Press Release | Milan, 04/29/2015

Archivio Ricordi Presents ‘Turandot’ Exhibition at La Scala Museum in Milan

Historical stage sets, original sheet music and costume designs from Puccini’s famous opera

Bertelsmann’s Archivio Ricordi is bringing the origins and triumphs of Giacomo Puccini's last opera “Turandot” to life at La Scala’s Museo Teatrale in Milan, starting at the end of April. For two months, “Turandot alla Scala” will showcase stage and costume designs and a historical poster for the opera’s 1926 world premiere at La Scala, a sheet of music from the original score, and sketches for the ending of the unfinished opera. Librettos, a selection of correspondence and photos from the archive’s holdings, as well as costumes from legendary Scala performances will also be on display. Some of the exhibits – such as the score for “Vincerò” from the world-famous aria “Nessun dorma” – have never been shown to the public.

The exhibition “Turandot alla Scala” will be ceremoniously opened on Wednesday evening at the Museo Teatrale and will then be on view until June 30, 2015. Curated by the renowned musicologist Gabriele Dotto, the exhibition is one of the highlights of La Scala’s program to accompany the World Expo in Milan. “Turandot” will be performed at La Scala this Friday.

“Turandot” is one of the most popular operas in Italian music history. To this day, the piece about the fate of a cruel Chinese princess is regularly performed at La Scala and other opera houses around the world. At the time, Puccini's masterpiece was published by the historic Italian music publisher Casa Ricordi. When Puccini died shortly before the completion of the opera, his publisher went to great lengths to nonetheless make the keenly anticipated premiere a success.

Bertelsmann had acquired Casa Ricordi in 1994, but later divested itself of the music company and the Ricordi music rights. Only the Archivio Ricordi, which constitutes one of the world’s most valuable privately owned music collections, remained within the Group. The archive inventory includes 7,800 original scores from more than 600 operas as well as about 10,000 librettos, 6,000 historical photographs and the company’s complete business correspondence from 1888 to 1962. As part of a comprehensive cataloging and digitization process, the Archive’s holdings are being restored where necessary, and also gradually turned into vivid virtual experiences.

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the service providers Arvato and Be Printers, the music rights company BMG and the e-learning provider Relias Learning. The company has more than 112,000 employees and generated revenues of €16.7 billion in financial year 2014. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes the creation of first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.