ARCHIVE

It is the most prominent part in our archive and it includes both original documents and copies. In this section, you may find antique musical scores and the original scores of 19^th and 20^th century works, the modern editions (in particular those of musicians from Bergamo: the critical edition of the Opera Omnia of Pietro Antonio Locatelli and Daniele Maffeis) librettos (we signal the presence of copies of librettos of the first representations of works by Donizetti and Mayr), Donizetti’s autographed copies (among which the score of the final scene of Pia de’ Tolomei) and digitalized copies (the whole collection of Donizetti’s autographed copies now conserved in the Conservatory S. Pietro a Majella in Naples), Mayr’s and other authors’ autographed copies (the digitalized copy of the autographed works by Antonio Capuzzi which are conserved in the Istituto Musicale Donizetti in Bergamo). The collection of original letters is quite conspicuous and it includes the Fondo Mandelli (more than 1500 letters by authors such as Mayr, Donizetti, Bellini, Meyerbeer, Ricordi and so on), both purchased and donated letters by Donizetti, Mayr, Verdi, and a series of document dealing with the family of the composer. The source gathering activity has led to discoveries of exceptionally scientific value and contributed to the concentration of documents in the birth town of the musician.

This section includes scientific publications about the musical theatre of the 19^th century. Alongside with a number of volumes dedicated to Mayr and Donizetti, the collection includes the published works of the Istituto nazionale di studi verdiani in Parma and of the Centro Studi Giacomo Puccini in Lucca, the schedules of the main Italian and European theatres (Scala, Fenice, Regio di Torino, Massimo “Bellini” di Catania, Giglio di Lucca, Donizetti di Bergamo, Opéra di Parigi, Wexford Festival), studies dedicated to little known musicians from Bergamo.

The section includes the photographs taken at the shows in the Teatro Donizetti during the lyrical season and during the Bergamo Musica Festival “Gaetano Donizetti”.

A collection of CDs, DVDs, LPs, VHS. This section includes the video recording of all the shows which have been staged in Teatro Donizetti since 1984 (Lyric, Prose, Ballet, Musical), alongside a conspicuous collection of recordings of works by Donizetti and Mayr. The collection has been enriched thanks to private donations. The Fondo Albertini consists on a thousand vinyl discs, covering music history from the 16^th to the 20^th century. The donation was received from the relatives of the collector Enrico Albertini after his death in 2004. Albertini was fond of every music genre without distinction of style and authors. He was fond of books and rarities too.