Tweedpipe

Hi, just looking in from the France forum.
I have a favour to ask someone who may be able to help me procure a copy of a musical manuscript.
I've been doing some research on my bisnonno.
I knew that he was a Sicilian musical conductor of great esteem at the Royal Italian Opera - Covent Garden, and very accomplished pianist and accompanist in London during mid/late 19th century & early 20th. What I didn't know was that he had composed a number of works, including a Piano Concerto in 1865.
My son is a very accomplished pianist (he didn't get that from me), so I guess it's in the DNA that skips a generation or two.
A little more research with a site named Internet Culturale (which I registered with to get more info) led me to an Italian site of the National Service Library Catalogues, where the compositions I'm after are detailed.
However my lack of Italian doesn't help me get further, in understanding if prints of the listed compositions are available.
My goal being, to obtain and gift a copy of the piano concerto score to my son for his next birthday. To see a historic document composed by a relation and to perform it again, he'd be over the moon!
Could some kind soul please come to my rescue to help follow this up? Contact by PM would be great to discuss further.

Lorna at Vicenza

I'm on holiday right now with a bit of free time. If you want to send me names or websites that I can look at I will do. I'm fluent in Italian and can ask for more details or info if need be from that website you found.

Tweedpipe

Lorna, many thanks. PM to follow.
Cheers,
TP

Lorna at Vicenza

Good morning,

well I got as far as you did on the Inter Culturale website, and that brought me to the Biblioteca Musicale Gaetano Donizetti.

They are only open 3 times a week for a couple of hours each time. Luckily one of those opening days is Wednesday morning so rather than messing about on their website, I telephoned directly.

I told a very nice man that following some family research I was pretty sure that a copy of a piano concert was in their library and that I had the author's name and other details including an ISIL code from the Inter Culturale website, but I didn't know if they accepted requests for copies, if they did them and how to get one.

He told me I could just send an email, he would then reply with the cost of copy and postage. If I then decide to go ahead, payment has to be in advance and they will then send out digitally printed copies to my address.

I'm going off to send the email now whilst the library is still open.

Lorna at Vicenza

P.S. Looking at the tech sheet for that piano concert in C minor ........ it's 27 pages so we'll see what kind of price comes back to us.

quiltman

Again BE folks help out! well done lorna!

Lorna at Vicenza

Thank you. Always lovely to receive a compliment.

Lorna at Vicenza

Hey Tweedpipe.

WE HAVE RESULTS ALREADY.

My email went out this morning at 10.44 am and the nice man that I spoke to wrote back at 11.10am. Now that is superhuman fast for Italy so the nice man either has little to do in those archives or relished the thought of actually doing something helpful and constructive.

Here is his reply and a very quick translation by me below it. I removed the bulk of the bank details and added the blah blah in the spaces:

Gentile Sig.ra *******,


molto volentieri rispondo alla sua gentile richiesta. Ho preso visione del volume cui è interessata al fine di inviare un preventivo di spesa per riproduzione digitale, lavoro che realizziamo tramite la Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai. Tra l'altro, la copia in nostro possesso riporta in frontespizio una dedica autografa a "Madame Piatti".
Si tratta di effettuare n. 28 scatti al prezzo, come da tariffario, di EUR 1,00 cadauno. Trattandosi di un numero esiguo di foto è possibile evitare le spese di supporto e spedizione inviando le scansioni direttamente via mail, quindi il totale sar� di soli EUR 28,00.
Se il preventivo è di suo gradimento, le chiedo di mandarmi una conferma di avvenuto pagamento rispondendo a questa mail.
Per effettuarlo sono valide le due seguenti modalit� , a sua scelta:


1) CONTO CORRENTE POSTALE

Versamento sul ccp n. 12174249 intestato a: Comune di Bergamo blah blah blah ......


2) BONIFICO BANCARIO intestato a: COMUNE DI BERGAMO blah blah blah .......


Rimanendo in attesa, porgo un cordiale saluto.

Fabrizio ***********




Dear Mrs ************

It is with pleasure that I'm replying to your kind request. I've had a look at the volume that you're interested in in order to be able to send a quote for the digital reproduction, work that we carry out with the Civic Library Angelo Mai. The copy in our possession by the way has a signed dedication to a "Madame Piatti" on the title page. We would need to take 28 photographs at the price of EUR 1.00 each as per our price list. As this isn't a large number of photos it is possible to avoid postage and packaging expenses by sending them directly by email and the total sum will therefore be Euro 28.00.
If this quote meets with you approval, please send me confirmation of payment to this email. To make the payment you can choose one of the following two methods .......... (blah blah).

Looking forward to hearing from you and best regards,




NOW, Tweedpipe, if you want this and as communication with this man has so far been in my name with my Italian email address, I'm happy for you to send me 28 Euro by PayPal or bank transfer which I will then use to pay the library. It doesn't cost me anything to do an Italy to Italy transfer if I do it online and he included ALL of their details so it will very simple and quick.
Once I have the 28 photos I can easily forward them to you and then you can do what you want with them. Of course we can carry on here again by PM to talk about money payments.
I just thought it would be nice for the other members to see the quick results
because I imagine that like me, they'll be flabbergasted that somebody in Italy actually replied so politely and so very quickly and it looks like you have found what you were looking for.

Tweedpipe

Hi Lorna,
Brilliant work! Will PM you within the next hour.
Thanks for all your efforts so far. That's what I call efficiency.
Actually I have a little surprise 'gift' for you when all this is completed.
Cheers, TP

Lorna at Vicenza

One phone call and one email hasn't actually been a lot of effort on my part. I'm excited that you'll get a copy of what you wanted. Hopefully the photos of the 28 page piano concerto will be crystal clear so that you can get them printed out for your son's birthday. Now I want to know who Madame Piatti was

Pica

Fabulous work Lorna and I also am intrigued as to who Madame Piatti is

Tweedpipe

I'm intrigued too. At the time that Concerto was written he was 37 and still single, and surrounded by many of his young lady student pianists - and singers whom he accompanied at the piano. The Italian Library catalogue also states that he dedicated that Concerto to a Lady Carden, whom I can find nothing more on. So I assume the 'Lady' was one of the London High Society at the time, and Mme Piatti perhaps an admirer, or more....
He married a Belgian lady 5 years later who was 20 years younger - she would have been my great grand mother, but nobody in my immediate family knew anything about this. Oddly enough despite the age difference, according to records I've found, they both died the same year - 1898. Which leads to more questions than I have answers to.
Must admit I'm not really into genealogy, but it must be a fascinating pastime. Anyone here into it in a serious way?

BEVS

Me too

Yes. It is something I really enjoy. Like doing a jigsaw . I've put the odd tree together for pals and family in my amateur way.

Dorothy

What an interesting story! I think we're all going to be interested in who she was.

As for the genealogy stuff, our esteemed leader, BEVS has helped me to find my grandparents' info.

Tweedpipe

Hmm, BEVS into genealogy eh? Thanks for that.

....whoops! Just seen BEVS post too.