Found 52 collections.

Arturo Toscanini was born in Parma, Italy, on March 25, 1867, and died in Riverdale, New York, on January 16, 1957. Many regard him as one of the world's greatest conductors. In addition, Toscanini's anti-Fascist stance during World War II distinguished him as a symbol of freedom and humanity. His extraordinarily long career began in 1886, when Italian orchestral conductors were still relatively few in number, and extended into the 1950s, by which time his radio and television broadcasts had transformed him into a cultural icon. The Toscanini Legacy papers form a portion of the Toscanini Legacy housed at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The other major portion, of sound recordings, is housed in NYPL's Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound. The papers in the Music Division consist of music scores and orchestral parts with and without markings by Arturo Toscanini and others (including composers in some instances), correspondence, photographs, programs, clippings, books, newspapers, brochures, periodicals, scrapbooks, and medical and financial records. Subjects include the various musical organizations in Europe and the United States with which Toscanini was associated, and his anti-Fascist activities. The hundreds of correspondents include family members, composers, performers, conductors, and music critics; as well as Italian exiles, and U.S. and Italian political figures. less

Marcella Sembrich was a Polish born coloratura soprano who sang leading roles in European and American opera during her highly successful career. From 1898 to 1909 she was a regular member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, New York. She continued performing as a concert singer after her retirement from the operatic stage. Sembrich also became an instructor of singing at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School of Music, becoming mentor to many pupils who later became famous in their own right. The correspondence, papers, posters, and programs in this collection represent the career and activities of Marcella Sembrich and her family from 1851 to 1988. The collection consists of an extensive amount of correspondence with the leading musical figures of the day; posters, concert advertisements and programs from Sembrich (and other) performances throughout her career; and memorabilia including an autograph album with signatures and drawings of famous musicians and others. Series IX "Photographs" also includes some 15-20 original graphic art works among its 2284 items. Subjects include Sembrich, places she lived, places she performed, and people with whom she performed. The sheet music and musical scores (Series X) are currently being processed. less

Donna K. Anderson (1935-2018) was an American musicologist who dedicated her career to researching the life and music of Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920). The Donna K. Anderson research files on Charles Tomlinson Griffes hold scores, research files, and recordings compiled or created by Anderson in her role as executor of the Griffes estate, and in the preparation of her books, Charles T. Griffes: An Annotated Bibliography-Discography, The Works of Charles T. Griffes: A Descriptive Catalog, and Charles T. Griffes: A Life In Music. less

Document in ink inscribed "Statement and voucher from Mr. Goachino [i.e. Giacomo] Montresor, Janr. 17, 1833. Italian Opera", and beginning, "The evening before the benefit of Sigr. Fornasari in Decbr 1832, the Italian Opera Company refused to appear in public unless the manager would induce some responsible person to receive the proceeds instead of Signor Antonio Rocca, late cashier of the company.". less

Herbert Henry Weinstock (1905-1971), an American writer and editor, specialized in the field of early 19th-century Italian opera. Between 1935 and 1971, Weinstock wrote prolifically, particularly on musical subjects, while also working as a publisher's editor. In this role, Weinstock was brought into formative contact with some of the most important musical writers of his day; he edited Stravinsky and Craft's Expositions, for example, and translated La Grange's Life of Mahler. He was also New York correspondent of Opera from December 1966 until his death and contributed reviews, programs, and articles to numerous publications. By his own tally, he contributed over 300 articles to the Encyclopedia Americana, and he completed, before his death, the revised entry on Opera for the Encyclopaedia Britannica (a typescript of which is in the collection). Weinstock's work also includes a number of translations of Spanish and Italian works, and some material for children. Arguably Weinstock's most important books were his last trilogy of musical biographies: Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris, and Vienna (1963), Rossini, a Biography (1968), and Vincenzo Bellini, His Life and His Operas (1971). His oeuvre also includes hundreds of articles and program notes and over two dozen books (original and translated), most of which were translated into several languages and issued in multiple (sometimes revised) editions. The Herbert Weinstock Collection consists of professional and personal papers and a small number of three-dimensional memorabilia belonging to Herbert Weinstock, members of Weinstock's family, and Weinstock's long-time companion, Ben Meiselman. The professional papers, which span the years 1750-1989, were produced and collected mainly by Weinstock in connection with his research, particularly his work on early 19th-century opera. The range of collected materials is broad, and sometimes unexpected, as in the case of a facsimile manuscript essay by Wagner on Bellini's Norma, but the largest group consists of facsimiles of over 1200 letters to and from Rossini and members of his circle. The professional papers also include a number of Weinstock's own writings on both musical and non-musical subjects, including a hand-corrected typescript of his biography of Rossini, as well as writings by other persons, perhaps most notably a hand-corrected typescript of one of the Stravinsky-Craft books, music by Carlos Chavez, and the typescript of a long article by Philip Gossett. Weinstock's voluminous correspondence includes letters from many important figures of the musical and publishing worlds of his time, including Guglielmo Barblan, Maria Callas, Warren Chappell, Carlos Chavez, Aaron Copland, Karl Geiringer, Philip Gossett, Newell Jenkins, Friedrich Lippman, Andrew Porter, Harold Rosenthal, Beverly Sills, Igor Stravinsky, and Virgil Thomson. less

Harry G. Schumer (1893-1971) was Orchestra Librarian of the Metropolitan Opera from 1938 to 1968. Schumer's private collection of printed and manuscript full scores, vocal scores, stage band scores, and parts to Italian, French, German, Russian, and Irish operas and operettas. Includes scores and parts copied by Schumer himself and by 19th century professional copyists, and Schumer's performance notes. Composers represented by more than 10 items include: Bellini, Donizetti, Gounod, Massenet, Puccini, Rossini, Johann Strauss, and Verdi. Many items had also been cataloged separately in earlier years. less

The Louise Homer Collection extensively documents the lives and careers of Louise and Sidney Homer, as well as the history of their extended family. It was assembled by Katharine Homer Fryer, one of the Homers' twin daughters. The collection contains correspondence, family papers, music scores, publicity materials, clippings, concert programs, scrapbooks, photographs and posters. less

Hector Berlioz was a French composer. In 1837 the Minister of Fine Arts commissioned him to compose a Requiem Mass to be performed on the 7th anniversary of the heroes of July 28, 1830. He finished his Grande Messe des Morts on June 29, but days before the occasion, the bureaus cancelled the ceremony. The recipient, Pierre-Louis-Philippe Dietsch, was maitre de chapelle at St.-Eustache, and later at Ste.-Madeleine. ALS. Berlioz tells his choral conductor Dietsch that the ceremony for which the Requiem is being rehearsed has been cancelled, and says not to bother to come to the Conservatory with his "gamins.". less

9 programs and 2 correction notices for concerts in Dresden, Leipzig, and Paris, including performances of Richard Wagner's Overture in D minor; Symphony; overtures to Columbus, Die Feen, Tannhäuser, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; and 2 arias from Rienzi. less

The Mrs. William Patten Papers are comprised mainly of unbound scrapbook leaves containing press clippings and other materials relating to musicians active during the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. It is probable that the materials were compiled by Grace Bigelow Patten, the wife of the editor William Patten (1868-1936). She wrote at least one of the stories which appeared in the ten-volume Junior Classics series edited by her husband and is also is known to have published magazine pieces. less

Correspondence (chiefly 1905-1958) including ca. 1000 autograph letters collected by Mr. Abell; mss. of articles and book chapters; concert programs; newspaper and magazine clippings; calling cards; photographs and other pictures including more than 150 portraits of musicians, many of them autographed; and other material. Includes extensive correspondence from Leopold Auer, Max Bruch, Serge Koussevitzky, Isidore Philipp, Xaver Scharwenka; and 6 or more letters each from Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler, Willy Burmester, Carl Flesch, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Rudolf Ganz, Etelka Gerster-Gardini, Arthur Hartmann, Hugo Heerman, Ernst Hutcheson, Hugo Kaun, Juan Manén, Robert Schauffler, Arnold T. Schwab, Christian Sinding, Theodore Spiering, Richard Strauss, Amadeo von der Hoya, and Anton Witek. less

Author and recipient were pianist-composers active in Europe. Kalkbrenner asks Moscheles to sign a receipt for the sale of 2 concertos and gives news: music of Neate and Potter is being played by the Philharmonic Society rather than Beethoven symphonies; Cramer just missed breaking his thumb in a freak accident; Madame Pasta had a successful debut; and Kiesewetter played like a demon. less

Charles Gounod was a French composer. Sapho, his first opera, was first performed in 1851. His best known opera is Faust. The letter, beginning "Cher Enfant," is written to an unnamed young singer. Gounod congratulates her for the opportunity of studying the part of Sapho under Pauline Viardot, who created the role. He discusses proposed cuts in the performance and gives advice about interpretation. He also mentions that he has just finished the finale of the 3rd act of Faust. less

The collection consists of 3 undated letters and 12 dated letters from Viotti (1801-1821), all in French ; 20 undated and 34 dated letters (1793-1822) to Viotti and several others from various correspondents, chiefly in French with several letters in English or Italian. The earliest dated letter (1793) is from Pugnani. Muzio Clementi, Johann Dussek, and Ferdinando Pa̋er are represented by one letter each. Two unsigned notes are attributed to Mme. de Staël, and 2 unsigned letters, to Stéphanie Félicité Genlis, the author of La duchesse de La Vallière. One letter is signed "Albertine de Staël" (duchesse de Broglie). Several items in 1821 relate to Viotti's having been named Chevalier de l'Ordre royal de la Légion d'honneur. Many letters are from and to the Chinnery family with little musical content. Viotti often signed letters "Amico" or "L'amico.". less

Dr. Carleton Sprague Smith toured Brazil between the 1940s-1950s as a form of cultural diplomacy and it is suspected that he acquired this collection of music on one of these tours. The collection primarily consists of handwritten parts and fragments for music to be performed as part of Catholic church services, identified as being from Mariana, Brazil. less

As a young man, the German composer Richard Wagner was in love with actress Minna Planer who later became his first wife. Minna's standing as first tragic artist in the Magdeburg theater was being threatened by a Mme. Grabowsky. Bethmann was director of the theater. A scribbled draft in the hand of Richard Wagner of a letter for Minna Planer to send to Director Bethmann, demanding her rights as first tragic actress in the Magdeburg theater. The draft is written on the verso of a discarded letter, a rejection by Minna to an unnamed suitor. In the remaining space on the same sheet of paper, Natalie Planer (Minna's illegitimate daughter) has written an explanation of Richard Wagner's draft. less