The Romantic Cello

Organized by

Associazione Alfredo Piatti, Bergamo

Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini, Lucca

Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française, Venice 

in collaboration with

Fondazione MIA, Bergamo

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Bergamo Alta, Sala Pietro Antonio Locatelli

Palazzo MIA, Via Arena 9

22-24 November 2024

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CALL FOR PAPERS

The Associazione Alfredo Piatti (Bergamo), the Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini of Lucca and the Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française (Venice), are pleased to invite submissions of proposals for the symposium «The Romantic Cello», to be held in Bergamo, Sala Pietro Antonio Locatelli, from Friday 22 until Sunday 24 November 2024.

The Romantic Age constitutes a high point in the history of the cello, following its rise in the 18^th century. A number of works by important 19^th century composers feature the cello, starting from Bernhard Romberg, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Lalo, through to Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák and Elgar, preparing the ground for the composers of the 20 ^th century.

At the beginning of the 19^th century, there were several distinct schools of cello in France, Austria and Germany, Russia and England, in particularly the schools of Jean-Louis Duport (1749-1819) in France and Bernhard Romberg in Germany (1767-1841). In Italy, however, after Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), no Italian cellist of international significance emerged until Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901), whose concert successes led him to an active career as both performer and teacher.

The present conference aims to investigate the development of the violoncello in the 19^th  century, the performers, the cello repertoire for solo, chamber and orchestral music, and the  schools of cello playing. The programme committee encourages submissions within the following topics, although other topics related to the general theme of the conference are also welcome:

• Performing practice and technical skills
• 19^th Century Virtuosi
• Instruments, timbres and ensembles
• Career, repertoire and reception of professional groups
• Performing traditions and schools of playing
• The bow: its history and development
• The sonata and other solo repertory
• Chamber and orchestral repertory
• 19^th Century Treatises and Literature
• Dissemination of Cello Music: Genres and Publishers
• Concerts, societies, subscriptions

Programme Committee:

• Annalisa Barzanò (Associazione Alfredo Piatti)
• Roberto Illiano (Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini)
• Étienne Jardin (Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française)
• Fulvia Morabito (Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini)
• Massimiliano Sala (Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini)

Keynote  Speaker:

• John Lutterman (University of Alaska, Anchorage)
  

Invited Speaker:

• Annalisa Barzanò (Associazione Alfredo Piatti)

The official languages of the conference are English, French and Italian. Papers selected at the conference will be published in a miscellaneous volume.

Papers are limited to twenty minutes in length, allowing time for questions and discussion. Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words and one page of biographical information.

All proposals should be submitted by email no later than ***21 April 2024*** to <conferences@luigiboccherini.org>. With your proposal please include your name, contact details (postal address, e-mail and telephone number) and (if applicable) your affiliation.

The committee will make its final decision on the abstracts by May 2024, and contributors will be informed immediately thereafter. Further information about the programme and registration will be announced after that date.

For any additional information, please contact:

Dr. Massimiliano Sala

conferences@luigiboccherini.org

www.luigiboccherini.org