# What is the relationship between Fabio Biondi and Maurizio Biondi ?



## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seriously, I am googling this for the second time and internet doesn't tell. I know both names in connection with the critical editions of Norma.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Googling. Page 2 yields this reference:









“Norma” di Bellini (Parma,2001) su Rai 5


Domani su Rai 5 viene replicata la Norma di Bellini che andò in scena al Regio di Parma nel marzo 2001. Si tratta di una edizione filologica curata da Maurizio Biondi e diretta dal fratello Fabio B…




musicofilia.wordpress.com





claiming that they are brothers.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Excerpt from - "Divas and Scholars - Performing Italian Opera" by Philip Gossett









Divas and Scholars


Winner of the 2007 Otto Kinkeldey Award from the American Musicological Society and the 2007 Deems Taylor Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.Divas and Scholars is a dazzling and beguiling account of how opera comes to the stage, filled with Philip Gossett’s...




press.uchicago.edu





When *Fabio Biondi conducted* *Norma* for the Verdi Festival of Parma in March 2001, he chose to perform the original version of the first-act finale of the opera, in which the composer highlighted equally the three pro tagonists, Norma, Adalgisa, and Pollione a version printed in the earliest Ricordi vocal score of the opera." But Bellini later modified the passage in his autograph manuscript by crossing out a number of measures and by re moving several pages, thus significantly reducing the presence of Adalgisa in the ensemble. Both musicians and scholars have found fault with this modification, which surely reflected the composer's nervousness after the opera was poorly received at its Milanese premiere (Teatro alla Scala, 26 December 1831).* Seeking to restore the passage to its original form, Fabio's brother, Fabrizio Biondi, located the relevant measures in manuscript copies* of the full score of Norma at the Conservatories of Naples and Milan. Despite their present location, however, both manuscripts were prepared in Naples, and it soon became apparent that they are examples of just the kinds of manuscripts Bellini had protested, in which the orchestration of the entire opera (not just the first-act finale) was falsified. *Fortunately, Fabrizio and I realized the problem in time to develop a more plausible orchestration of the missing measures* for the Parma performances. And, of course, this editorial orchestration was identified as such so that performers could judge for themselves whether it was successful or not, without assuming it was Bellini's own work.

From - *The Metropolitan Opera Opens the Season with Bellini's Norma -*






EAM: The Metropolitan Opera Opens the Season with Bellini's Norma







www.eamdc.com





"With *Bellini's *_*Norma*_, as so often occurs, the performance tradition has obscured the work's original Urtext. This brilliant *new performing edition, commissioned by Cecilia Bartoli *and* edited by Maurizio Biondi and Riccardo Minasi* in collaboration with Francesco Izzo, removes incorrect additions and non-original material and for the first time reinstates significant details of Bellini's manuscript to reflect his original intentions. The edition had its premiere performances as part of Bartoli’s European tour in 2016." 

Fabio Biondi is a violinist and conductor...

Fabrizio Biondi is Fabio's brother and also an orchestrator.

Maurizio Biondi removed the incorrect additions and non-original material and reinstated details of the original Bellini manuscript. Maurizio's connection to Fabio and Fabrizio Biondi resists definition as no connection can be found other than an entry made in a Google group page by a member but the coincidence is too great to think that they can be anything other than related in some manner.

Let's just go with "they're brothers"...

And so... we have one version that was created by Fabrizio Biondi and Philip Gossett and a second version that was created by Maurizio Biondi and Riccardo Minasi... For those of you at home keeping score, that's 3 Biondis, one Gossett, and one Minasi...


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Art Rock said:


> Googling. Page 2 yields this reference:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've got 3 Biondis in mine - Fabio, Fabrizio, and Maurizio - If we combine our posts, that would make them brothers - Kind of like the Bee Gees - Barry, Robin, and Maurice. I wonder if Fabio, Fabrizio, and Mauricio have a fourth brother named "Andy"? - That would definitely be worthy of an episode of "Ripley's Believe It or Not".


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Now wait just a minute here people! Isn't this Fabio Biondi? Isn't this the guy responsible for seducing Cecilia Bartoli into thinking that she was high priestess of the Druids?


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

As far as I know Fabio Biondi has no brothers, at least in the music business. Maurizio Biondi is a musician/musicologist, but I don't think he is related to Fabio Biondi. Fabrizio? Who knows.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

SanAntone said:


> As far as I know Fabio Biondi has no brothers, at least in the music business. Maurizio Biondi is a musician/musicologist, but I don't think he is related to Fabio Biondi. Fabrizio? Who knows.


Fabio and Fabrizio are definitely brothers - See post # - *Seeking to restore the passage to its original form, Fabio's brother, Fabrizio Biondi, located the relevant measures in manuscript copies* - which was stated by Fabrizio's co-editor of the Norma revision Philip Gossett in his book "Divas and Scholars".


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I don't know if that is accurate, since I can find no other credible source to confirm that information. And the information you quoted I think is actually a reference to an edition by Maurizio Bondi.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Okay, I found one credible source stating that Fabio and Maurizio are brothers. 

Bärenreiter’s critical edition of Norma relates the tragedia lirica snugly with the rest of Bellini’s output, notably I Capuleti e i Montecchi. On the evidence of this performance — a revival of Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser’s May 2013 staging conducted by Giovanni Antonini — it is a swifter, more emotionally direct opera than known in the 20th century, with barer dynamic contrasts, airier textures, incisive choruses and instrumental vibrancy. Its melodies sound more articulate now that they are less dilated, its ornaments more germane. It wants a bright voice for Adalgisa, rationally, and an agile Pollione. The title role is exacting but no sui generis few can sing. Credit the curators. *Maurizio Biondi initiated work from the autograph score for Parma performances in 2001 conducted by his brother Fabio*; Riccardo Minasi, himself a conductor, furthered the effort for 2010 concerts in Dortmund led by Thomas Hengelbrock. (Musical America)


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

SanAntone said:


> *I don't know if that is accurate, since I can find no other credible source to confirm that information. And the information you quoted I think is actually a reference to an edition by Maurizio Bondi.*


My quote is taken verbatim from page 63 of Philip Gossett's book "Divas and Scholars" which was published by the University of Chicago Press and was the winner of the 2007 Otto Kinkeldey Award from the American Musicological Society and the 2007 Deems Taylor Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

Philip Gossett was one of the two orchestrators who actually worked on the score that Fabio Biondi used to conduct the Parma performance of Norma in 2001 as related in the chapter which contains the quotes.

*Philip Gossett* (1941-2017) was the Robert W. Reneker Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Music and the College at the University of Chicago. He was the general editor of _The Works of Giuseppe Verdi_, published by the University of Chicago Press and Casa Ricordi, and _The Works of Gioachino Rossini_. In 2004 he received one of four lifetime achievement awards given by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and in 1998 he received the Cavaliere di Gran Croce, the highest civilian award given by the Italian government.

That's my "credible source" - I accept both its accuracy and its ability to confirm that information - Everyone else has the same right to evaluate the source materials and reach their own conclusions as to their validity.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

It is simply a mistake to credit the critical edition of Norma with "Fabrizio Biondi" in this passage (which is what I was referring to). If this was done by Mr. Gossett, it is unfortunate lapse in editing and proofing his manuscript.



> Seeking to restore the passage to its original form, Fabio's brother, Fabrizio Biondi, located the relevant measures in manuscript copies of the full score of Norma at the Conservatories of Naples and Milan.
> 
> Fortunately, Fabrizio and I realized the problem in time to develop a more plausible orchestration of the missing measures for the Parma performances.


It has been officially credited to Maurizio Biondi by the publisher.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Aren't there 2 different critical editions ?

Norma from Parma with June Anderson (conducted by Fabio Biondi) + the analogous Norma from Warsaw with Katia Pellegrino are less weird

than

Norma with Bartolli (that is Maurizio Biondi and Ricardo Minassi).


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

I guess I even saw somewhere, that Bartolli herself commissioned the critical edition she used for her singing.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

SanAntone said:


> It is simply a mistake to credit the critical edition of Norma with "Fabrizio Biondi" in this passage (which is what I was referring to). If this was done by Mr. Gossett, it is unfortunate lapse in editing and proofing his manuscript.
> 
> 
> 
> It has been officially credited to Maurizio Biondi by the publisher.


I think we're talking at cross-purposes here because of a misunderstanding over what the term "critical edition" means - It doesn't mean "definitive edition" - You can have multiple "critical editions" of the same work written by a variety of authors with differing opinions with each of them being officially credited by entirely different publishers - A critical edition is "A text that has been published with an editor's extensive annotations, commenting on variations between different versions of the text (manuscripts, drafts, editions), and that provides an understanding of the text based on other sources.". I made it clear from the beginning that there must be multiple "critical editions" - one was produced by the tandem of Fabrizio Biondi and Philip Gossett and a second version which was created by Maurizio Biondi and Ricardo Minasi - These multiple editions were both mentioned in my first post # 3 which reads - "And so... we have one version that was created by Fabrizio Biondi and Philip Gossett and a second version that was created by Maurizio Biondi and Riccardo Minasi... For those of you at home keeping score, that's 3 Biondis, one Gossett, and one Minasi... "


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I think any reference to a "Fabrizio Biondi" is a typo.

Bottomline for me is the quality of the performance on the recording, and Ms Bartolo is well past her prime and no matter what edition she used, it was a mistake.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

I am very surprised to learn, that the performance with Radvanovsky from MET was performed from the same critical edition as the recording with Cecilia Bartolli.

Maybe the conductor is more important for the final effect - which variant from the same edition he choses and, well, how he conducts. Plus the singers, of course.

So, the conductor with Radvanovsky was Rizzi and the performance sounds "normal" to me. 

And here is Minassi from this year and it is really wild, almost a different opera: Norma de Bellini avec Karine Deshayes au Festival d’Aix 2022


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BBSVK said:


> And here is Minassi from this year and it is really wild, almost a different opera: Norma de Bellini avec Karine Deshayes au Festival d’Aix 2022


I was curious and listened to this, but not having heard the whole of _Norma_ in a number of years I'm having difficulty deciding how this edition differs from what I'm familiar with. All the well-known arias and duets seem to be there, and the rest sounded familiar, although the style of performance is obviously not what we get from, say, Serafin, with resulting pluses and minuses. The overture is sharp and exhilarating, and the flute introduction to "Casta diva" is so expressive that I knew the soprano, whoever she is, could only disappoint (which she, of course, did). Elsewhere, excessively quick tempi trivialize the work, which is after all quite a serious tale. Here it sometimes sounds like opera buffa, preventing the singers from expressing such emotion as they might want to or be able to. I doubt that that has anything to do with the edition.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This is the "Norma" of Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante back in 2001.






A very interesting performance, personally I enjoyed it a lot, but not a successful one, in my view. 

Biondi is using period instruments, it's changing the instruments playing continuum, playing around a little bit with traditional tempi, a touch here, a touch there...

But in "Norma", as in any Bellini piece, the most important things are not in the pit, but on the stage. In Bellini's own words: 'Ìl dramma per musica deve far piangere, inorridire, morire... *cantando*'

In this performance, even if there are some good singers available (June Anderson, Daniela Barcellona, Ildar Abdrazakov), the orchestra and the singers are fighting each other, instead of working together. There is nothing farther from Bellini's intent.

About Ms. Bartoli's Norma, I'll be elegant and refrain from further commenting.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

schigolch said:


> This is the "Norma" of Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante back in 2001.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I actually liked this one, with June Andersson and Daniela Barcelona. I had more of a problem when they played it in Warsaw with Katia Pellegrino as Norma. I remembered the Warsaw excerpts as really unpleasant and put Biondi on my "be careful" list, if not downright blacklist. But yesterday, on repeated listening, it wasn't that bad. It is on youtube somewhere. Maybe you will like it better. I do not notice in either version that the singers do not click with the orchestra. But other people wrote the same thing. I am an amateur with really uneven education and do not hear it.

In the version with June Andersson, I was very curious about the extended part for Adalgisa in the trio, because I have read in the book by Kimbell how great it is and how Bellini should not have discarded it. And how good it is without the druids disturbing from behind the scene. But in fact, I can do without the Adalgisa extension and druids do not bother me. All I need is that they avoid making noise with the gong during the trio. 
I don't like the piano-like instrument, it shouldn't be there.
And Pollione shouldn't be blind as he is here. This is probably not nice of me, but disability really looks weird in combination with macho opera characters like Pollione or Pinkerton.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I actually listened to a live version of this "Norma" with Biondi and Katia Pellegrino in Valencia, a concert version.

It was pretty much the same thing that in Parma, only with not so good singers. The main problems of Biondi from my view are that he is starting from a wrong place (in Bellini, the singing is paramount) and that as maestro concertatore he is 100% centered in the orchestra, a capital sin.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Woodduck said:


> I'm having difficulty deciding how this edition differs from what I'm familiar with.


Maybe I egaggerated by saying it is almost a different opera. But for instance, I do not expect added ornaments in the cantabile (Casta diva) or recitatives. OK, maybe a messa di voce would be fine as an ornament, but not appoggiatura or whatever it is called. The second round of cabaletta is the place for such improvisations. I know Bellini had a philosophy like Gluck, he didn't like misplaced ornaments. The piano like instrument is added again (or I guess so, do not want to check it now). And I obviously hate, when people are speeding up my sweet Bellini. It does not allow the singers to be as emotional as they should be, just as you say. But I have archived the recording, because I really like Michael Spyres as Pollione.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BBSVK said:


> Maybe I egaggerated by saying it is almost a different opera. But for instance, I do not expect added ornaments in the cantabile (Casta diva) or recitatives. OK, maybe a messa di voce would be fine as an ornament, but not appoggiatura or whatever it is called. The second round of cabaletta is the place for such improvisations. I know Bellini had a philosophy like Gluck, he didn't like misplaced ornaments. The piano like instrument is added again (or I guess so, do not want to check it now). And I obviously hate, when people are speeding up my sweet Bellini. It does not allow the singers to be as emotional as they should be, just as you say. But I have archived the recording, because I really like Michael Spyres as Pollione.


Spyres is definitely the best member of the cast. Unlike you, I don't object to some discreet embellishment by the singers when a melody is repeated. Aside from the expected mediocrity of the singing in general, my main objection is to the jaunty tempos. If I want to frolic bel canto style I'll listen to _Don Pasquale._


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