Established thanks to the donation to the Municipality of Forlì by the heirs of Angelo Masini (1844-1926) of a substantial collection of memorabilia and memories related to the life and activity of the famous tenor from Forlì, the museum has been housed since the late 1960s in some rooms on the ground floor of Palazzo Gaddi. Enhanced by other important bequests and deposits and by the material collected by Antenore Colonelli on theatrical activity in Romagna, it holds a heritage of over six hundred and fifty items. In the room dedicated to Masini, objects and memories of the tenor’s artistic triumphs are exhibited, who sang in the major Italian theatres, but also at the Imperial Theatre of Saint Petersburg and in various South American cities. Adjacent is the area that gathers a large number of musical instruments belonging to musicians and concert performers from Romagna or produced by the local luthier craft. Particularly noteworthy are the bows made by the Paganini family. A string quartet (two violins, a viola, a cello) commissioned by Angelo Masini by Secondo Paganini is on display. A museum room is reserved for the soprano from Forlì, Maria Farneti (1877-1955), a Mascagni pupil, an artist of refined vocal quality, among the leading performers of verismo opera. Another section of the museum showcases the testimonies of the Forlì Municipal Theatre, built on the project by Cosimo Morelli and inaugurated in the spring of 1776, later expanded and decorated by Gaetano Capizucchi and Mauro Berti in the early 19th century. Posters, flyers, photographs tell the theatre’s life until its destruction in 1944 due to the collapse of the civic tower mined by retreating German troops. A large room is dedicated to the Romagna Cantori, a musical institution founded at the beginning of the 20th century by Cesare Martuzzi, an innovative musician and refined dialect author. Other museum spaces refer to Ines Fronticelli Baldelli, known as Ines Lidelba, the elegant operetta diva famous for her lavish shows, and to the great actor Ermete Novelli, of whom several memories, scripts, travel trunks, and stage costumes are displayed. The puppet collection, put together by Edgardo Forlai, a puppet theatre enthusiast and amateur puppeteer, was purchased by the Municipality of Forlì and is currently awaiting a location to make it visible to the public. The materials are, however, available to scholars upon request. The collection includes materials from the Bolognese, Modenese, and Bergamasque traditions and consists of about one hundred puppets and marionettes from the ensembles of Aldo Rizzoli, Demetrio Presini, Bruno Jani, Cesare Maletti, Giorgio Minutoli, Roberto Arbizzani, with costumes made by Marisa Mandrioli. Of particular interest are the two toy theatres with their marionettes, the wooden puppets originating from Val Gardena, and the Bolognese terracotta ones dating from the late 19th century to the 1930s. The collection is completed by a now very rare poster by Ciro Bertoni and a complete puppet booth with scenery used by Forlai himself.
Information about Romagna Theatre Museum
Corso Garibaldi, 96,
47121 Forlì (Forlì-Cesena)
054321109
servizio.pinacoteca.musei@cofo.it
Source: MIBACT
