The “Biblioteca Wagneriana Digitale” (Digital Wagner Library) is the first historical archive dedicated to the life and reception of the work of Richard Wagner in Italy. However, the archive aspires to become international and aims to expand its content to include documents in other languages.
Curated by La Voce Wagneriana - Richard Wagner Association of Avellino, the Digital Wagner Library gathers thousands of articles that testify how profound and alive the impact of Richard Wagner's music has been in Italy since the late 19th century. The digitized documents cover a period from the second half of the 19th century to the early decades of the 20th century and constitute a unique and valuable tool for Wagnerian research. Essays, newspaper articles, reviews of Wagnerian premieres... a lot of material now finally available to enthusiasts and scholars.
Some examples: What was the reception of Italian critics to the first Italian performance of Lohengrin in 1871? Were Italian journalists present at the inauguration of the Bayreuth Festival in 1876? How did the Italian cultural world react to Wagner's death in 1883? The archive answers these and many other questions.
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How to access the Digital Wagner Library?
The Digital Wagner Library is a continuously growing archive and is organized into three catalogs available for download:
1) Catalog in alphabetical order of all the documents (download here)
2) Catalog in chronological order of all the documents (download here)
3) Catalog of documents ordered by year of performance of Wagnerian operas in Italy (download here)
Consulting the catalog is very simple. Newspaper articles are cataloged by Headline Title, Publication Date, Article Author, and Title. To make the search easier, each document is accompanied by a brief description.
Please note that the catalog and documents are in Italian. However, the archive is open to collaboration, and soon documents will also be available in other languages.
How to request a document?
Access to the Digital Wagner Library is free and open to all. Once the catalog has been downloaded and the desired document identified, simply request it by writing to lavocewagneriana@gmail.com.
In case the requested document is used for publication, please cite it as follows: Digital Wagner Library, La Voce Wagneriana - Richard Wagner Association of Avellino.
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Associazione La Voce Wagneriana
Via San Francesco Saverio 1
83100 Avellino (AV)
Contacts
Telephone: +39 349 2684424‬
E-Mail: lavocewagneriana@gmail.com