DEPARTMENT OF THE ARTS ARCHIVIO DEL CANTO

Archivio del Canto is a research centre operating within the Department of Arts (Bologna University). The primary mission of the Archive is to collect asmany books on the subject of opera singing as possible and make them available in a single space. The second mission is to promote original research into opera singing, promoted by the presence in the same location of a specialised library of unparalleled excellence. The third mission is to promote, by turn, young researchers who have gained a research Doctorate (PhD), either by financing a new research project or by publishing the results in print. In 2020, probably due to the unprecedented historical moment, Archivio del Canto received only the economic support of Marchesini Group, which was used to gain access to the “research funds” offered by Bologna University. The three most important results obtained in 2020 thanks to the co-financing offered by Marchesini Group were:
• acquisition of a bequest of around 500 volumes on opera singing, the property of a recently departed actor from Ravenna;
• publication, via the Libreria Musicale Italiana publishing house, of a volume penned by Paolo De Matteis entitled “Musica e gesto nel teatro mozartiano” (music and gesture in mozartian theatre);
• activation of an annual research fellowship to conduct an investigation of Antonio Bernacchi, an 18th century Bolognese opera singer, awarded by public competition to Valentina Anzani.