Press Release | Gütersloh, 10/08/2013

Bertelsmann Presents Unique Verdi Exhibition in Gütersloh

• Scores, correspondence, stage sketches and costume designs from Verdi operas bring 19th-century opera culture to life
• Liz Mohn: Bertelsmann serves up a highlight of “Verdi Year” 2013
• “Enterprise of Opera” exhibition at Gütersloh Theater until October 21st – free admissi

From October 8 to 21, Bertelsmann is hosting a unique Verdi exhibition featuring cultural treasures from the Group's Ricordi Archives in Milan at the Gütersloh Theater – a highlight of Verdi Year 2013 and Gütersloh’s "Klassik-Herbst" (Autumn of Classics). The "Enterprise of Opera" exhibition marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated composer Giuseppe Verdi on 10 October by tracing the origins of two of his operas. Lively exchanges of letters between the composer, his publisher Giulio Ricordi and the librettist Arrigo Boito, scores, stage sketches and costume designs reveal how Verdi's late works "Otello" and "Falstaff" came into being. Audio stations, film sequences and a touchscreen that lets visitors virtually leaf through the score of “Falstaff” round off the picture and bring 19th-century opera culture to life. Admission to the exhibition is free.

Gütersloh is the touring exhibition’s first stop after its highly acclaimed opening in Berlin. Last month, more than 5,000 visitors from all over Germany and neighboring countries visited Bertelsmann Unter den Linden 1 to see the musical rarities. The exhibits in Gütersloh include original artifacts from the Ricordi archives as well as high-quality facsimiles.

At the opening of the exhibition on Tuesday at the Gütersloh Theater, Liz Mohn highlighted the significance of the exhibits: "The documents shown here are unique. They illustrate how Verdi worked and especially how the interaction with both his publisher and his librettist inspired him. This creative process resulted in masterpieces that continue to fill opera houses around the world," said Liz Mohn, adding that she is especially delighted the "Enterprise of Opera" exhibition is being shown in Gütersloh. "Bertelsmann has its headquarters here. We care about this city." She said that the Gütersloh Theater, of which Bertelsmann is a strong supporter, is a worthy setting for the show.

Thomas Rabe, Chairman & CEO of Bertelsmann, expressed his hope that the exhibition would attract a lot of visitors: “After being reserved for research and academe in the past, the documents from the Ricordi archives are now being shown to a broader public in Germany for the first time. This gives music aficionados a chance to gain entirely new insights.” Rabe emphasized that Bertelsmann is preserving the Archivio Ricordi holdings for posterity in a variety of ways, and is gradually digitizing them so that they can be “virtually” experienced in the future.

The “Enterprise of Opera” exhibition is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00 until October 21. It will then be on display at the Museo del Risorgimento in Milan from November 6 to December 8.

“The Enterprise of Opera: Verdi. Boito. Ricordi”
Gütersloh:
Oct 08 – Oct 21, 2013
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. daily
Theater Gütersloh
Barkeystraße 15
33330 Gütersloh
Free admission

For more information about the exhibition and the Archivio Storico Ricordi, please visit www.bertelsmann.com/news-and-media/specials/the-enterprise-of-opera/ 

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is an international media company whose core divisions encompass television (RTL Group), book publishing (Penguin Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), services (Arvato), and printing (Be Printers) in some 50 countries. In 2012, the company’s businesses, with their more than 100,000 employees, generated revenues of €16.1 billion. Bertelsmann stands for a combination of creativity and entrepreneurship that empowers the creation of first-rate media, communications, and service offerings to inspire people around the world and to provide innovative solutions for customers.