On Thursday 25 September, the Music Hall of the National Museum of Palazzo Mansi will host an international study day entitled An Assembly of Musicians . The Origins of the Public Concert in Paris in 1725 , organised by the Luigi Boccherini Study Centre as part of Eighteenth-Century Music in Lucca .
The initiative aims to celebrate the three-hundredth anniversary of the first Parisian Concert Spirituel – one of the first and most famous public music festivals in Europe – and will bring together in Lucca some of the leading scholars in the field, from internationally prestigious academic and cultural institutions : the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, the British Library, the University of Florence, the University of Roma Tre, the Fondazione Centro Studi sull'Arte Licia and Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti.
An opportunity for discussion and insight to better understand the roots of the modern concert, retracing a crucial historical moment—the one when music emerged from courts and private salons to become an experience shared by a wider audience.
The day will be divided into two sessions.
The morning session , chaired by Marco Mangani, president of the Luigi Boccherini Study Center, will begin at 10:00 a.m. Paolo Bolpagni (Fondazione Centro Studi sull'Arte Licia e Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti) will open the session, addressing the iconography of the concert pianist from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Germán Labrador (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) will follow, analyzing Luigi Boccherini's relationship with the first public concerts in Madrid. Bénédicte Hertz (Centre de musique baroque de Versailles) will delve into the academic ideal of concertare in 18th-century France.
In the afternoon, starting at 3:30 p.m. , under the presidency of Barbara Nestola (Centre de musique baroque de Versailles), the discussion will continue with Luca Aversano(Università Roma Tre), who will illustrate the evolution of the 'concertone' in Italy from the 16th-century festivals to the celebrations of May Day; Sandra Tuppen (The British Library) will discuss early music concerts in 18th-century London; Benoît Dratwicki (Centre de musique baroque de Versailles) will present profiles, repertoires, and practices of the Concert Spirituel singers; finally, Matteo Giuggioli (Università Roma Tre) will analyze the ways in which music was listened to in 18th-century public concerts.
The study day is free to attend.
The event is organized thanks to the collaboration of the Regional Directorate of the National Museums of Tuscany and the National Museums of Lucca, the Italian Society of Musicology, and the Giacomo Puccini Foundation of Lucca, with the support of the Municipality of Lucca, the Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Foundation, and the Directorate General for Education, Research, and Cultural Institutes of the Ministry of Culture.