Galleria dell'Accademia, collezione del Conservatorio 'Luigi Cherubini': Gli strumenti a corde vol. II (Galleria dell'Accademia, collection of the Conservatorio 'Luigi Cherubini': Stringed instruments vol. II)

Di Stefano, G. P. and Rossi Rognoni, G., eds. (2014) Galleria dell'Accademia, collezione del Conservatorio 'Luigi Cherubini': Gli strumenti a corde vol. II (Galleria dell'Accademia, collection of the Conservatorio 'Luigi Cherubini': Stringed instruments vol. II). Sillabe, Livorno.

Abstract

Il volume (edito in italiano e inglese) illustra la storia e le caratteristiche costruttive di cinquantacinque antichi strumenti musicali a corde della collezione del Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini oggi custoditi presso la Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze. Di questa importante raccolta fanno parte anche rari strumenti provenienti dalle collezioni fiorentine Kraus e Bardini, mai descritti in precedenti pubblicazioni. Tra gli esemplari analizzati spiccano la spinetta ovale del 1690 realizzata dal celebre cembalaro Bartolomeo Cristofori (prima opera nota di questo costruttore), il pianoforte a coda verticale del 1739 di Domenico Del Mela (il più antico pianoforte verticale del mondo) nonché pregevoli mandolini, mandole, chitarre, salteri e rari strumenti extraeuropei. Il testo, secondo volume della serie dedicata al catalogo completo della collezione del Conservatorio di Firenze, è corredato da un ricco apparato fotografico di oltre duecento immagini. *******Ever since 1996 when the Conservatorio “Luigi Cherubini” first loaned some of the extraordinary instruments that are part of its collection to the Galleria dell’Accademia to create a section of the museum dedicated to the history of music, there have been numerous and always better opportunities for cooperation between the Conservatory and the Polo Museale Fiorentino. However, that first loan was a not mere, albeit positive, agreement arising from the fact that both institutions have long been part of the same complex. Rather it marked the mutual opening of two worlds, which – with their different and established approaches to research and study (due to the specific nature of the artworks they house) – share the desire to face new challenges together in both the conservation and the enhancement of the heritage. One of the finest examples of this intelligent cooperation was the memorable exhibition of Italian Baroque musical instruments, Marvels of Sound and Beauty, that the Galleria dell’Accademia hosted in 2007. Shortly thereafter, the book on the bowed stringed instruments in the Conservatory’s collection was published in 2009. The in-depth studies and scientific cataloguing of those instruments aimed at furthering knowledge and guaranteeing their proper conservation. The publication of this second volume on plucked stringed and keyboard instruments, edited by Giovanni Paolo Di Stefano and Gabriele Rossi Rognoni with their customary competence and skill, should be greeted as yet another step in the department’s growth and proof of its extraordinary vitality. We owe special thanks to the Associazione “Amici del museo degli strumenti musicali di Firenze” and in particular to Ettore D’Elia and Arianna Soldani for their support and enthusiasm for this project, as well as to the entire department to which we can only wish a fruitful future so that it can continue to stimulate and educate us about the many “marvels of sound” we still conserve.

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