great musician's last opera, "Falstaff," was produced. The base is of the stone of Oira (Lake of Orta) called bronzine, and represents a lyre encircled by small branches of intertwining oak and laurel. The pedestal upon which the bust rests is of polished black Varena marble.
50In the afternoon the bust was exposed to public view.
52There has also appeared a bronze medal of Verdi, designed by the artist Lodovico Pogliaghi, and cast in the Johnson establishment at Milan, bearing on the reverse side the following inscription worded by Signor Negri (translated):
53"Inexhaustible creator—of melodies divine—evoker—in tears and in smiles—of figures immortal—joined—to the untiring omnipotence of genius—the virtues of the man and the citizen—undefiled and strong—October, 1813—January, 1901."
55A reproduction of a splendid likeness of the great man, printed on, or rather woven in, silk, is on view and for sale at one of the silk houses here. The original silk pictures appeared in the year 1889, and were made by the house of Chighizzola, which, in an autograph letter were highly approved of by Verdi.
57Mention may be made, too, of a new crop of illustrated post cards with scenes from the different operas of Verdi. Some of these are quite attractive. The printing of these cards is done partly in Italy; but the greater portion and more artistic ones come from Germany.
59Then there was issued very recently by the publishing house of G. Ricordi & Co. a popular edition of Verdi's operas, the first series of which contains nineteen in number, as follows: "Oberto Conte di S. Bonifacio," "Il Finto Stanislao," "Nabucodonosor," "Il Lombardi alla prima Crociata," "Ernani," "I Due Foscari," "Giovanna d'Arco," "Alzira," "Attila," "I Masnadieri," "Il Corsaro," "La Battaglia di Legnano," "Luisa Miller," "Rigoletto," "Il Trovatore," "La Traviata," "I Vespri Siciliani," "Aroldo" and "Un Ballo in Maschera."
61At Rome the first anniversary of Verdi's death was commemorated by the choir of the Sistine Chapel.
62There was a solemn funeral service held at the Church
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