Michele Eulambio (1881-1974) - piano concerto (1906)

[Wheesht]

The Theatre Museum Carlo Schmidl in Trieste has the manuscript score of the piano concerto in E flat from 1906 by Michele Eulambio, who donated it to the museum in 1955. In 2020, a lengthy article (in Italian) about Eulambio was published by the blogger Rino Alessi. There's also this entry in the Dizionario biografico dei friulani.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks. Here's a translation:

Born in Trieste on 13 February 1881, to a Triestine mother (Anna Diamanti, an eminent pianist who gave him the first rudiments of piano) and a Greek father, E. began his musical studies in his native city with C. Coronini and A. Castelli (violin) and G. Wieselberger (harmony), to complete them in Leipzig (1903-1908) with S. Krehl (theory), M. Zöllner (composition), A. Ruthard (piano), R. Hofmann (instrumentation), A. Nikisch (conducting), A. Seidl (history of music); he graduated in 1907, presenting and conducting his own concert for piano and orchestra. Having moved to Milan in 1908, he devoted himself to composing his first opera, Ninon de Lenclos (1910), starting – as he himself underlined – not from a libretto but directly from the drama by E. Hardt according to the principles of C. Debussy and R. Strauss. Rejected by the publisher Ricordi, it was printed by the publisher A. Stahl of Berlin and in the following years performed with success in Leipzig, conducted by the author, in Kiel, Schwerin, Elberfeld, Magdeburg, Regensburg, Würzburg... (in Italy it appeared on the bill in Trieste in 1919 and 1927, but was performed there only in 1947; the following year it was staged in Bern and broadcast on the radio, in 1951 in Vienna, with great success everywhere). From 1915 to 1926 E. retired to Naples where, thanks to the interest of his friend S. Di Giacomo, the publisher R. Izzo (now Curci) published several pages for piano, voice and piano, piano and violin. From 1932, after having spent the summer there for some years, he chose Gradisca d'Isonzo (the seat of his father's industry) as his permanent homeland, dedicating himself until 1956 to teaching theory and history of music at the local state secondary schools, working on new compositions and revising previous works. In Gradisca, the first town in Italy to applaud his music (he had in fact proposed an orchestral concert there already in 1921), he lived secluded and industrious for over fifty years almost until his death, which came onJanuary 4, 1974toMonfalcone. In December 1963 he was enrolled among the members of the Venetian Athenaeum and the following year the former king Umberto of Savoy, from exile, had conferred upon him the honor of Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy. His production includes works for the theater:Ninon de Lenclos(1910),Miss Figaro, with a libretto by Enrico Golisciani, based on a comedy by E. Scribe (1921, revised in 1939 with the addition of a scene; world premiere in 1969 at the Teatro Comunale in Gradisca);Corsair, with a libretto by A. Algardi (1926, revised in 1947 with additions; recorded at Rai in Milan on 28 April 1962);At 200 an hour, libretto by A. Sestan;The meadows of Jalu, mime drama with libretto byMr. Gioitti of Monaco(1941);The sign of the cross, sacred poem for solo orchestra and choir on a theme by B. Polli from Trieste (1960); symphonic instrumental music:Concerto for piano and orchestra(1905), revised with additions in 1942, performed many times in Trieste and Athens;Anthem for the battle of Leipzig(1913);Concerto for violin and orchestra(1945);Romantic Prelude(1946), for large orchestra;Jubilee Festmarch; chamber music: pieces for piano, for violin and piano;Romance album(1910-1920). He also left an unpublished diary,Notes on my life, in which he recalls meetings and friendships with great musicians of the time (such as G. Puccini, F. Cilea, P. Mascagni, ME Bossi and others) and several musical criticisms published in newspapers. In 1958 he entrusted all his musical production to the Ricordi publishing house in Milan.
https://www.dizionariobiograficodeifriulani.it/eulambio-michele/

[Alan Howe]

This brief piece 'Ave Maria' is by the composer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhhVbp04SlU

[Gareth Vaughan]

How interesting. I had never heard of this composer. Would love to see the score of the PC.

[Wheesht]

I am currently in Trieste, and tomorrow I'll try to make an appointment to visit the Theatre Museum library and archives. If I am successful I can ask if there are any plans to digitise the score or make it otherwise available.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks - very good of you.

[eschiss1]

It will be (c) in Europe until 2045 so inclined to doubt it?...

[Wheesht]

While that is true, it may possibly depend on what the composer's wishes were when he donated the work to the museum – or what the descendants say, if there are any.

[Wheesht]

I have now made an appointment with the librarian at the Museo Schmidl and will be shown the score of Eulambio's piano concerto. I'll have to see if I manage to photograph it all. Alternatively, scans can be made by them at EUR 0.18 per scan.

[eschiss1]

I'm guessing the museum is eponymous with the publisher, by the way?

[Wheesht]

Correct.

[Wheesht]

My visit to the museum this morning was successful. I was welcomed by two very friendly and helpful librarians/archivists and was able to take photographs of the manuscript score of the piano concerto (composed in Leipzig in 1905) and also of a revised version from 1942. It'll take some time to combine the images into folders or, if possible, a single file each, but once I have done that, I am happy to share with anyone who is interested – just PM me. 

[Alan Howe]

Excellent news. Thanks!

[Gareth Vaughan]

Very well done. We are all in your debt. I will certainly be in touch.

[Wheesht]

There are now two folders with the images I made of the scores, one with the manuscript from 1906, the other looks like a revised version in print but doesn't look as though it was published. There is also a piano reduction, which I didn't photograph that. I did photograph the first few pages of what looked like the manuscript of the revised version, but the lighting conditions were not good enough.
As I said, I'm happy to share the folders if you send me a PM, but I will not post the links here.