Italians seek to reclaim composer Salieri’s remainsJanuary 29, 2013 - 21:05 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Residents of a provincial city in northern Italy are seeking to reclaim the remains of its best-known son, composer Antonio Salieri, AP reported. Salieri left his birthplace of Legnago, south of Verona, as a teen in 1766 to pursue his musical ambitions in Vienna, where he mostly remained until his death in 1825. He was one of the Habsburg court's favorite composers, and is perhaps best remembered in popular culture as Mozart's chief rival. Rumors in his lifetime, dismissed by authoritative sources as slanderous, even claimed that Salieri poisoned Mozart. A group of citizens under the banner "Legnago for Salieri" is asking the city to back the initiative and activate diplomatic channels to recover the remains from Vienna's largest and most important cemetery, Zentralfriedhof, where such musical luminaries as Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and Franz Schubert also have been laid to rest. Organizer Franco Bozzolin said Tuesday that the "noble initiative" was inspired by local pride. The last known attempt to return Salieri's remains failed during World War II, he said. The cultural foundation supporting the Salieri Theater in Legnago, dedicated to diffusing his works, has not taken an official position on the campaign. But theater director Federico Pupo noted that Salieri's musical successes were mostly in Vienna. "Therefore, I think it is correct that he rests in the city that he himself chose, and that benefitted him so much," Pupo said in an email. Disseminating Salieri's music and that of his contemporaries is "the only way he can be truly present in Legnago," he said. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | U.S. welcomes Armenia, Azerbaijan’s border delimitation announcement Blinken said it is an important step towards concluding a durable and dignified peace agreement. Up to 10% cashback from GetTransfer with IDBank cards IDBank clients who make their booking on GetTransfer will receive an exclusive cashback. European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. |