Music (Performing Arts Genre)
Music played an imporant role at the Exposition. The Pavilion of Festivals and Concerts, with its spectacular concert hall (salone dei concerti) hosted many musical performances. While no official recordings have survived, the musical scores for some of the pieces have been published.
The concert hall, built to resemble an olympic theater, featured a sumptuous palco reale (royal box) and held up to 9,000 people.
Sponsored by the Exposition's Executive Committee, and curated by Giuseppe Depanis, director of the Società dei Concerti, the Symphonic Concerts Season consisted of 33 concerts directed by 15 conductors. The concerts were held from May 4 to October 31 1911. The conductors included: Willem Mengelberg, Fritz Steinbach, Wassily Safonoff, Robert Kajanus, Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, Vincent D'Indy, Claude Debussy, Gabriel Pierné, Arturro Toscanini, Luigi Mancinelli, and Tullio Serafin.
The orchestra was composed of 151 individuals and the general director for the whole concert series was Vittorio Gui. Two of the 33 concerts were by invitation only, the Concert for the Exposition's Inauguration and the Gala concert in honor of the International Jury; the others were public. A ticket to attend one of the Concerti sinfonici cost 15 centesimi.
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