Teatro alla Scala business letters and contracts
Overview
Contracts with, and letters sent from artists engaged with the opera house of Teatro alla Scala, in Milan, Italy.
Dates
- Creation: 1917-1973=
- Creation: Majority of material found in 1920-1942
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in Italian, a few in English.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
1.5 linear feet (2 boxes)Approximately 380 documents and letters concerning the engagement of singers (primarily) as well as conductors and repetiteurs for the Teatro alla Scala [La Scala, Milan]. Also includes some materials concerning other personnel.
Materials include: contracts that specify the terms of the engagement and are signed by the artists; extensions or modifications of contracts; 'regolamenti del teatro' or printed regulations of the theatre, also signed by the artists; letters sent to La Scala from the artists (only two artists' files include letters from La Scala); and some miscellaneous items including receipts for music borrowed from the Scala library.
Includes the names: Franco Alfano, Gina Cigna, Toti Dal Monte, Manuel de Falla, Giuseppe De Luca, Victor De Sabata, Beniamino Gigli, Tito Gobbi, Vittorio Gui, Italo Montemezzi, Luigi Nono, Ettore Panizza, Tullio Serafin, Siegfried Wagner, Bruno Walter, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, among many others.
Biographical / Historical
The Teatro alla Scala was founded under the auspices of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, to replace the Royal Ducal Theatre which was destroyed by fire on 26 February 1776 and had, until then, been the home of opera in Milan. La Scala, the more common name, opened on 3 August 1778 with Antonio Salieri's opera L'Europa riconosciuta, to a libretto by Mattia Verazi. La Scala today continues as one of the world's most famous opera houses.
Source: http://www.teatroallascala.org
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by name of artist. Unidentified items are at end.
Physical Location
This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2008MTW-1. Deposited by John Milton and Ruth Neils Ward; received: 2008 August 5.
General note
- Position for which individual was contracted.
- Page on which the artist is indexed in Giampiero Tintori. Cronologia : opere, balletti, concerti 1778-1977. Bergamo: 1979.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Teatro alla Scala. Teatro alla Scala business letters and contracts, 1917-1973: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou01992
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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