A Flow of Music. Antonio Vivaldi. At the Origins of a Rediscovery
A flow of music Antonio Vivaldi at the origins of a rediscovery
Myriam Zerbi
Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, 2020
This volume relates the events leading up to the creation of the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, founded by Antonio Fanna and Angelo Ephrikian on 23 January 1947, going back over the sometimes unbelievable ups and downs that, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, translated the dream of bringing again to life the music of the Red Priest into the publication of all his instrumental works.
Through the letters of the principal persons involved, press reports of the time and the memories of the founder, the activity of the Institute is reconstructed – with a particular emphasis on its first years, rich in passion, engagement and eventfulness, in an Italy still marked by the war, where the desire for rebirth was strong – up to 1978, when, through the generosity of Antonio Fanna, it became part of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini of Venice.
Accompanied by large number of pictures and documents in reproduction, the narration unfolds through the stories of the individual protagonists: Angelo Ephrikian, who had the initial idea; Antonio Fanna, who created the basis for the Institute’s foundation and led it for fifty years; Alfredo Gallinari, the Maecenas, who up till now has remained anonymous at his own request; Francesco Continetto, the copyist, who transcribed over five hundred Vivaldi manuscripts; Gian Francesco Malipiero, the artistic director of the Institute and editor of a large part of the Venetian composer’s music; and Eugenio Clausetti, the enlightened general manager of Casa Ricordi.