When Opera Rara performs or records one of the rarely performed opera, which give the company its raison d'être, a new edition is often required. A new agreement between Opera Rara and Casa Ricordi means that all 35 of Opera Rara's editions will be available through the Italian music publishers, and through them from Universal Music Publishing Classical, a group of which Ricordi is a part, and through all Ricordi agencies internationally. This means that works like Donizetti's L'Ange di Nisida, which Opera Rara premiered at the Royal Opera House in 2018 [see my review], and which required a substantial amount of clever editorial work to re-construct the piece, will have performing editions more readily available.
The linkage is very apt, because Casa Ricordi is the oldest Italian classical music publisher, founded in 1708. Not only does the company's catalogue feature operas by Bellini, Donizetti, Puccini, Rossini and Verdi, but the company's founder, Giovanni Ricordi, was responsible for radical change to the way music publishing, copyright and performance were governed. In the early 19th century, composer's copyright was limited and if the composer was not personally involved in performances then little or no money would be forthcoming.
So Ricordi started producing proper printed scores and renting material to theatres, and he went beyond publishing and acquired the right to represent composers to opera companies and theatres, and ultimately this meant that subsequent performances of a composer's operas would bring in income too. This transformation happened during Verdi's lifetime, completely transforming the composer's relationship to the theatres performing his music and radically altering a composer's income stream.
Wednesday 12 February 2020
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Septura I first became aware of the brass septet, Septura , when noting their 2017/18 concert series Kleptomania at St John's Smith...
-
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos - title page Six Concerts avec plusieurs instruments: Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann; London Handel Players, director ...
-
The Afghan Youth Orchestra On Thursday 7 March 2024, the Afghan Youth Orchestra makes its debut at the Southbank Centre at the start of its ...
-
Ben Goldscheider Jörg Widmann, Beethoven, Schumann, Huw Watkins, York Bowen; Ben Goldscheider, Richard Uttley; Wigmore Hall Reviewed 17 Marc...
-
Retrospect Opera's recording of Stanford's Shamus O'Brien in rehearsal Charles Villiers Stanford’s opera Shamus O'Brien pre...
-
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progess - Act Three, scene one: the graveyard Frederick Jones, Jerome Knox - English Touring Opera (Photo: © Ric...
-
Henry Brewster (HB) in 1897 Beethoven: Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt , Smyth: The Prison , Brahms: Nänie : Rebecca Bottone, Alex Otterbu...
-
Listening to the sublime closing duet of Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea it is perhaps difficult for us to accept that this music ...
-
Norwich Cathedral Organ (Photo: Bill Smith/Norwich Cathedral) From an epic concert featuring three Cathedral Choirs to the ‘Battle of the Or...
-
Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra I get all sorts of mail, people sending my information on concerts and recordings. Everything gets gl...
No comments:
Post a Comment