Accademia Filarmonica
The Accademia Filarmonica was founded in 1666 by Count Vincenzo Maria Carrati († 1670) in Bologna .
The origin arose from the previous founding of the “Accademia dei Floridi” (1615), “Accademia dei Filomusi” (1624/25) and “Accademia dei Filaschisi” (1633). Count Carrati bequeathed a valuable organ to the Accademia, which was located in his family palace. In Bologna, where there was no royal court, the Accademia Filarmonica had the rank of court orchestra. Admission as a member took place only after a strict examination. The members initially met twice a week to make music together (esercizi) and on Thursdays for the conference , where the works were performed. Public events were held once a month. The Accademia originally consisted of three sections, one for composers, one for singers and one for instrumental musicians. The aim was to unite the best musicians in Europe in it, according to the motto Carratis, "Unitate melos". In 1721 the academy already had 300 members.
In addition to Arcangelo Corelli , Giacomo Antonio Perti and Padre Martini (who took over the management in 1758) illustrious members included Farinelli , Niccolò Jommelli , André Grétry , Johann Christian Bach , Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .
The music library of the Accademia, to which Padre Martini bequeathed 17,000 volumes and manuscripts, is one of the most important collections of its kind in the world. A large part of the holdings, some of which are now in the “Civico Museo Bibliografica Musicale”, have not yet been viewed.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, other well-known members were added, such as Gioacchino Rossini , Otto Nicolai , Giuseppe Verdi , Arrigo Boito , Richard Wagner , Jules Massenet , Camille Saint-Saëns , Giacomo Puccini , John Field , Franz Liszt , Johannes Brahms , Anton Rubinstein , Ferruccio Busoni or Ottorino Respighi .