A major exhibition of Verdi artefacts and scores opens in New York next month bringing many major items to the United States for the first time. ‘Verdi: Creating Otello and Falstaff – Highlights from the Ricordi Archive’ can be seen at New York’s Morgan Library & Museum from September 6 and will run until January 5, 2020. The Library's own collection – including early editions of texts by William Shakespeare – will be joined by material from the Bertelsmann-owned Ricordi Archive (which houses a total of some 7800 original scores from more than 600 operas and hundreds of other compositions and approximately 10,000 libretti). 

Colin B. Bailey, Director of the Morgan Library & Museum, said ‘We are delighted to present these highlights from the Ricordi Archive, showing how Italy’s pre-eminent composer shaped what would become two of his crowning achievements, Otello and Falstaff. A collection of set designs, costumes from Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, autograph manuscripts, contracts, publications, publicity, video excerpts from recent productions, as well as objects from the Morgan’s collection enable visitors to experience the tremendous collaborative efforts behind an operatic production.’ Thomas Rabe, Chairman & CEO of Bertelsmann, added that ‘The name Ricordi stands for 200 years of Italian opera and music history. As the owners of the Ricordi Archive, we are very aware of the importance of this European cultural asset and take responsibility for its sustained preservation, care and development. Exhibitions like the one in New York, in partnership with the Morgan Library, are a great opportunity to keep the creative work of earlier generations alive and to reach audiences beyond the musicological community.’ 

The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street New York, NY 10016